Briony Scott walks quickly from Wenona school for girls in North Sydney to our meeting point across the road in what is technically a bowling club but is actually a restaurant featuring "international bar bites" among other things. We find a quiet table and opt for the roast cauliflower salad, which is her recommendation.

The conversation ranges over the issues of the day: NAPLAN standardised literacy and numeracy tests, ATAR university admission scores, curriculum review and school funding. For both of us, perhaps, it feels like tick, tick, tick. As the principal of an all-girls, independent, non-denominational day and boarding school with a reputation for, let's face it, catering to the well-off and the well-thought-of, Dr Scott is always sought after for her opinions.