STEM skills are high on the Government’s agenda, recognising that they play a crucial role in the UK economy. A range of recent government-sponsored reports highlight that over the coming years the importance of STEM is likely to increase.
1 South West Regional Skills, Enterprise and Employment Analysis, 2007, SLIM.

On Friday 17 May, the Red Maids’ School in Westbury on Trym will welcome girls from state and independent schools across the south west to hear from a number of high profile speakers.

Chris Barkey, one of three key note speakers, will travel from Derby to address the conference on the subject of “Engineering: For You, For Society”. Chris is Chief Operating Officer, Engineering & Technology, for Rolls-Royce.

Lucinda Billingham, Professor of Biostatistics within the School of Cancer Sciences at the University of Birmingham and an expert advisor for Cancer Research UK, will talk about “Making a difference in Medicine with Maths”.

Another key note speaker, Helen Fennell, is herself a former Red Maid. She now works for Petrofac Engineering & Consulting Services, is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and has won the Women in Science and Engineering Excellence Award.

Students can also choose from over 20 different workshops to attend – all being run by STEM experts and professionals.

Speaking of this event, Hugo Besterman, Director of Sixth Form at Red Maids’ said, “We are fully committed to helping our students access careers in STEM fields. Although women are still under-represented, an increasing number of our students have applied to do STEM subjects at university in recent years and have enjoyed a great deal of success.”

This year’s event follows previous similar Red Maids’ conferences on the subject of careers for women in medicine.

This year’s conference is sponsored by global software engineering company Broadcom, together with Smith & Williamson, one of the largest accountancy firms in the UK.

Ben Thomas, Headmaster of Thomas’s, Battersea, said that there was “far too much” tutoring in London. “I’ve got a real anxiety about tutoring,” he added. “It’s unregulated and unproven. It devours children’s time when they should be having a childhood.”

The topic was raised recently by the Girls’ Schools Association. Research conducted by the organisation indicated that head teachers of senior schools are also increasingly irritated by the practice of children being tutored for school admission. “Heads of senior schools and prep schools discourage this practice, as it masks the child’s innate abilities and is of no help to the child if they are tutored into a school for which they are not, in the long run, suitable,” said the study.

Clarissa Farr, High Mistress at St Paul’s Girls’ School, said: “We are seeing an increase in tutoring and therefore we now ask parents when they apply to declare what tutoring they have provided for their children.

“I am less concerned about the tutoring for admissions to private schools than that which goes on once they are there. I believe that there is a significant industry which trades on insecurity and exam anxiety, sometimes undermining rather than building confidence. There should be a charter which requires all tutors to register with the school any child they tutor attends, so that all parties can work together.”

Gwen Byrom, Headmistress of Loughborough High School, said: “I do have many prospective parents who assume tutoring is a necessary part of the admissions process, despite our best efforts to persuade them otherwise.”

See The Times 30th April 2013 to read more

The move comes amid fears that girls may be missing out on top jobs in later life by failing to push themselves in the same way as boys.

Heather Hanbury, the school’s headmistress, said women found it harder to “self-promote because they have this view that there will be a backlash” from their peers.

As part of a week-long series of activities starting on Monday, girls at the single-sex school will be asked to write down personal achievements such as passing music exams or making new friends on postcards which will be put up around the school.

Mrs Hanbury said girls needed to be shown how to celebrate success without exaggerating their achievements like some self-obsessed performers on TV shows such as X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.

“Women in general are known for finding it harder to trumpet their achievements and accomplishments than men, and teenage girls are particularly prone to fearing being perceived as being arrogant, immodest or boastful,” she said.

Read more in The Telegraph, 29th April 2013

Olivia, who has been shooting with the Hampshire Waterside Archers club for 3 years, had to wait several weeks for the confirmation from the Grand National Archery Society. She still has one more year to break her own record at this level before moving on to the adult competition.

Responding to comments made by a retired teacher at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) annual conference, Hilary French said:
“Plenty of girls already take the final exam iGCSE and achieve as good if not better grades than girls sitting the modular GCSE equivalents. Girls certainly need the opportunities to develop self-confidence but this has nothing to do with whether exams are modular or end of course. What matters is the classroom environment and the attitude and skills of teachers. End of course exams don’t have to mean rote learning but they do require the right approach and more teaching time. What girls really need are environments that are free from gender stereotyping. That’s how to tackle their tendency to perfectionism and enable them to take sensible intellectual risks.”

Girls’ Schools Association president Hilary French said of Malala’s return to school: “It’s always daunting starting a new school, especially midterm, but Malala and her family have made an excellent choice. She’s been through an awful lot in a short space of time and needs time to enjoy being a normal school girl.

“Girls’ schools enable all girls to flourish, free from stereotypes and discrimination, and, whatever Malala’s academic or extra-curricular interests, at Edgbaston High she will be able to pursue them without any pressure to look, be or act a certain way. She’s in the best environment to thrive and become an even stronger young woman than she has already proven herself to be.”

In The Telegraph 20/3/13 Jennifer O’Mahony offers some advice on dealing with British teenage girls and highlights what they can learn from her.