GIVE HER THE GIFT OF AN ALL-GIRLS EDUCATION
A perspective from our Headmistress
I really enjoy interviewing all prospective families. Each meeting shows what it is that parents want for their daughter: their ambition for her, their expectation that her confidence and self-worth will be nurtured, and their hope that her gifts and character will be recognised and valued. I don’t think this is too much to ask – and an all-girls school provides a special opportunity for girls’ success and personal development.
For years, studies have highlighted the value of girls’ schools. We read that the uptake of science (and particularly physics) is higher in all-girls schools, as is success in languages and sport. More than this, in an all-girls school the implicit – and something explicit – gender-weighted expectations of our society are set aside. Quite simply, in a girls’ school, girls are the best at everything: the best mathematician is a girl, the best swimmer is a girl, and the best artist is a girl. Similarly, a girl runs the Debating Society, the pupil magazine and the School Council. In other words, pupils’ confidence and initiative are nurtured, and this creates a climate where they know their voices matter, they are the change makers and innovators, and they develop wonderful friendships.
At St Catherine’s, we know the advantages of all-girls education begin long before the teenage years. Our Prep girls love to improve their rugby tackles and football skills and they know how to be resilient and put themselves forward in the classroom. It means that the language of risk taking is ungendered. A visit, for instance, to our lively Year 3 class, would show you the determination and enthusiasm that will stand our girls in good stead for Senior School, university and adult life.
Every so often a parent asks if there are disadvantages to all-girls education and this is easy to answer, not least because school is only part of each week; our girls are, of course, in a co-ed world. Our inclusive Christian values and warm community atmosphere – where girls of all faiths are welcome – also ensures that pastoral care and character development are central. In St Catherine’s Senior School (where all our Prep girls have a guaranteed place) there is the same strong culture. St Catherine’s girls show the fruits of all-girls learning in their cheerfulness, their ambition, and in their compassionate and courageous engagement with the wider world.
GIRLS’ A-LEVELS ENTRIES IN STEM SUBJECTS
DfE release KS5 (A-levels) entries by school for Maths, Further Maths and Science subjects, split by gender and type of school, allowing us to analyse the subject choice of girls by the type of school they attend.
Here are some of the findings:
- Biology, Maths and Chemistry continue to be the most popular STEM subjects for girls at A-levels.
- Girls in girls’ schools are 2.7 times as likely to take Further Maths and more than twice as likely to take Physics and Computer Science A-levels – compared with girls in co-ed schools.
- The uptake of other sciences is also higher with Biology 43% higher, Chemistry 85% higher and Maths 87% higher in girls’ schools compared with girls in co-ed schools.
- Percentage of subject entries in Biology, Chemistry and Computer Sciences have increased for girls in both types of schools since 2021-2022, while we see decreases in Maths, Further Maths and Physics.
- Computer Science continues to have the largest growth in uptake for girls (although it remains low relatively). The percentage of girls taking Computer Science is 14% higher in girls’ schools and 11% higher in co-ed schools, compared with the 2021-2022 academic year.
- The gap between girls in girls’ school and girls in co-ed schools is widening for most subjects – Further Maths, Biology, Physics and Computer Science. The only subject where it is narrowing is Maths.
GIRLS’ SCHOOLS CONTINUE TO BE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND CREATING A MORE EQUAL WORLD FOR WOMEN.
ImpactEd Evaluation and The Girls’ Schools Association partnered to investigate how girls at GSA schools perceive equality for women and girls. Results showed that perceptions of male dominance increased with children’s age; men were seen to have more power and status in politics and in business, whereas relative equality was seen to exist in the home. By investigating pupils’ specific perceptions of equality for women and girls, how it might vary by age and other demographics, and getting an insight into best practice from teachers across the profession, we believe this report will provide us with practical and actionable insights into this issue.
THE DATA SHOWS THAT:
- 80% of all pupils surveyed said they had been taught about equality for women and girls at school.
- 82% of pupils responded to say they did have adults they could talk to about these issues.
- Pupils in year 5 felt their school had covered the topic of equality for women and girls better than other year groups. 68.6% of year 5 pupils thought their school covered the topic “well” or very well”, demonstrating how understanding is seeded at a young age through age appropriate teaching
- Pupils’ perception of equality for women and girls decreases by age: between year 5 and year 13, there was a reduction of 19.8% in perceptions towards equality.
- 74% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that they did have the tools, resources and support they need to be able to teach pupils about equality for women and girls.
- 76.2% also agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I actively challenge gendered language for women and girls and behaviour among pupils”.
- 39.6% of pupils agreed or strongly agreed that their gender influences what people think about them.
- This compares to 16.3% of pupils who agreed or strongly agreed that their gender impacts the activities that pupils are offered at school.
- Pupils felt, on average, that activities outside of school (2.65 out of 5) were 12.5% more affected by their gender, than those inside of school (2.15 out of 5).
Source: https://gsa.uk.com/research/equality-women-girls-single-sex-schools/
