Celebrating the future of girls’ education in Liverpool

What is the most important thing we can all do to empower girls to lead lives without limits?

This question from GDST Chief Executive, Cheryl Giovannoni, was at the heart of our event in June celebrating girls’ education, held in the stunning location of Liverpool Central Library. We were particularly proud to highlight the groundbreaking work of our academies, The Belvedere Academy in Liverpool and Birkenhead High School Academy on the Wirral in empowering girls.

We were delighted that the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, recently commended Birkenhead High School Academy for “achieving exceptional outcomes for disadvantaged pupils”. Bridget Phillipson encouraged the school to share its practice widely across the region, so we did just that.

Sharing our Insights Report, Designing the Future of Girls’ Education, Heads Julie Taylor and Elizabeth de Boorder, and GDST Director of Education, Dr Philip Purvis, demonstrated how creating space for girls, adapting curricula and forging a culture of positive women role models can all play a significant part in supporting girls in and out of the classroom. Our framework can be adapted for any educational setting, including co-ed.

This was an event advocating for change. With the backlash to progress on equality posing real and growing challenges for girls and young women, our GDST mission to ensure their voices are heard is more important than ever.

We were privileged to welcome author, podcaster and journalist, Catherine Carr, whose rallying call for girls to be heard has created a national moment beyond her Radio 4 series About the Girls. Having recorded the voices of 150 girls nationally, Catherine’s heartfelt message for us all to pay closer attention to the needs of young people was powerfully articulated.

Fittingly, our students’ voices rang out with their own appeal for us all:

“Consider, perhaps as a girl or young woman, you were never too quiet, you were just in the wrong room. And let’s all remember, when women are heard, change follows because empowered voices don’t just speak, they cultivate a wave of change.”