This week, as we prepare for International Women’s Day on Saturday, there have been special events to celebrate the day across the School: Assemblies for students, initiatives led by the Senior School Social Justice Committee and the International Women’s Day lunch which brings together many different parts of the Lowther Hall Community including parents, past parents, students and past students, School Council, Foundation members and staff. International Women’s Day is a wonderful opportunity each year to celebrate the achievements of women, but it is also a time to remember the areas of gender inequity or female subjugation that still exist around the globe. As the principal of a thriving girls’ school, it is sometimes easy to forget the fact that there continue to be areas of work and study where women are under-represented, because of course at Lowther Hall, the girls do it all – they study coding, and physics, they play football and soccer, they occupy all the available leadership positions. They are prepared to give everything a go and do it to the best of their ability. I was thinking about this earlier this week  as I sat with 550 teenagers in the Cultural Centre and they performed their House Performing Arts productions. There they were, every girl, including neurodiverse girls, shy girls, girls with significant health challenges and the Year 7s who joined us only 5 weeks ago, all up there, in front of their peers, singing, dancing and acting, directing, moving the back stage gear around, operating the sound and the lights with not one of them wondering, “Is this something a girl should be doing?” There they were, giving 100%, because that’s what Lowther Women do. They just do it. Essentially, because they are in an environment where they can. We have girls who for 105 years have seen other girls and the girls who went before them, embrace every opportunity. 

But sometimes this opportunity embracing, this filling all the available space comes at a price. The girls throw themselves in and take it all on – especially the leaders – and they carry their responsibilities heavily – all while they continue to navigate the challenges of childhood and adolescent life.  This is why it is so important that our girls are part of a community in which so many old grammarians stay involved. Our girls see other Lowther Women who are further advanced in their journeys and can provide a broader context and a sense of inspiration. They demonstrate how girls can occupy all sorts of spaces and flourish. And our girls need them: to stay connected, to share their experiences. They are a protective factor with their wisdom, their life experiences, their mistakes and recoveries. It is also incredibly valuable to have other supportive adults – both male and female, who can advocate for them, show faith in them and share the space with them.  We often reiterate our desire at Lowther Hall which is to make the world a better place because more Lowther girls are in it. And with all of these fine role models and supporters around them, I know that they will do just that. As we celebrate International Women’s Day I feel incredibly optimistic about a future that has our girls leading the way!

Ms Elisabeth Rhodes
Principal