The Important Place of Girls' Schools

The ongoing debate between single-sex and co-educational schooling in Australia has continued to be the subject of news headlines and social media reels, with schools on the east coast continuing to explore moving from single-sex education to co-education. As the Principal of Walford Anglican School for Girls, a school that welcomes girls and boys in our co-educational Early Learning Centre, and girls only from Reception to Year 12, I see first-hand the benefits of a single-sex education for students.

Ever since Walford’s first Principal, Miss Lydia Adamson, brought her microscope to school to teach girls Science in the 1890s, Walford has provided a safe space that actively disrupts gender norms, encouraging girls to challenge societal expectations and pursue their ambitions fearlessly and without reservation or judgement. At Walford, as in other girls’ schools, gender stereotypes and gendered distractions are stripped away and girls are free to focus on learning and to ‘come as they are’. This is reflected in our tight-knit, inclusive culture of high care and high challenge, where each student is treasured for her unique gifts and talents, and celebrated for who she is and who she is becoming.

In Walford’s Junior School classrooms, girls have the space and attention to thrive, to be noticed and to have their needs addressed. In the Middle School years, as girls become more aware of societal pressures and more engaged in their own developing identities, the sanctuary of Walford’s Middle School classrooms and intentionally-designed wellbeing and leadership programs help girls navigate these challenging years. Walford’s Year 6 and 7 Leadership Academy develops girls’ confidence and leadership skills at a key time in their growth to maturity. In the senior secondary years, Walford’s Senior School is structured to be highly agile, responsive and flexible, supporting students to exercise voice, choice and agency. Walford offers its students bespoke pathways, including acceleration, enrichment and support. In the senior years, Walford often tailors student pathways to each girl, whether to support elite athletes with their commitments, or to enable early study of SACE, VET and university courses.

While Walford students have regular opportunities for co-educational experiences, such as through the performing arts, excursions, socials and committees, Walford’s single-sex classroom environments offer deep, focused learning and tailored teaching. Students arrive ready to learn, eager to engage, and aspiring to achieve. Our girls pursue every interest and achieve in any field. Students enjoy a huge range of co-curricular opportunities across sports, music, the arts and debating. They are offered opportunities for language immersion tours, ski trips, and our biennial STEM and Space Tour to the USA, which gives girls in Years 9-12 the opportunity to explore real-world space and aviation experiences, including the NASA-inspired Space Camp.

While advocates of co-education argue that co-ed schools better reflect real-world environments in which students can learn to socialise and collaborate, the ‘real world’ continues to be a place of marked gender inequity. The 2024 Global Gender Gap Index places Australia at 24th in the world overall in gender equity, and at 28th for Political Empowerment, 42nd for Economic Participation and Opportunity, 84th for Educational Attainment, and 88th for Health and Survival. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the national gender pay gap is 11.5%, in favour of men, as of August 2024. In real terms, that means that in Australia, for every dollar on average a man earns, a woman earns 89 cents. At Walford, the ‘real world’ is not something we aspire to emulate, but rather to challenge.

At Walford we live and breathe our commitment to being the change we want to see in the world for girls and women, with old scholars engaging with current students, and women holding many of the senior leadership roles in our school. We know our students can be what they can see, and so we ensure that what they see is women unapologetically leading, speaking, doing, serving, and achieving, in any and all arenas. As reported in The Advertiser this year, 2023 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data showed that Walford is the school in South Australia with the largest gender pay gap in favour of women, at 12.4%.

As a single-sex school we tailor our school environment to our girls, ensuring that girls are not limited by assumptions and expectations that the ‘real world’ might offer. The cocoon of Walford’s single-sex school environment means that when students leave our school gates and enter the world beyond, they are well equipped with the confidence, capacity and lifelong community to blaze trails, live dreams, be pioneers of any industry, respected voices at any table, and leaders in any field.

Dr Deborah Netolicky
Principal