SE CHRONICLE 684

10 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

of residence and for the flats and houses that they are likely to share when they start work – living and working alongside each other in Cooper Lodge, Apsley and Sing’s. The younger pupils have role models who are both boys and girls – not just because they see both boys and girls serving as Prefects and Heads of House but also because they see great examples in academic work, in sport and in the arts among the girls and boys in the Sixth Form to whom they naturally look up – and whose example they are then inspired to follow in different directions and different ways. That’s what diversity looks like. The sports programme has undergone a number of changes in recent years. Tell us how it is shaped by our co-educational ethos. The programme for sport is about performance and about participation, but above all it is about education – some of the best lessons for life are learnt on the court, on the pitch or on the river. Hockey provides a great example – it has been a hugely successful sport for boys and girls at Teddies for many years. Cricket has followed the same model, and our girls’ teams have become as successful and highly regarded as our boys’ teams. One of the highlights of last year was the festival of cricket at Wormsley, when the girls’ 1st XI played Downe House in the morning and the boys 1st XI played Eton in the afternoon. It was made even better by the fact that we won both fixtures! So, to answer your question, girls and boys are inspired by each other’s example in sport, training together, sometimes competing together, always learning together.

Fourth Form Army cadets following their win in the obstacle course competition in April

What’s your own experience of co educational or single-sex education or workplace environments? How have these experiences shaped your current thinking about co-education? When I was at Eton, there was not much flexibility at weekends and it was a much more closed community, so it was quite a change to move from an all-boys environment at school to a mixed college at Oxford. University was a completely different environment, and it would have been easier for me and for some of my peers from single sex schools – both boys and girls – if that co-ed environment had been more familiar. Two of my three bosses at Schroders, where I worked as a fund-manager for five years before becoming a teacher, were women – of whom there were not many in senior roles in the City in the early 2000s. Schroders was then and is now a progressive employer, but there’s no doubt that lessons in equality

and inclusion are best learnt at school. That’s another strength of a co-educational school – children learn a huge amount just through observation, and here they can see equality, diversity and inclusion every day. You have no doubt given co-education a great deal of thought. Have any particular studies or pieces of research been particularly helpful? When I started to look at moving from Eton and from Harrow, I did a lot of research into co-education. It was the obvious gap in my CV for interviewers to ask about! Two of the best papers that I have read were published by the Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER), both written by Pamela Robinson and Alan Smithers. The first in 1997 was a summary built on their previous research, the second in 2006 was supported by the HMC. There are always arguments on both sides of an educational debate, and Smithers and Robinson set them out very clearly. I’m sure the governors of the many schools which have gone co-ed in the last ten years are very familiar with their work! We’re obviously going in that direction. Until the 1960s, almost all children in the UK went to single-sex schools; by 2018, it was just 6%. The trend seems to be accelerating too. The number of single-sex independent schools has roughly halved since the early 1990s, and some famous names have been in the papers recently. When I was at Eton, I don’t think anyone would have seen Winchester going Do you think single sex education will disappear?

POLLY HAYTER What I most value about being part of a co-educational community is that it prepares you for university and further professional life. Coming from an all-girls’ school to Teddies Sixth Form, I have learned to appreciate co-education as it has helped me to build confidence when working in a team and has taught me to voice my opinions comfortably. Working with the opposite gender increases understanding and respect for both sexes as both male and female views are heard. For example, for English A-level, we are studying Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale, in which we learn about how the

patriarchal society viewed women in the 14th century, but we have also read the story of Judith in the Apocrypha and discussed women using their sexuality as a weapon. This learning experience can only be fully appreciated, debated and respected in a co-educational environment.