Sunday 11 October was International Day of the Girl, the United Nations’ annual reminder that girls everywhere deserve the chance to learn, lead and shape the world around them. At Surbiton High School, that is not a once-a-year message. It is the thinking behind how our School is designed.
Why girls learn together from Year 7
Surbiton High School follows a diamond model. Boys and girls are taught in our separate Prep Schools, and from Year 7 our Senior School and Sixth Form are for girls. That means every classroom, club and leadership role in those years is shaped around how girls learn, lead and thrive.
In practice, girls take the lead in the play, captain the team and run the society, because those roles are theirs to take. Small classes help too: every girl is known well by her teachers and her tutor, so quieter talents are noticed and encouraged.
Confidence starts early at the Girls’ Prep
Leadership at the Girls’ Prep begins young. Form and Vice Form Captains are elected from Year 2, and our Pupil Leadership Team meets the Head every week to put forward pupils’ ideas. In Year 6, girls step up as Head Girl, Deputy Head Girl and Senior Prefects, acting as role models and ambassadors at School events.
Our ‘Take a Risk’ Week encourages girls to step outside their comfort zone on purpose, because courage, like any other skill, grows with practice. Most Girls’ Prep pupils then move up to Year 7 in our Senior School, carrying that confidence with them.
Ambition without limits
In the Senior School, ambition takes many forms. Some girls find it on the water or the pitch. Our Super Eight sports (cricket, football, netball, hockey, gymnastics, rowing, tennis and skiing) compete at borough, regional and national level, with much of the action at Hinchley Wood, our 39-acre sports ground. Others find it on stage, in the studio or in one of over 150 different co-curricular opportunities.
In the Sixth Form, girls choose from 32 A Level subjects, one of the largest offerings locally, and every Year 12 student can take on an Extended Project Qualification. Our Oxbridge Programme supports those aiming for the most competitive universities, and scholarships recognise talent in areas from academic study and art to drama, music and sport.
Unmistakably Surbiton
What ties it all together is a set of values every girl here will recognise: courage, inquisitiveness, respect and compassion. We want our girls to leave us confident in who they are, ambitious for what comes next and ready to contribute to the world around them.
This International Day of the Girl, we are celebrating every one of them: the quiet thinkers and the confident leaders, the scientists, sports stars and artists, and everyone still deciding what they will become.
If you would like to see what that looks like in person, explore our Girls’ Prep, Senior School and Sixth Form pages, or book a visit through our Visits & Open Days page.
