Learning to Lead
Giving girls the opportunity to lead is, we believe, a key part of their development along their school journey. So our Junior school girls take part in our ‘Learning to Lead programme’ which encourages them to take responsibility and help each other.
Within that programme, there are over 40 positions, ranging from Junior School Councillors from Years 1-6 to a number of Year 6 Leadership roles which our girls can take responsibility for. These roles include House and Vice Captains, Librarians and there are specific leadership roles for Music, Sports and Science as well as roles as on the Eco and Diversity Councils.
We have four Houses – Darling, Austen, Fry and Seacole, which girls join from Year 1. All our Juniors can take part in House competitions and initiatives led by the Year 6 Captains and Vice Captains. These include House Huddles, sing offs, sports day, netball, cross country, swimming gala, bake sales and charity initiatives.
Leadership in action
When our students enter Year 6 they can participate in our Year 6 Science Leadership programme with lab assistants on rotation. Willingly giving up their morning break time, this team of Science Experts (usually 4 each term) work in the laboratory. They clean, feed stick insects and even retrieve some escapees. As lab technicians, they have direct responsibility for setting up equipment and reagents for other year group lessons and often support their younger peers to ensure they catch up on missed activities.
As a House Captain, leaders have the opportunity to enable house huddles. As part of this initiative they create fun activities each term to motivate and encourage interyear group interaction. Another important leadership opportunity for girls in Years 5 and 6 is the role of a Playground Pal – who look out for the younger years during playtimes, to make sure they are having fun and know they have someone to go to.
Enterprise Fair
As part of this project our girls have the chance to take part in an Enterprise project during which they create their own businesses. This exciting project ends with a ‘Perfect Pitch’ where the girls present their ideas in a Dragons Den style format to a panel of judges and then sell their products to the Year 5s at their very own Junior Enterprise Fair!
