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To celebrate International Women’s Day a group of 10 girls attended an evening lecture during which three high achieving women spoke about their careers: Dr Preti Tameja, Dr Hannah Macleod and Dr Tanya Byron. Dr Tameja was selected as a New Generation Thinker for her work looking at intercultural and inter-disciplinary re-interpretations of Shakespeare. Dr Macleod was a member of the hockey team which won the gold medal in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. She said: “I am world-class. I am an Olympian. To see that as arrogance would be a misjudgement. I am just resilient, hardworking, respectful and downright driven”. Finally, Dr Byron spoke about our ability to control our minds and overcome adversity to achieve our aims. She is a neurologist and gave a lively description of how we can be controlled by our brains. These three women each had an impact on the audience and what they said will resonate with us for some time.

Another event which gave the chance to a selected group of boarders to think about their role in society was the Dads4Daughters evening. The aim was for fathers and father figures in the wider school community to think about their perception of women at work. The girls discussed several points such as the need to have aspirations, women’s general progress to achieving positions at company boardroom level and the need – or not – for quotas and how to continue making key positions accessible to women. Several boarders expressed their views publicly and reflected on the status of women in their own countries thus bringing an insightful international dimension to the discussion. Through the girls’ contributions the audience was able to make a more informed comparison between the challenges faced by women in the UK and those working abroad. The importance of their own contribution to the evening’s discussion was not wasted on the boarders.

I thanked and praised the girls who attended these events; some of the girls needed a degree of persuasion to attend but much to their credit each one of them embraced these evenings intelligently. On the journey home and later in the boarding house there were many positive comments from the girls about their experiences.

Boarders in Year 7 to Year 9 visited an interesting exhibition held at one of the oldest colleges of the University of Cambridge, St John’s College. Under The Knife at St John’s was a display of original artefacts and documents tracing revolutionary developments in modern anatomy and dissection. It formed part of the university’s very popular and successful Science Festival. While it was a compulsory trip for younger boarders we were also joined by a Year 10 student who harbours plans to be a surgeon one day.

Meanwhile a trip to the Harry Potter Experience in London and a shopping trip to Birmingham allowed for some light-hearted distraction and good fun which is also an essential part of boarding life.

Boarders' concert

The annual boarders’ concert took place on Thursday 23 March; it was a joy to behold: the girls danced and played music with skill and enthusiasm that showcased the best of what our school has to offer in light entertainment. Moreover, and significantly, the whole event was organised by the girls themselves. I was very proud of them all and especially of the Head Boarder, Julie C., who did an amazing job in motivating and organising all the performers. Ms Avery, in her address at the end of the concert, spoke movingly about the special place of boarders at the heart of the school. Click here to view more photos of the concert.