Maureen Brennan

Who is Maureen Brennan?

Dame Maureen Brennan is currently the Executive Headteacher at Etone College in Nuneaton. She took the position at this school after spending several years as headteacher at Barr Beacon School and principal at Hillcrest School and Community College in Netherton, West Midlands. Before this she worked at Great Barr School in Great Barr, Birmingham as a senior staff member. Brennan let it be known that Hillcrest School had "no structures, systems or routines" when she took over in September 2002. In 2002 the school came out of special measures. By the beginning of 2003, Ofsted inspectors described it as "one of the most outstanding schools in the country". One of her recipes for changing that was the introduction of a "house system and a prefectorial system". She introduced formal routines such as pupils standing up when someone walks into the classroom; she also got rid of the bells that sounded the end of each lesson. Other measures included a sin bin or exclusion room where misbehaving pupils could go for a period of isolation from their peers.