Maureen Martin is executive head of three schools including Coloma Convent in Croydon, one of the most successful comprehensives in England. Jeremy Sutcliffe talks to her about challenges new and old Among her many passions, Maureen Martin had a lifelong love of sport, instilled in her when she was a pupil at Coloma Convent Girls’ School where, almost half a century later, she is celebrating 20 years as head teacher.It is not every woman who can claim to have played rugby at university (Bristol) and cricket for Malaysia. Today, as we take a tour of the school’s tree-lined grounds in a leafy part of the south London suburb of Croydon, she is quick to point out the new artificial- grass pitch, funded by the Football Association.“We are actually a centre for women’s