GDST CEO, Cheryl Giovannoni: Why It’s Always ‘About the Girls’ (BBC Radio 4)

Having listened to the recent series ‘About the Girls’ on BBC Radio 4, I was struck by the honesty and depth of insight from the teenage girls who took part – including some very articulate students from GDST schools.

They come across exactly as we know them to be – thoughtful, confident and full of optimism and energy for the future. What is particularly powerful is that this optimism exists alongside an understanding of the challenges they face – everything from life online to wider societal pressures.

And it is exactly how we educate girls that matters so much more than ever before.

At the GDST our research consistently shows that girls thrive in environments intentionally designed around them – where classroom practice builds confidence, where the curriculum broadens ambition and, importantly, where our culture empowers girls to realise their potential.

As Catherine Carr explains in the Radio 4 series “It’s not enough to say we need to sort out what is going on with the boys. The girls need our attention too. Creating an environment – a safe environment where they can succeed – is vital”. And girls, you have our full, undivided attention every day in GDST schools.

It is through our decades of research into how girls learn best that we design our curriculum, classrooms and culture; environments where girls thrive not only academically, but where they develop the life skills and confidence to lead, to challenge and to make an impact on the world around them. This is what Fionnuala Kennedy, Head of Wimbledon High GDST explains so eloquently in the programme.

And who better than one of our brilliant students from Sutton High School to summarise what it’s like to be in one of our schools:

“We are told the sky is the limit – that you can achieve what you want to achieve, and you are capable of that. Being a girl doesn’t stop you – it’s a superpower”.

It’s why GDST schools are genuinely places where girls learn without limits every day.

Listen to Catherine Carr’s series on BBC Radio 4.