A lasting memory I have from our family summer break is in a canoe. Bodhi and I were racing my daughters around Lake Windermere, in glorious conditions – sun beams bouncing off the clear, calm water, the bluest of cloudless skies above, a sense of escape from dry land with a beautiful landscape as backdrop.

Within an hour, this was swiftly – unpredictably – replaced by the darkest clouds rolling in overhead, with torrential rain soaking us to the skin and choppy water flinging the canoe off course. Yet there I was, with our school emotional support dog entirely dependent upon me to respond to the change in conditions and an enormous yearning on my part to get to the finishing line (and not at the expense of losing the race, of course…). Those hours of my training in the pool and gym were tested to an extreme. 

Resilience. That is the word of the age. My life looks very different now to when I first joined this school community. I have taken back control of a narrative that got me away from me. The media provides us with many stories of other women doing the same. People who were reduced to a single headline, one often framed by the male gaze. Even Barbie has had a moment of reclamation; strong is the new pretty.

Through our morning assemblies in the Junior School, we have reflected upon the journey of life. The fact that we are all at different stages, continually making decisions as we face choices about which path to take when we reach a fork. We all have different hopes, dreams and ambitions for our lives. Some parts of the journey are hard. At other times, things can seem quite straightforward. However, for each of us, a time is likely to come when we face something unexpected or particularly challenging. We never know when these times might arise. And so as we embark upon a new school year, we do so with a shared sense of kindness towards one another. To do to others as we would have them do to us. To acknowledge that the journey will involve some hurdles, some challenges that are bigger than others. And to lean into one another for support to bolster our courage as we navigate the path.

So we devote our start to this term with themes around the resilience of women and the ways we are reimagining a more inclusive female gaze as our lives and world evolve. 

As teachers we channel a different kind of resilience. A great misconception about educational leadership in independent primary education is that its most powerful players are women. In fact, they are the faces of a sector still largely run by men; the latter tend to hold the Headship and Governance roles, even though women make up the majority of prep school workforces.

And then there is the history-making football team – our homegrown Lionesses – playing in the Women’s World Cup. In July ‘22, they won the UEFA Women’s Euros, becoming the first English team to win a major tournament since 1966. It was, in short, the women who brought the football home. What better example of resilience, of growing social impact, of igniting a flame within our sisterhood is there? 

This theme has underpinned the Girls’ Schools Association Girls Go Gold conference which we have been delighted to host at The Abbey this week. Working in partnership with the University of Reading and sports governing bodies, we enjoyed one of the UK’s largest celebrations of young women in sport. Over 500 students from 40 schools took part in sports masterclasses, seminars and inspirational talks from world-famous athletes, coaches and sport professionals. The idea that women have an equitable place in sport was promoted from every corner of our school; the energy, palpable. Our collective desire was a simple one: hold a mirror up to every young female in our community and equip them with the confidence, tenacity and self-belief to chase their sporting dreams to reality. 

And so as we stand at the crossroads of a new school year, with all the changes that we will face, I reflect upon the many experiences we have already shared as a community in the first seven days of reopening our doors. I am struck by the reminder that we are not just about celebrating our teachers – male and female – in our classrooms, but the many who pour their time, heart and compassion behind the scenes. Already, we have demonstrated a tremendous team spirit as we set our students off on this year’s journey. It offers me a tremendous sense of pride in this privileged position we hold as educators. Long may it continue. 

Nisha Kaura, Head of The Abbey Junior School