Excellent girls' schools continue to be in the press not only because they are producing students who gain outstanding academic success, but also because their girls become strong, confident, women.
New scientific methods which allow us a greater understanding of how the brain functions, explain why girls learn best at schools like Walford. Dr Leonard Sax summarises this clearly in his new book, "Why Gender Matters".
In girls and boys the brain develops differently. In girls, the language area of the brain generally develops quicker than the sections used for spatial relations. It is important to realise this when teaching, for example, geometry.
Girls, in a very different way to boys, process emotion in the same location as language and are more easily able to express their feelings from an early age. They often find the study of literature easy.
Teenage girls have a sense of hearing seven times acuter than teenage boys. This means that girls can be easily upset by shouting. However, probably more significant is the fact that boys and girls do respond to stress differently. Stress impairs learning amongst girls whereas boys tend to respond to stress by mastering the problem or learning.
Every year our girls tell us what made them into effective learners. They point out that they have been educated by teachers who understand their particular strengths and weaknesses. They have appreciated that their school is structured so that those who are developing their thinking skills are allowed to believe that they will find success especially in the middle years. They have the opportunity to cover concepts over and over again. Their classrooms have allowed the girls to talk and question and never to feel threatened. They work together to master new understandings and ways of thinking.
Good girls' schools provide an environment in which girls flourish. The science of the brain explains what the academic results prove. Graduates from girls' school have learnt to be sure they can learn in any field and have developed the skills to work productively in all manner of teams. They are confident and successful when they leave school.
If you have a daughter, she will still mix with boys in many interschool activities, but she will establish a network of female friends and a very clear understanding of how she learns best in an excellent girls' school like ours.
