Rachel Donati interviews Marina Gardiner Legge, this year’s Girls’ Schools Association president and head of Oxford High School, about her ambitions – and concerns – for the year ahead in girls-only education:
Marina, as you enjoy your first term as president of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) this year, what’s your ambition?
I want the world to understand the power, efficacy, and agency that girls’ schools give to the pupils within them. I also want to “sing the joy” of education and celebrate the way it changes lives for the better.
Do you feel that it’s bad that girls-only education is still deemed necessary today?
It’s more than disappointing that the world is not yet a place of equal opportunity for women. Today women continue to face multiple barriers to their success. In the UK alone this includes: the motherhood penalty, pay gap and lack of affordable childcare for working mothers. Internationally we are seeing a sharp erosion in girls’ education and rights, including in countries such as Afghanistan and the USA for example.
Girls’ schools play a vital role in offering inspiring spaces of freedom and fairness to girls. Through a proven girls-first education we equip young women for a successful and rewarding life in the modern world. Our schools honour who they are, as they are. No girl should feel as though she should have to apologize or minimise herself, or that she cannot study for or choose the life she wishes to live.
“I don’t think those behind this policy are deliberately targeting girls but it is a real risk.”
Girls don’t feel like “girls” in a girls-only school: they are individuals and aren’t restricted by gender stereotypes or limitations. There aren’t “boy subjects” or “girl subjects” or girls’ teams or boys’ teams – there are just teams and just subjects. Every individual in a girls’ school defines their own parameters; that’s liberating.
Until the world is as it should be, GSA, and its schools and pupils are at the vanguard of creating a more equitable world. Girls’ schools and girls’ education have always been, and continue to be, the change.
Clearly girls-only schools are still popular; why do you think this is?
First and foremost, it is because they are great schools. In our schools, through our heads and whole school communities, we possess a deep understanding and collective experience of educating young women that stretches back hundreds of years. GSA schools nurture, encourage, and empower future generations of women; in our schools every girl can expect her ambition and individuality to be honoured and celebrated.
What drives parents to choose a girls-only education?
All parents want to choose a school that’s right for their child. Not every girl is the same and we understand this at GSA and have different schools available to suit every girl at every age; from smaller urban day schools to larger country boarding schools, from pre-prep to all-through schools. It’s heartening that we have so much variety to offer. There’s an excellent girls-only school choice available for every girl, and this is what parents look for and want for their children.
There isn’t a “one size fits all education” and nor would we want there to be.
The reasons why girls-only schools are best for girls are well documented. The most recent Department of Education data reveals that in girls’ schools: girls are 2.6 times as likely to take further maths and more than twice as likely to take physics and computer science A-levels compared with girls in co-ed schools. Uptake in sciences is also higher, biology is 40 per cent higher, chemistry is 85 per cent higher and maths is 88 per cent higher.
“We only have one life – teaching and working with young people is a great way to live it.”
Computer science has seen the largest growth in uptake for girls, with the percentage of girls taking the subject doubling in girls’ schools and 68 per cent higher than in co-ed schools.
Girls continue to outperform students in co-ed schools in KS5; girls perform better in girls’ schools than in co-ed schools in KS4, looking at all subjects as a whole, and also for maths and English separately. The data also revealed that the gap between girls in girls’ schools and girls in other types of schools is continuing to widen in further maths, chemistry and computer science, so girls’ schools are acting as stewards and guardians of these subjects for young women today.
VAT and the future of independent schools is at the forefront of many school leaders’ minds; what are your thoughts on this?
I, along with all the heads at GSA schools, want to protect and preserve the best educations for young women today. It’s imperative that we do.
These proposed policy changes have the potential to hit girls the hardest by reducing access to transformative educations for girls nationwide. Many hard-working middle-class families faced with the cost-of-living crisis coupled with increased fees, are likely to struggle to keep their daughters in our independent girls’ schools; some smaller schools who serve their local communities could be forced to close.
Will those pupils be made to attend any school in their local community, including co-ed? We all want children to have as broad a choice in their education as possible, one that fits them best. An enforced exit seems to be very far from that vision of educational excellence that we all desire for every child. Personally, I would not want to see someone’s daughter miss out on the benefits they have come to enjoy through a girls-first education.
“We all want children to have as broad a choice in their education as possible.”
Much is in flux now, I’m hopeful that common sense will prevail through sensible, constructive conversations with Labour, and we will continue to offer the best education to every girl and family. I want every girl to have the opportunity of a girls’ only education. I don’t think those behind this policy are deliberately targeting girls but it is a real risk.
With both independent and state schools in GSA’s growing membership we have always worked in close partnership with parents and young people in the communities our schools serve, and in partnership for the benefit of all.
Within my own school at Oxford High School we run all day science workshops for local primary schools led by our own students. Many other schools in the GSA network support local schools, some have even set up schools in partnership. Independent schools deliver public benefit working collaboratively with state partners through 7,000 partnerships: they are already working to do more and want to continue to increase their bursaries and partnership work.
What are your thoughts about non-binary and trans pupils and the changing gender landscape; how do they fit in at schools built for girls? How does this work in your own school?
In my school, and I’m sure I can speak for other GSA heads across the country, I am keen to give every pupil the best possible opportunity and education. We are leaders in schools because we want to teach and inspire. Our schools are some of the absolute best in the world and our heads have always provided a caring and supportive environment for every student and family.
The topic of transgender pupils in education has become a political football, sadly often characterised by toxic and purposely polarising debate. This doesn’t serve our children, or us, well. The much-awaited DfE guidance on transgender pupils in education will provide all schools with much-welcomed clarity.
“The topic of transgender pupils is sadly often characterised by toxic and purposely polarising debate.”
What I find interesting is that when I reflect on my own experiences with my own students is that unhelpful and unkind conversation does not feature. I find girls love their friends irrespective of how they might identify, perhaps it is because girls and women continue to fight for their own independence and equality that they feel ready to stand alongside and support others? Our students know how important it is to feel included, and we do all we can in our schools for every pupil to feel welcomed in.
And finally, as a female leader in education now what is your advice to future female leaders in education?
We’ve heard so much about the demands of leadership in schools and it’s been tough leading our communities during Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis, but it is the most rewarding role. Working with young people is an absolute privilege – it makes me cry, laugh, and everything in between but no day is ever alike.
Schools are unique. Everyone is there because they want young people to feel supported and succeed – it’s a mission and one we are lucky to play a part in. We only have one life – teaching and working with young people is a great way to live it!
Marina Gardiner Legge – mini-biography:
Born in India and schooled in North Borneo and Singapore, Marina Gardiner Legge was educated at a GSA school before going on to read English Language and Literature at Somerville College, which inspired a love of poetry that still burns brightly today. On completing her Oxford studies, she went on to work for a decade in advertising and marketing in London and Miami, before assuming the role of president at a charity based in Paris.
It wasn’t until she moved out to Hong Kong, several years later, that she discovered her passion for teaching and education and made the decision to study for a PGCE. Moving back to the UK, she joined Rutlish School as an English teacher, rising through the ranks to become head of year, assistant head and head of careers.
Following three years as director of studies at Heathfield School, Marina became headmistress in 2016 and joined Oxford High School as head in January 2021.
This article first appeared in the latest edition of School Management Plus magazine, out now.