Marie, Lady Stubbs, DSG is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 educator and academic.

She was the headteacher at Douai Martyrs School, and brought it to beacon status. She wrote Ahead of the Class

Ahead of the Class

Ahead of the Class is a 2003 book and 2005 dramatic television film based on real-life events.-Plot:Marie Stubbs is a diminutive Glaswegian headmistress who is close to the age of retirement. After being Head teacher at The Douay Martyrs School, Ickenham, she takes on one last challenge: to improve...

(ISBN 0-7195-6561-8), a book in which she details how she helped reform St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School

St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School

St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School is a secondary school situated in Maida Vale, London, England. It made the headlines in December 1995 following the murder of head teacher Philip Lawrence, who was stabbed to death when he tried to break up a fight between the school's pupils and a local...

in Maida Vale

Maida Vale

Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...

. The school had been put on "special measures" by OFSTED

Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

, meaning that it was considered to be well below standard and subject to regular inspection. The students had serious behavioural problems and there was low morale among the staff, due in part to the murder of a previous headmaster Philip Lawrence

Philip Lawrence

Philip Ambrose Lawrence QGM, was a London-based headmaster who was stabbed to death outside the gates of his school when he went to the aid of a pupil who was being attacked by a gang.-Biography:...

 who was stabbed to death when intervening in a fight at the school gates.

Seventeen months after her appointment as headmistress, the school was taken off special measures and no longer considered to be failing. Lady Stubbs said of education, "You should sit down and decide what makes a good education for the children. Every child should be intrinsically valued." The book was made into a two hour drama for ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 with Julie Walters

Julie Walters

Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...

playing Lady Stubbs, who is now retired.

Personal life

Lady Stubbs divides her time between London and Banbury. She has three grown-up daughters and six grandchildren. She has been married to Sir William Stubbs, formerly Head of the QCA, for 40 years.

Honours

• Dame of St Gregory (DSG)
• Member of the governing body of De Montfort University, which awarded her a Honorary doctorate
• Catholic Woman of the Year (2002)
• Nominated as Scotswoman of the Year (2005)

External links

• www.cyc-net.org