By Geoffrey Stanford, Headmaster of Newcastle Royal Grammar School.
As I write this, we have been celebrating International Women’s Day at the Royal Grammar School and reflecting on the very positive contribution of girls in the RGS community. As part of ensuring there is more representation of women around what was once an all-boys school, we relatively recently hung a portrait of our first female Chair of Governors in the main hall beside one of our more famous alumni, Admiral Lord Collingwood.
To celebrate more than twenty years of co-education at the RGS, the alumni association have also commissioned a new stained glass window for the library. It was unveiled this week and a number of the first ever girls that came to the RGS returned for the event. One of them also spoke to the whole school in assembly about the strength that her experience at the RGS gave her for an extraordinarily successful subsequent business career.
Some of the achievements of our more recent alumnae are already noteworthy too. A pair of twins who left last year have a developing career as singer-songwriters, recently coming second out of more than twenty thousand entries in a songwriting competition in Tennessee. Meanwhile, we had three Old Novos taking part in the Oxford and Cambridge Varsity hockey match last week, the Oxford Captain on one side and two representing Cambridge. We can see the same ambition for success evident in our students still at the school; for example, the girls showing leadership in challenging weather during their Duke of Edinburgh expeditions or captaining a Vex Robotics team going to the National Finals.
The best boss I ever worked for was a woman, so at a time when concerns about misogyny in young men are very much at the forefront of our minds, our boys need to grow up alongside girls, learning to work with and respect the contribution that girls make. The reverse is also true as girls will find themselves stepping into a workplace alongside their male counterparts and they need to understand and be confident in their own abilities to succeed in whatever career they choose. We should celebrate the power of diversity that co-education brings to our community and the variety of ideas and backgrounds that is our strength.
As someone who went to a single sex school myself (as did my wife), there is no doubt in my mind about the value of co-education to both boys and girls today. It is fundamental for preparing young people for life in the modern world and it is perhaps for that reason that I have only ever worked in co-educational schools. While boys and girls can bring different perspectives, I have enjoyed challenging lazy stereotypes. Educating boys and girls alongside each other is fundamental to the character and success of the RGS today and has led our culture to evolve in a very positive way, fully in keeping with the sense of belonging and belief in each other that are core pillars of our ethos. Amongst independent schools in the Newcastle area we are the only truly co-educational Senior School and we firmly believe that co-education should be embraced and celebrated by all.
In the interests of balance, I should note at this point that, when it comes round, we will also be marking International Men’s Day too.
www.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk