Calling all parents and teachers of girls! If you want to set them up to be future leaders, CEOs and changemakers, read on – we’ve gleaned the key takeaways from the just-published Designing the Future of Girls’ Education. Released by the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) to help all schools, and parents across the UK level up the education experience for girls, it’s fascinating and frankly essential reading on how girls can thrive through three areas: classroom, curriculum and culture. Chances are you don’t have time to sit down, read and assimilate a 50 page report on the run up to Christmas (I mean, what’s wrong with you?!), so here are the highlights from the report that can inform how we educate girls as parents and teachers. Let’s smash that ceiling, shall we?

NO ‘I’ IN TEAM

While it’s not about gender stereotypes, research undertaken by GDST has shown that typically, girls prefer cooperative, discussion-led learning environments and adapt better to coursework tasks and collaborative, project-based activities. Particularly in co-ed settings, it’s about girls maximising their contributions in group work. How to do that? Former professional rower and Olympic medallist, Cath Bishop, says peer-to-peer learning and teamwork skills should be part of every school day. It’s about having a voice, feeling you belong to a group, and focusing on learning rather than exam outcomes.

HOW TO DISAGREE

Group learning may be beneficial to girls but only if they’re given the tools and support to make the most of it. According to the GDST report, girls need to learn ‘how to disagree’ and build confidence to engage with people who have different views from their own, particularly in a world where social media debates can quickly dissolve into toxic exchanges. It’s about both sides of the debate seeing it as critique. At Blackheath High School GDST, an enrichment programme for Y7-Y9 explores what ‘disagreeing well’ looks like and how to engage in civil discourse to help girls to navigate the complexities of the modern world. Afterall, we’re educating kids to a future that will be much less about what we know, and more about deciding what’s true before making decisions.

NO MORE ‘GOOD GIRLS’

If you’re seeing more boys raising their hands than girls in the classroom, there could be a couple of things going on. Girls can hold back through fear of failure, or because they’re stuck on doing things perfectly or being ‘good girl’ – i.e. follow the rules, sit down, be quiet and don’t cause a scene. This is getting in the way of being bold in class. Creating an environment where that can happen? It’s about harnessing positivity, kindness and courage.

ACING AT FAILING

Schools often talk of learning through failure, but putting it into practice is another story. The GDST report found that girls are encouraged to be compliant and project a kind of ‘effortless perfection’, making them averse to making mistakes. So it’s up to schools to normalise failure as a driving force of progress. It helps when there isn’t just a right and wrong. Kensington Prep School GDST does this by setting up activities that are deliberately awkward. Indeed, the World Economic Forum suggests that analytical and creative thinking are the top two most important skills needed by 2027.

NOT JUST FOR BOYS

Why is it that 2% of girls in UK schools study A Level physics, compared to 6.5% of boys, but that shoots up to 7.5% in girls’ schools? There’s a similar story across maths and computer science, with girls saying they don’t want to be in a minority, so subjects become gendered and girls then become less confident in their ability. How to correct it? The GDST says it’s about teachers breaking down stereotypes, other students leading the way, and engaging girls with fresh and contemporary subjects. Take the GDST Space Technology Diploma, which is about developing coders for computer science-based space tech. Shoot for the moon, girls.

THE 21ST CENTURY LEADERSHIP

Redefining leadership for those girls who feel being a leader means ‘being like a boy’ and leading from the front will improve leadership opportunities for girls. It’s about learning that competition can be healthy, and skills like collaborative problem-solving and empathy are valuable. GDST schools have been delivering this message through their co-curricular offering, especially sports, not just at a squad level but for all girls, with competition, participation and leadership opportunities in every session. Role models are a huge part of this, be it students in leadership roles or teachers.

Alumni can also be tapped into – at Portsmouth High School GDST, visiting speakers have included a solicitor, a pilot, a meteorologist and a former pupil who works in the English Football League. For schools without an extensive alumnae network there are social enterprises such as Founders4Schools.

BOSSING THE FINANCES

If girls don’t know how to manage their money on a practical level, then empowerment goes out of the window. They leave school with GCSE maths, but don’t understand interest rates, budgeting and tax. Wave a magic card in this cashless age, and you can have what you want. Practical skills of money management, plus encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset, gives girls a head start where previously they were behind. The GDST LEAD – Leadership Enterprise Advanced Diploma teaches girls how to create a sustainable business but also the nitty gritty of the workplace, navigating issues such as managing unconscious bias and how to negotiate a pay rise or shared parental leave. Genius.

• If the key takeaways from this report have grabbed your attention, find out more about why the GDST is a global leader in girls’ education and how to find a school close to you.