The announcement was made by the Chair of the School’s Governors, Catriona Smith. “The Governors much appreciate Miss Woodcock’s love for the school, her personal knowledge of the girls and her strong focus on ensuring that each girl achieves her full potential,” said Ms Smith. “We are sure that she will lead the school from strength to strength.”
Penny Woodcock, who joined Charlotte House as Deputy Head in January 2010, has been teaching in primary schools for over twenty years. She taught at Amersham’s independent boys’ school The Beacon for several years immediately before she began at Charlotte House and is a firm believer in the benefits of single-sex education.
Miss Woodcock said: “I have been involved in the development of Charlotte House over the past six years and I am looking forward to being at the helm as we build upon everything we have already achieved.
“Charlotte House is known for its warm, family environment; we provide the perfect balance of nurture and challenge to enable the girls to achieve their very best. Indeed, the confidence and skills with which we equip them ensures that they continue to soar after they leave us.”
Penny Woodcock is Rickmansworth born-and-bred and thus has a thorough local knowledge which she is always keen to share with the girls and she ensures that Charlotte House plays a vibrant role in the local community. “From singing at the Rickmansworth Canal Festival to inviting local retirement homes to watch our plays, from raising funds for local charities to reading at the Watford Social Centre for the Blind, this all helps the girls to appreciate that they are part of the wider community outside the school gates,” said Miss Woodcock.
“Our motto – ‘I am, I can, I ought, I will’ – is just as important and relevant an ethos for the girls today as it was in the time of our founder Charlotte Mason over 100 years ago.”
