Why choose an all-girls’ school ?
At St Helen and St Katharine, we’ve got a single focus. Girls.
Their needs, their ambitions, their voices.
Whether it’s the techniques our teachers use to fuel discovery, the facilities and opportunities we prioritise, or the extra-curricular adventures we make possible, we’re able to shape everything around what girls need to thrive.
The world has come a long way, but full equality isn’t a reality yet. Gender privilege still exists. If girls want a fair chance to forge a career they enjoy, earn the money they deserve and build the relationships they want, then they need to be on equal footing with boys. But that can’t happen unless we intentionally carve out a space for them to gain the things it takes to put them there.
A space that’s free of stereotypes, expectations or judgement. A space that protects and champions them. A space that gives them exactly what they need to stride out into the world and take their place in it.
That’s what we offer.
A space where her choices are uninhibited
Coeducational schools might offer your daughter a similar range of subjects and extra-curricular activities. But their context will limit which ones she takes up. Restrictive norms, narratives and expectations are simply too pervasive.
However, girls who are shielded from that agenda by learning in an all-girl environment are much more likely to study subjects traditionally dominated by boys. For example, at A level, girls in a single-sex school are 2.9 times more likely than girls in a co-ed setting to take Further Mathematics, 2.3 times more likely to take Physics, and 1.79 times more likely to take Computer Science.
Here, girls can feel free to pursue the subjects and opportunities they enjoy and are good at, following no agenda but their own.
A space where her talents are respected
If more women are going to gain the careers they want rather than the ones they – or society – think they should have, the confidence and competence to do that have to be grasped earlier on.
Girls in single-sex schools consistently perform better than their peers in co-educational schools at both Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 (and this is true across both state and independent schools). They’re also 30% more likely to take on leadership roles in university or professional settings compared to their coeducated peers.
The possibilities for their future are wider too. Girls educated in an all-girl environment are significantly more likely to pursue mathematics, science and engineering degrees at university compared to the national average for girls. This means graduates from all-girls’ schools are also much more likely to enter STEM careers.
50% of girls’ school alumnae have worked in a STEM-related field at some point, even though women make up only 8% of the overall STEM workforce. Also just over 16% have worked in a finance-related role, compared to the national figure of only 3% of working women.
Here, girls find a safe place to unleash their curiosity, grow their independence and ignite their ambitions.
A space where her happiness is heightened
The one thing parents want most for their children – girls and boys alike – is for them to be happy. Happiness is rooted in feeling that you’re understood, valued and accepted, and it’s been consistently proven that girls are most likely to experience those things in a single-sex setting.
Being in an all-girl environment will make your daughter’s school life more enjoyable and give her a stronger sense of wellbeing. Girls in single-sex settings experience less bullying and harassment and have been shown to have higher levels of self-worth and feel more positively about their bodies than their peers in coeducational schools.
More importantly, it sets them up for greater happiness later in life. Multiple studies have shown that girls who attend girls-only schools grow into women with higher self-esteem, stronger relationships and greater resilience than their co-ed counterparts.
Here, girls experience – and learn how to nurture – a strong sense of community, belonging and mutual respect, which cements their confidence and wellbeing as adults.
Our girls never need to shrink themselves to fit other people’s expectations. Having a space where everything is designed for them gives them room to explore, to experiment, to question, to play, to perform, to lead – on their terms. No fear. No distractions. No limits.
