Andrea Greystoke, Founder of Abercorn School, is a leading education pioneer who hails benefits of mixed sex education on work and personal lives.
Andrea founded the central London ‘family’ of schools, Abercorn. She cautions us to the fact that gender abuse and inequality in the workplace, and in relationships, is likely to continue for longer in our society unless gender bias at schools is addressed by embracing a mixed sex approach to academic, sporting, creative and pastoral education from the early ages of a pupil’s life.
Commenting on the importance of nurturing children from a young age in a mixed-sex environment, Andrea Greystoke, who made history earlier in her career by becoming the first-ever female teacher at St. Paul’s School for Boys and latterly at King’s College School in Wimbledon, stated:
“Preparing pupils for their future lives and careers in a mixed sex environment not only gives children a more realistic grounding for the future world, but it also has tangible benefits for their personal development, enabling pupils to form authentic, meaningful, and respectful relationships that are not differentiated by a perceived gender line.”
Andrea Greystoke has also urged schools, whether they are mixed sex or single sex to offer all academic, sporting, creative and pastoral subjects to both boys and girls to ensure that subjects and activities should no longer be predicated by gender:
“It is vitally important that girls are offered the same opportunities to learn STEM subjects and participate in sports like football and rugby, and equally, all boys are actively encouraged to study subjects which once belonged to an old-fashioned tired mentality which dictated what a ‘female’ subject and profession should be.”
“Schools in the UK have an opportunity to become leaders in offering a more open education where gender bias to academia and pastoral care is eradicated. Addressing gender equality within education offers the best chance to mitigate future gender bias and the mistreatment of women and men in later life.”
Even in countries like Norway, which is largely considered to foster one of the most open and equal societies between genders, two of the most gender-segregated occupations are nursing (90% women) and engineering (90% men).1
At Abercorn, children are encouraged to pursue their interests regardless of their own gender status, with all boys and girls participating in sports with mixed teams for sports such as hockey, football, and netball. All students also take part in yoga sessions, as Abercorn places particular importance on wellbeing, in addition to academic excellence. Cooking, woodwork, and sewing are taught to both genders under the umbrella of ‘Design Technology’, while all pupils are actively encouraged to study STEM subjects such as ICT and coding in an age-appropriate way from 2 years of age.
Andrea Greystoke continued: “A clear non-gendered approach to early education, which has the capability to be at the forefront of social change, would provide a quicker, more natural route to much-needed gender equality, than having to tackle the issue subsequently in the workplace, where longer-established and deeper-rooted gender biases are often already established.
“As a new generation emerges, schools have a responsibility to accelerate gender equality, facilitating societal change from the very early stages of a child’s development. Mixed sex environments are preparing the future generation for a balanced world, and an equal workplace.”
In October 2021, Abercorn School announced it will become one of only a few schools in the UK to take and nurture pupils through the complete educational journey from the ages of 2 until 18, after confirming its expansion and the acquisition of additional new premises (its first to accommodate 11–18-year-olds.) All four premises are situated within close proximity of one another in central London.
About Abercorn
Abercorn is a ‘family’ of schools in London which offers an inspiring and caring academic environment for children aged 2-18. Its curriculum places great importance on wellbeing, while striking a balance between academic excellence, including the sciences, combined with a pursuit of the arts.
As part of the expansion, additional premises have been secured. Abercorn now has four separate premises, all within walking distance of one another in central London. In Abercorn’s most recent inspection, the school was considered excellent in all areas. A true love of learning is encouraged at Abercorn, and the school provides its pupils with a quality educational start to life.
https://www.abercornschool.com/
About Andrea Greystoke
Andrea Greystoke, who founded Abercorn in 1987, made history in her earlier career when she became the first ever female teacher at St Paul’s Boys School and similarly at King’s College School. Born and raised in New York and San Francisco, she was educated at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley and King’s College London where she pursued undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Mathematics.
Based on the success of Abercorn, and her knowledge of the US system and the New York market, Andrea Greystoke also opened Abercorn’s sister school The British International School of New York in 2006, both of which share common values of a global education.
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