When I was a small child, I apparently took a shine to a beautiful purple jug at my grandmother’s house. She left it to me in her will after noticing that it captured my attention each time I visited. Purple has always been my favourite colour and it was perhaps serendipitous that it would also represent International Women’s Day and I would become principal at the school she spoke so highly of. She was the 100th student in 1906, at Diocesan School for Girls – a school founded on the vision of creating an outstanding education for young women to the highest academic standard.
Back in 1903, this was an impressive vision, conceptualising a future for women based on equal educational opportunity just after the turn of the century placed this country at the forefront of modern thinking.
Diocesan School for Girls was established to underpin the idea that educated women would enhance society. The establishment of such a school was a monumentally edgy and ambitious project. It was perhaps inspired by the suffrage movements led by Kate Shepherd who had earlier spearheaded the right for women in New Zealand to vote that culminated in the Electoral Act of 1893. This world-first for women inspired suffrage movements all over the globe.
Diocesan and its founders were, however, remarkable businessmen led by the Anglican Bishop Neligan, who perhaps saw the opportunity to create a future for women in a country with endless potential, cultural richness, and responsiveness to new ways of thinking.
120 years further on, and we continue to admire their passion and how it has enabled us to adapt, grow, and celebrate women of many cultures, gender identities and for the curriculum to include ethics, indigenous cultural knowledge, and embrace the world of diversity, so important for our future generations to underpin equitable, peaceful, and just societies.
There are many challenges however old and new that women face in society. Wage and salary gaps remain evident, women are seen to have ‘soft’ skills and are therefore perceived as lesser leaders, and the multiple demands of family and childcare remain embedded in societal expectations.
In addition, our recent generations of young women have been hugely impacted by the Internet and social media cultures, challenging their growing self-image and wellbeing. The unmonitored online environment has seen a rapid increase in pornography, violence, and sexual aggression against young women. These issues have been at the forefront of adapting educational needs to empower and strengthen our students and their families.
The need for girls of all gender identities, ethnicities, and cultures to be in an environment where women’s rights can be openly addressed and explored is critical. Data shows they thrive and achieve best in single-sex girl’s schools, something that mainstream hegemony is reluctant to accept.
A place where there is pride and confidence in who you are, where you can develop your mind, participate fully in all subjects and leadership challenges, accept and celebrate all others around you is inspiring to see.
Our young women of the future step into the world with confidence and a knowledge of what needs to change. Their personal values and commitment to respecting the planet, respecting themselves, and all others is refreshing to see. We wish all women of the world the love and gift of an education they can pass on to their families as I received from my grandmother to me.
