Girls' Schools Association

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Girls' Schools Association
AbbreviationGSA
Formation1974
PurposeProfessional association for headteachers of independent girls' schools
HeadquartersSuite 105
108 New Walk
Leicester
England
Region served
Mainly United Kingdom
President
2020–21: Jane Prescott [1]
Affiliations ISC
Website gsa.uk.com

The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council.

Contents

History

The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headmistresses which was founded in 1874 by Dorothea Beale and Frances Buss. The aim was to agree which issues need challenging and which could be ignored. Buss served as the founding president. [2]

Enid Essame of Queenswood School was an honorary secretary before she became president in 1960. [3] She was succeeded by Diana Reader Harris in 1964. [4] She was in post until 1966, and organised a response to the Plowden Report.

It[ clarification needed ] was established in 1974 following the amalgamation of two of the AHM's sub-groups: the Association of Heads of Girls' boarding Schools and the Association of Independent and Direct Grant Schools. It moved from London to new headquarters in Leicester in 1984, where it shared offices with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) before moving to its current office, still in Leicester.

Structure

The chief executive is Donna Stevens.[ citation needed ]

Member schools

Below is a list of GSA member schools. Some members are the girls' sections of "Diamond Schools".

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Overseas members

Former members

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothea Beale</span> English suffragist and college principal, 1831–1906

Dorothea Beale LL.D. was a suffragist, educational reformer and author. As Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College, she became the founder of St Hilda's College, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roedean School</span> Girls school in Roedean near Brighton, East Sussex, England

Roedean School is an independent boarding and day school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sussex Downs, on a cliff overlooking Brighton Marina and the English Channel. It is widely regarded as the "Eton College" of all-girls boarding schools in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford High School, England</span> Private day school in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England

Oxford High School is a private day school for girls in Oxford, England. It was founded by the Girls' Day School Trust in 1875, making it the city's oldest girls' school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenswood School</span> Independent school in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England

Queenswood School is a girls-only independent school located near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London. It offers admission at ages 11, 13 or 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford High School, Bedfordshire</span> Independent school in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England

Bedford High School for Girls was a private school for pupils aged 7 to 18 in Bedford, England. It was one of a number of schools run by the Harpur Trust. The school was located on its original site in Harpur ward, near the centre of Bedford, until its closure in 2012. In September 2010 the junior department of the school merged with the junior department of Dame Alice Harpur School. From September 2011 to September 2012 the senior schools also merged, the new school is known as Bedford Girls' School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Buss</span> British educator and feminist (1827–1894)

Frances Mary Buss was a British headmistress and a pioneer of girls' education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streatham and Clapham High School</span> Independent school, day school

Streatham & Clapham High School is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18, in south London. The school was founded in 1887 by the Girls' Public Day School Company, which established schools for girls providing academic, moral and religious education.

Talbot Heath School is a selective, private day and boarding school for girls aged 3–18 located in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The school was founded as Bournemouth High School in 1886 by founding headmistress Mary Broad. Talbot Heath was originally a Church of England School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Brock</span> British academic and educator (1886-1969)

Dame Madeline Dorothy Brock was an English educationist. She served as Headmistress of the Mary Datchelor Girls' School, Camberwell, London from 1918 to 1950. She oversaw the evacuation of the school during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Felix School</span> Private, day and boarding school in Southwold, Suffolk, England

Saint Felix School is a 2–18 mixed, private, day and boarding school in Reydon, Southwold, Suffolk, England. The school was founded in 1897 as a school for girls but is now co-educational.

MyDaughter was a British website set up by the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) offering advice to parents of daughters on all aspects of raising and educating girls. Advice was provided by headteachers from the member schools of the Girls' Schools Association and other specialists in fields such as nutrition, psychology, health education and business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Reader Harris</span> British school principal 1912–1996

Dame Muriel Diana Reader Harris was an English educator, school principal and public figure. She was a keen advocate of women's ordination in the Church of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Newark Academy</span> Academy in Balderton/, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England

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Mary Walker was a Scottish teacher who was the founding head of the first Scottish teacher training college and the head of the first Scottish day school, St. George's High School for Girls to teach girls to pass university entrance exams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmeline Mary Tanner</span>

Dame Emmeline Mary Tanner, DBE was a British headmistress and educational reformer. She led several schools including Roedean. She was appointed a dame for her contribution to the Education Act 1944.

Ethel Trew was a British headmistress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enid Essame</span>

Enid Mary Essame aka "Emma" Essame was a British headmistress whose whole career was teaching at Queenswood School. She led the school from 1944 to 1971.

Dame Margaret Joyce Bishop was an English educator who was head master of Holly Lodge High School for Girls in Smethwick from 1925 to 1935 and then of Godolphin and Latymer School for Girls in Hammersmith, West London between 1935 and 1963. She was associated with the primary school teacher training institute Froebel College, Roehampton and its associated Ibstock Place School of which she chaired the governors from 1964 to 1979. Bishop was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1953 before being upgraded to Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire ten years later.

References

  1. Peck, Sally (24 March 2020). "Are single-sex schools finished?". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. "Buss, Frances Mary (1827–1894), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37249 . Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Essame, Enid Mary [Emma] (1906–1999), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73466 . Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  4. "Harris, Dame (Muriel) Diana Reader (1912–1996), educationist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63305 . Retrieved 18 October 2020.