The Renaissance of Girls' Education in England: A Record of Fifty Years' ProgressZimmern, Alice
History
The Renaissance of Girls' Education in England: A Record of Fifty Years' Progress
Zimmern, Alice
Women -- Education -- Great Britain
St. Leonard’s School, as it has been called since it acquired the old
buildings and beautiful grounds of the ancient St. Leonard’s College, is
organised with a school-house and seven boarding-houses, each under the
charge of a mistress. With all the girls under the control of the
head-mistress it is possible to carry out the prefect system, and, by
giving a good deal of responsibility to the Sixth Form, remove that
element of excessive supervision which was often a harmful element in
the old-fashioned boarding-school. Each house constitutes a small
community, with its separate dining-room and study, where each of the
elder girls has a small writing-table and bookshelf. Some rules prevail
in all, _e.g._ that no work shall be done before breakfast or after 8.30
P.M. School hours are from 9 to 12.30 every day, with special subjects
in the afternoon. After dinner about one and a half hours are given to
games under charge of a special mistress. There is a playground of
sixteen acres, which comprises cricket-field, golf-course, lawn and
gravel tennis-courts, large hockey-courts and fives-courts, etc. The St.
Leonard’s girls are renowned for their skill in games.
With a school thus organised the life of the girls is made easier. There
is no conflict of aims; in term-time the school claims its due, in
holidays the home. Whether this is theoretically the best plan is an
academic rather than a practical question, but it is undoubtedly
beneficial to the studies and health of the girls. A mistress who is
intimately acquainted with the work of every Form can check overwork
more effectually than the most anxious mother, who is incapable of
judging from that school point of view which looms so large in the young
girl’s mind. Loyalty and public spirit, developed by this joint life of
small communities within a large one, are important factors in forming
character, and the general atmosphere of alternate work and play without
the excessive excitement of home gaieties and the distraction of
domestic interests unquestionably facilitates study. Whether the gains
to character really outweigh the advantages of the family life depends
so entirely on the arrangements and atmosphere of each particular home,
that it is impossible to give any general opinion. At any rate results
seem to show that this class of school is one of the chief needs for
girls at the present time. A good deal of attention had been drawn to
St. Leonard’s School in England, and in spite of the distance many girls
were in the habit of journeying northwards three times a year for the
sake of sharing in its advantages. At last a number of educationalists
decided to establish a school of this kind in England, and induced Miss
Dove, who had now placed the Northern school on a thoroughly
satisfactory basis, to organise a similar one in the South. The
Education Company, Limited, was formed, with a council of which the
Master of Trinity became president. It was fortunate enough to secure
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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