WOW

On Monday 29 February a group of eight Sixth Form students were selected to take part in the Women of the World (WOW) Cambridge branch annual lunch, to mark International Women’s Day. The girls heard about networking and fundraising, and also had the opportunity to listen to a very insightful lecture by Nick Chrimes, author of Treasure Island in the Fens – a historical account of Cambridge.

Mr Chrimes shared his understanding of the changing position and role of women in Cambridge, particularly within the University of Cambridge, highlighting the frequent links between the social position of women with the religious and political views of the time. He highlighted that women’s access to education has been limited for so long due to their ‘primary’ role being seen as supporting husbands and bearing children. Our foundress Mary Ward was a woman well ahead of her time in this respect; she decided to go against ‘the done thing’ of marrying and instead dedicate her life to the pursuit of providing women with opportunities, especially the right to an education, hence her founding of schools such as our own.

The girls attending the event were surprised to hear about Lady Margaret Beaufort, a 15th Century woman who, despite funding two colleges in Cambridge (St John’s and Christ’s), was still not permitted to attend services in their respective chapels – instead she had to receive communion in a private room attached to one of the chapels.

It is important for our girls to learn about the plight of women, even within the last 100 years, so that they are inspired and encouraged to make the most of their own opportunities, and to play their part in the pursuit of genuine gender parity. It was the third time our school has supported WOW and the team is already looking forward to doing so again in 2017.