Read our latest thoughts and insights on educational issues from our Leadership Team.
International Women’s Day – A Community that is stronger together
With International women’s day approaching with the important theme of accelerating action in terms of gender equality, we can reflect on two different aspects that we have spoken about at school that illustrate our focus on empowering students to forge their way the world in a bold, creative and supportive way.
At the start of term I gave an assembly about a choir which seems to embody women coming together in a powerful way. I spoke about the film and storyline of the Military Wives Choir. The Military Wives Choir has grown into 74 choirs involving 2,300 women in the UK and in British military bases across the world. Singing in a choir has been proven to increase wellbeing and improve mental and physical health. The choirs therefore have a vital role to play by bringing women in the military community together to sing, share and support one another.
Every Day is International Women’s Day
At our school, the celebration of women and girls is not confined to a single day in March. The beauty of being in an all-girls’ school is that every day is, in essence, International Women’s Day. Our pupils are surrounded by examples of inspiring women—past and present—whose achievements, resilience, and brilliance shape the world around us.
Just last month, during a school anniversary assembly, I shared the remarkable story of the Chick sisters with our pupils. These pioneering women, all former students of our school around the turn of the 20th century, blazed trails in science, public health, and mathematics. Their legacy is a powerful reminder that the pursuit of knowledge and progress is not bound by gender, and their story continues to inspire the young women in our care today.
Inspiring Sustainability at NHEHS and Across the GDST
By Kate Bevan – Head of Junior School
At Notting Hill & Ealing High School, our pupils care a great deal about the environment (indeed the Green Party did very well in the Junior School mock general election we had last year – politicians take note!). As a school, and across our Trust, we seek ways to support the girls’ interests and educate them on sustainability issues, but also actively promote hope and action, to guard against creating anxiety about the future.
Do paper maps matter? The value of the struggle and Co-curricular life
By Matthew Shoults – Headmaster
I recently found myself in something of a confessional. Chairing a meeting of fellow head teachers, discussing AI and learning, I admitted that while I was an afficionado of traditional Ordnance Survey maps, I had more recently found myself reaching for the OS App on my phone when engulfed in clouds in the Highlands. Although fairly confident with map and compass in zero visibility, I was nevertheless glad to reach for a little extra reassurance to get myself back to terra firma.
Bringing learning to life in the digital age
By Kate Bevan – Head of Junior School
Many Heads, myself included, will have spent some of the summer break ruminating on artificial intelligence and its implications for education. Whilst elements of it have been around for years, the great leap forward that generative AI represents is transformative. As a prep head, how do I now conceive of the world we are preparing our pupils for? What do they need to know, and what skills do they need to have, to thrive in this new paradigm?
Leadership for all?
By Matthew Shoults – Headmaster
In recent weeks I was interviewing students in Year 12 applying to be on the Head Girl’s Team, and it was encouraging that almost 30 students put themselves forward to fill only six positions. It is part of our culture to encourage girls throughout the school to take on leadership roles.
But it does beg some questions…….
It really is the little things that make a difference
By Rebecca Irwin – Deputy Head, Pastoral
There is a real tension in how we talk about mental health. We need to listen to young people when they speak about their mental health. We need to take them seriously. What they are experiencing is real. The language they use is articulate and describes how they are feeling…….
Should we all be studying Computer Science degrees to prepare for an AI future?
By Matthew Shoults – Headmaster
A number of cries of despair voice themselves on a repeated basis in British education and employment over how we get young people ready for the future. These cries fall into three camps. Firstly, students should study the right degrees to be employable, but too many students are studying the wrong subjects; various studies of earnings potential suggest that many degrees may simply not be worth studying…