Sex Education: Why Hope Hates Moordale’s Kids So Much

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Sex Education season 3.

In Sex Education season 3, new headteacher Hope Haddon (Jemima Kirke) doesn’t hold back in showing her hate on Moordale’s kids, but why is she so against them? Following the dismissal of Michael Groff (Alistair Petrie), Moordale Secondary School got a new headteacher. Initially shown as a fun-loving, progressive leader, Hope introduced herself — in a dance number — as an achiever, a former Moordale student, and the UK’s youngest headteacher at 28-years-old. She promised to get Moordale back on track and away from its reputation as a sex school, which the students greatly approved of. However, not long after, Hope started showing her true colors.

Following a humiliating press incident, Hope enacted drastic changes in Moordale. First, she painted a divisive line in the middle of hallways, forcing the students to walk single file. She then ordered the removal of all vulgar vandalisms on walls and pillars. Forcing Moordale students to wear grey uniforms, Hope implemented a strict dress code, even reprimanding them for attention-grabbing hairstyles, makeup, and accessories. If those weren’t enough, she deliberately invalidated her students’ freedom of expression, horrifyingly imposing heterosexual identities on non-binary students, Cal (Dua Saleh) and Layla (Robyn Holdaway), and humiliating students for tarnishing the school’s name. Worse, she placed those teenagers in danger by promoting abstinence in the new SRE curriculum. Instead of guiding them towards safe sex, Hope insisted on scaring them with the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases and childbearing.  

Although Hope was first established as the saving grace of Moordale, her actions said otherwise. Compared to former headteacher Groff, Hope was a stronger opposition. But why did she hate Moordale’s kids so much? It was established throughout Sex Education season 3 that she was sorting out issues in her personal life. On top of that, she was constantly hounded by the school board, led by Mark (Robert Wilfort). All of these factors led her to lash out at Moordale’s students.

In the final episode of Sex Education season 3, after the kids launched a protest, Hope had a heartfelt encounter with Otis (Asa Butterfield). Without hesitation, she first expressed her spite at their actions, telling him at least her generation knew how to conduct themselves properly. This clearly showed how Hope belonged to a different era than her students. She believed that her time at Moordale School as head girl was its glory days, and that the current crop consisted of nothing but self-indulgent snowflakes. Moreover, it was probably because of this generation gap that she could not fully comprehend the gender spectrum, mental health, and the importance of emotional intelligence and sex therapy, leading her to repeatedly discriminate and hurt the kids.

She eventually told Otis her problem with bearing a child of her own, admitting she was trying for another round of IVF. As an accomplished woman, Hope was deeply frustrated her body could not do the one thing she needed it to. Maybe, that was causing her marital problems, too, and so she reacted badly to her students, who in her eyes were focused on standing up against shallow, irrelevant problems. Additionally, she was under a lot of pressure from the school board and investors. After her vision of rebranding Moordale failed, it was announced in Sex Education’s season 3 finale that the school would be shutting down permanently, rendering her powerless. Whether Hope returns in season 4 – and perhaps, like Michael in season 3, is painted in a more sympathetic light and has a change of character – remains to be seen. 

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