Daily Telegraph - a letter from the Headmistress

Our Headmistress Jane Gandee recently had the below letter published in The Daily Telegraph, championing the advantages of girls-only schools. 

SIR – The recent discussion of Westminster School and others looking at co-educational options (report, March 28) forgets one thing – namely the huge advantages for girls of single-sex environments.

Not only do girls tend to do better academically in single-sex schools, but more importantly they also have the opportunity to choose their own path with no pressure, whether explicit or not, to conform to tired stereotypes about how young women should behave and what they can aspire to.

While women have taken huge strides to achieve equality with men in many aspects of life, much remains to be done.

At our school, and girls’ schools like ours, the curriculum is designed to build self-belief so that at university and beyond our students can interact fearlessly with both men and women, building strong relationships on their own terms.

Jane Gandee
Headmistress, St Swithun’s School
Winchester, Hampshire