Children are great imitators: let's embrace it

“Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate.” Anonymous

These wise words of advice are often directed at parents, but I believe they are equally important for educators.

As an all-girls school, St Mary’s is focused on inspiring and empowering girls. An independent parent survey recently highlighted that current parents really value this and highlighted how they feel it impacts their daughters:

“Thank you to all staff for making these precious years so incredibly inspiring and fun for our little girl.” Parent Survey 2019

“St Mary’s is really a unique and wonderful learning community in Cambridge that values girls’ education and achievement above everything else.” Parent Survey 2019

This important parent feedback reflects the great emphasis we place on discovering and exploring role models from an early age – so that every girl, no matter what her individual strengths, finds ‘someone great to imitate’.

“How important it is for us to recognise and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” Maya Angelou

In our Junior School, we regularly celebrate ‘she-roes’, like our inspirational founder Mary Ward! By sharing positive female role models, we encourage girls to be curious about the world and to consider the personal strengths, skills and attitudes it takes to achieve your goals.

Girija, a Junior School student eloquently outlines who inspires her: "My favourite rebel girl is Purna Malavath, she is strong and determined and inspired me to persevere and keep on going. She is the youngest girl to climb Mt Everest … on the way she overcame lots of difficulties and risked lots just to prove that girls can do anything.”

Similarly, Gemma reveals that: "My inspirational girl is Greta Thunberg, because while world leaders sat at home doing nothing, she took to the streets and complained about climate change and aimed to inspire us children to do the same." 

She-roes are part of school-life, classes named after world leaders like mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, marine biologist Rachel Carson and artist Shamsia Hassani to a breadth of visiting speakers, who generously share their career experiences with us.

All our girls have to do is decide whose story resonates most with their own individual interests and aspirations for the future!

Read our Parent Survey in full: stmaryscambridge.co.uk/juniorsurvey