Wimbledon High School hosts ICGS Educating Girls Symposium

In November 2024, Wimbledon High School GDST hosted the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS) UK Educating Girls Symposium. As founding partners of the Coalition, the GDST and Wimbledon High were delighted to welcome over 200 education leaders, teachers and advocates of girls’ education to celebrate the power of girls and girls’ schools.

Heads, teachers and subject experts from 20 GDST schools engaged with international colleagues from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and participated in important discussions on the latest challenges and opportunities in educating girls.

The inspiring schedule of speakers and breakout sessions began with a welcome address from Megan Murphy, the Global Executive Directive of ICGS. She spoke about the more urgent than ever need for collaboration between girls’ schools, the Coalition’s growing memberships around the world, the importance of action based research dedicated to how girls learn best, as well as the need for everyone invested in creating a better future for girls to remain optimistic about our goal in light of recent world events.

The opening keynote came from Dorothy Byrne, President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, who shared insights from her journey as a young journalist to a changemaking leader. She spoke about her passionate belief in the importance of girls’ schools, and reflected on how the teachers at her all-girls’ school gave her confidence because they believed in her; “It changed my life”. Dorothy also highlighted the unique strengths and perspectives that women bring, emphasising the role of girls’ schools in encouraging girls to embrace and value their differences. She ended her speech with a message of optimism, reminding the ICGS audience that “progress may have come with setbacks, but there is hope”.

The first panel of the day was a deep-dive into why finance is an important career path for young women to pursue. The discussion was chaired by the Head of Wimbledon High, Fionnuala Kennedy. She was joined by  Karen Lau, Chartered Wealth Manager, Anna Murdock, Head of Wealth Planning and Louise Hall, Non-Executive Director at leading wealth management company, JM Finn. The three trailblazing women in finance shared their stories about how they’ve shaped their successful careers, overcome challenges, and seized opportunities. As advocates of the GDST’s approach to introduce financial education at an early age, the panel encouraged young people to remain adaptable to change and to nurture a love of life-long learning. To the educators in the audience, they stressed the importance of pushing students out of their comfort zones in order to build resilience. 

Maggie Alphonsi, Rugby World Cup Winner, Broadcaster and Columnist, gave a compelling account of how she has navigated the challenges of a male-dominated profession in her keynote. In addition to being a member of the team that won the 2014 Rugby World Cup for the first time in 20 years, in 2015 she became the first-ever former female player to commentate on men’s international rugby. Maggie used her own experiences to empower the room with energy, determination and passion to become a ‘visible leader’. In her words, ‘If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you’.

GDST colleagues from our schools across the country led and participated in nine breakout sessions throughout the day. These breakouts focused on some of the most pertinent topics occupying the minds of girls’ educators around the world. From Blackheath’s session on Civil Discourse and equipping girls with the confidence to use their voice to disagree well, Wimbledon’s session on Creating Inclusive Science Learning Experiences for All Girls, to Oxford High Head, Marina Gardiner-Legge’s participation in a panel about The Impact of Empowering Staff to Undertake Research in the Classroom. Other highlights included Julie Taylor, Principal of Belvedere Academy’s session about the school’s experience of being involved with the Liverpool HEARTS project – aimed at supporting local schools to become more attachment and trauma informed, and Brighton Girls’ breakout on Using collaborative mentoring between Year 6 and Year 8 to support an effective transition and build confidence. 

The GDST’s chief executive, Cheryl Giovannoni, then gave a rousing speech to close the symposium. She was introduced by Emily, a Wimbledon High student, an incredible moment that displayed the GDST’s commitment to raising girls’ voices and giving them platforms to not only build confidence, but also master the art of public speaking. Cheryl tapped into the day’s recurring theme of hope and resilience during uncertain times, telling the ICGS audience ‘‘We teach the girls in our schools how important it is to be resilient, to take risks, to be fearless and when they fail, they get up, dust themselves off, and try again. Never has that message been more important in our schools than right now. ’’ She also emphasised that education is the driving force and beating heart of creating opportunities that make the dream of equality a real prospect for all women. 

Cheryl ended with a rallying cry to the audience; ‘‘Keep going, keep dreaming, keep believing, keep being curious about how far we can go to create the world’s future leaders and changemakers in our schools.’’ 

The ICGS Educating Girls Symposium provided a brilliant opportunity for the GDST and our global partners who educate and support girls and young women, to come together and collaborate on designing a better future for girls everywhere.

The GDST Insights Report and Framework

Designing the Future of Girls’ Education, a GDST Insights Report and Framework, was published in November 2024. The report aims to enhance educational practices for all girls, worldwide and emphasises the importance of creating environments where girls can learn without limits. As a shaper of modern, future-looking girls’ education, the GDST highlights the transformative power of education that is designed for girls.

Read the report