The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

History

The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headmistresses which was founded in 1874 by

Dorothea Beale Dorothea Beale LL.D. (21 March 1831 – 9 November 1906) was a suffragist, educational reformer and author. As Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College, she became the founder of St Hilda's College, Oxford. Early and family life Dorothea Beale ...

and

Frances Buss Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827 – 24 December 1894) was a British headmistress and a pioneer of girls' education. Life The daughter of Robert William Buss, a painter and etcher, and his wife, Frances Fleetwood, Buss was one of six of thei ...

. The aim was to agree which issues need challenging and which could be ignored. Buss served as the founding president.

Enid Essame Enid Mary Essame aka "Emma" Essame (5 December 1906 – 19 December 1999) was a British headmistress whose whole career was teaching at Queenswood School. She led the school from 1944 to 1971. Life Essame was born in Sheffield in 1906. Her Angli ...

Queenswood School Queenswood School is a girls-only independent school located near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London. It offers admission at ages 11, 13 or 16 (for sixth form). The ''Good Schools Guide'' 2013 described Queenswood as "a girls' sc ...

was an honorary secretary before she became president in 1960. She was succeeded by

Diana Reader Harris Dame Muriel Diana Reader Harris (11 October 1912, Hong Kong – 7 October 1996, Salisbury, Wiltshire) was an English educator, school principal and public figure.Caroline M. K. Bowden: Harris, Dame (Muriel) Diana Reader (1912–1996). In: ''Oxf ...

in 1964. She served until 1966 organising a considered response to the influential

Plowden Report The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education (England) into Primary education in England. The report, entitled ''Children and their Primary Schools'', reviewed primary education in a wh ...

. It was established in 1974 following the amalgamation of two of the AHM's sub-groups: the Association of Heads of Girls' boarding Schools and the Association of Independent and Direct Grant Schools. It moved from London to new headquarters in Leicester in 1984, where it shared offices with the

Association of School and College Leaders The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), formerly the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), is a UK professional association for leaders of schools and colleges. History The Association of Head Mistresses (AHM) was founded in 1874. The ...

(ASCL) before moving to its current office, still in Leicester.

Structure

The GSA is a member-led organisation providing mutual professional support and representing the views of practising heads of independent girls' schools. A series of member-led committees report to a council of heads which is led by officers ie the president, vice-president (usually the previous year's president), the president-elect and treasurer. Each presidential position is usually held by a practising head for one calendar year.

Since 1994 the GSA has been supported by a professional secretariat which is currently led by Chief Executive Donna Stevens.

Member schools

Below is a list of GSA member schools. Some members are the girls' sections of "

Diamond Schools Diamond school, diamond model, diamond shape and diamond structure are similar terms that apply to a type of independent school in the UK that combines both single-sex and coeducational teaching in the same organisation. Typically, the establishmen ...

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

* Kilgraston School *

Mary Erskine School The Mary Erskine School, popularly known as "Mary Erskine's" or "MES", is an all-girls independent secondary school in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1694 and has a roll of around 750 pupils. It is the sister school of the all-boys Stew ...

, Edinburgh * St George's School, Edinburgh * St Margaret's School for Girls, Aberdeen

Wales

Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls is an independent school in Monmouth, Wales. The school was established by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1892, and continues to enjoy their support. It is part of a family of schools known as ...

* Howell's School Llandaff Northern Ireland * Victoria College Belfast

Channel Islands

Jersey College for Girls Jersey College for Girls (JCG, Jèrriais: ''Lé collège jèrriais pour les fil'yes'') is a government-run, fee-paying, academically selective

* The Ladies' College

Overseas members

San Silvestre School San Silvestre School is a British-Peruvian private school located in Lima, Peru. The program is girls only, non-residential and extends from early childhood (age 3) through Form VI (age 18). It is divided into Early Years (ages 3–7) Primary (a ...

, Peru
Unison World School

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

*La Vall School, Spain

Former members

Amberfield School Amberfield School was a small private school in Nacton, England, coeducational up to the age of 7 years, and for girls up to the age of 16 years, which was established in 1927 and closed in 2011 due to financial problems. The last headmistress w ...

– closed in October 2011 *

Casterton School Casterton School was an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years in the village of Casterton in rural Cumbria. In its final years it also admitted boys, up to the age of 11. The school ceased to exist in 2013, though a pr ...

– merged with

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

in 2013 * Lodge School – closed in 2010 * Dame Alice Harpur School and Bedford High School – merged to become

Bedford Girls' School Bedford Girls' School (BGS) is an independent school for girls which opened in September 2010 located in Bedford, in the English county of Bedfordshire. The school is a result of a merger of Bedford High School and Dame Alice Harpur School, and ...

(member school) in 2011 and 2012 * Peterborough High School – became coeducational in 2010 and renamed

The Peterborough School The Peterborough School, formerly Peterborough High School, is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school located in Peterborough, England. Founded as a day school for girls (with girl boarders until July 2013), it is now a coedu ...

* St Joseph's Convent School – became coeducational in 2010 and renamed St Joseph's College *

St Margaret's School, Edinburgh ) , established = 1890 , closed = 2010 , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , head = , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair ...

– closed in June 2010 * St Mary's School, Shaftesbury – closed in August 2020

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Education in Leicester 1974 establishments in England Organisations based in Leicestershire Organizations established in 1974 Private and independent school organisations in England Teacher associations based in the United Kingdom 1974 in education