The School has been a hive of activity following International Women’s Day last week. On the day itself, Mr Cawley delivered a brilliant assembly to Years 9 – UVI, celebrating the achievements of women and emphasising the courage and resilience required for greatness, through his use of examples. At the same time, he said that: ‘there are no templates for great women – no pre-determined framework. But now, more than ever, we need women of character who will stand up and speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves.’ He challenged the girls to be ‘solution multipliers’ even as the number of challenges in the world increase. With an outward looking orientation, we should, in the words of Lyse Doucet, ‘tell the story, not be the story.’

The activities have continued into this week with female-focused Life Skills on Wednesday, with guest Zooms from consultant Christina Astin and biographer Lucinda Hawksley for Years 7-9, a session with Mr Galloway and Carolina J for LVI, a brilliant session from company ‘Maximise Your Potential’ for UVI and a music workshop with Miss Houlder for Years 10-11. All sessions focused on empowering the girls to always push their limits, take risks, and to never be afraid to step into leadership roles. Following this, an all-female jazz troupe ‘Mamma Jamma’ (also featuring Miss Houlder) delivered a wonderful performance at lunchtime, putting a jazzy spin on classics such as Valerie, Crazy and Love on Top, enabling the girls to see a powerful group of women leading the way in a male-dominated industry.

Many thanks to all our guest speakers for their time, and well done to the girls for embracing all their International Women’s Day activities with spirit and enthusiasm.