St Paul’s School, founded in 1509 to educate boys “from all nations and countries indifferently” and based in Barnes, west London, is consulting governors, pupils and parents about plans to admit girls in the sixth form.
Former pupils at the school, who were asked in a piece of research about their education, said they felt “socially confident with women” but less so in the working environment, according to the school.
Feedback from some former pupils, known as Old Paulines, who include the former chancellor George Osborne, revealed that they felt their schooling had been excellent in all ways — except in gaining an understanding of working with powerful and successful women.
If the plans at St Paul’s go ahead, only a few of Britain’s most famous public schools, including Eton and Harrow, will remain bastions of boys-only education. About 5% of all schools are still boys only.
Read more at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/st-pauls-school-may-finally-open-doors-to-girls-mdfwdpxk6
Top independent school asks Liverpool’s football scouts to teach them how to spot talented youngsters from low income families
A leading public school has turned to Liverpool FC for help scouting for talented children from families unable to afford the fees.
The Premier League football club are to share their scouting knowledge to find children who will receive a £35,000-a-year education at Stowe School for nothing.
The co-educational Buckinghamshire boarding school is creating a new £100 million bursary fund for an initial 100 pupils to be given an entirely free education.
The money is being raised through donations from former pupils and friends of the school.
Pupils from lower-income families will be selected after being interviewed and taking aptitude tests, rather than formal rigorous entrance examinations.
To ensure the co-educational boarding school does all it can to identify children who have ability but have been denied the opportunity to shine academically, the headmaster Dr Anthony Wallersteiner has taken the unusual move of turning to Premier League title contenders Liverpool.
The scouts will show Stowe’s teachers how and where to look for children with promise in some of the country’s most deprived inner-city areas. Those children who are selected for the 100 per cent bursary scheme will be funded until the end of their education at the school.
Stowe is planning recruit a further 400 pupils on a full bursary in the years ahead and is talking to other leading public schools to encourage them to offer similar schemes.