Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to Helen Pike

One to One

Unexpected educational journeys: the journalist Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to the first female head teacher in the 500 year history of Magdalen College School in Oxford.

The journalist Datshiane Navanayagam had a challenging childhood punctuated by periods of homelessness but she was always expected to achieve academically. She won a bursary to a private school which led her onto Cambridge University. As a result she's fascinated by the transformative role education can have. For One to One she's speaking to three people who have been on unexpected educational journeys.

Today she meets Helen Pike. Born in Preston and educated entirely in the state sector, Helen Pike has almost exclusively worked in private schools and has just been appointed as the first female head teacher in the 500 year history of the independent Magdalen College School. At one stage she was the head teacher of the school that Datshiane attended (although not while Datshiane was there). They speak about background, confidence and breaking boundaries.

Producer: Karen Gregor.