Girls' Schools Association

Girls' Schools Association
Abbreviation	GSA
Formation	1974
Purpose	Professional association for headteachers of independent girls' schools
Headquarters	Suite 105; 108 New Walk; Leicester; England
Region served	Mainly United Kingdom
President	2020–21: Jane Prescott
Affiliations	ISC
Website	gsa.uk.com

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.

History

The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headmistresses which was founded in 1874 by Dorothea Beale and Frances Buss. The aim was to agree which issues need challenging and which could be ignored. Buss served as the founding president.^[2]

Enid Essame of Queenswood School was an honorary secretary before she became president in 1960.^[3] She was succeeded by Diana Reader Harris in 1964.^[4] She was in post until 1966, and organised a response to the Plowden Report.

It^{[clarification needed]} 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 (ASCL) before moving to its current office, still in Leicester.

Structure

The chief executive is Donna Stevens.^{[citation needed]}

Member schools

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

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

Kilgraston School
Mary Erskine School, Edinburgh
St George's School, Edinburgh
St Margaret's School for Girls, Aberdeen

Wales

Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls

Northern Ireland

Victoria College Belfast

Channel Islands

The Ladies' College, Guernsey

Overseas members

San Silvestre School, Peru
Unison World School, India
La Vall School, Spain

Former members

Amberfield School – closed in October 2011
Casterton School – merged with Sedbergh School in 2013
Lodge School – closed in 2010
Dame Alice Harpur School and Bedford High School – merged to become Bedford Girls' School (member school) in 2011 and 2012
Peterborough High School – became coeducational in 2010 and renamed The Peterborough School
St Joseph's Convent School – became coeducational in 2010 and renamed St Joseph's College
St Margaret's School, Edinburgh – closed in June 2010
St Mary's School, Shaftesbury – closed in August 2020
Leweston School
Rye St Antony School - merged with Headington School in 2024 and renamed Headington Rye Oxford

References

^ Peck, Sally (24 March 2020). "Are single-sex schools finished?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^ "Buss, Frances Mary (1827–1894), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37249. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b Butler, Audrey M. B. (2004). "Essame, Enid Mary [Emma] (1906–1999), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73466. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Harris, Dame (Muriel) Diana Reader (1912–1996), educationist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63305. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

Official website

[dt20-1] Peck, Sally (24 March 2020). "Are single-sex schools finished?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 April 2020.

[2] "Buss, Frances Mary (1827–1894), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37249. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[queen-3] Butler, Audrey M. B. (2004). "Essame, Enid Mary [Emma] (1906–1999), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73466. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[4] "Harris, Dame (Muriel) Diana Reader (1912–1996), educationist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63305. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

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