Lancaster girls' school stands by single sex education

Jackie Cahalin, headteacher at Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School (LGGS), has emphasised her belief that girls perform better in single sex schools.

This comes after Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) announced they would welcome sixth form girls in September 2019 – breaking their tradition which dates back to the 13th century.

“We are convinced, and the research shows this, that girls perform better in single sex schools and benefit from being educated in such a supportive environment,” said Mrs Cahalin in a letter addressed to parents.

“I know this is the reason many of you chose LGGS in the first place.”

Despite the future changes the girls’ grammar has said they will remain an all girls’ school and have no plans to significantly change their admission policy for the sixth form.

“We are proud of our reputation for high quality single sex education,” said Mrs Cahalin and Dr Janet Lavelle, chair of governors.

“We would also like to reinforce our commitment to continue to provide an outstanding sixth form education. The Governing body at LGGS have been able to forward plan successfully and were aware of 
the potential drop in sixth form admission numbers nationally due to lower birth years.

“Our decision to increase numbers lower down in the school has helped secure our firm financial footing despite national funding uncertainties.

“The sixth form at LGGS remains in a very strong position.”

LRGS secured £2.5million of government funding through the Priority Schools Building Project.

The funding will go towards building improvements to their Grade II listed Victorian Old School House which will be refurbished into new classrooms for the sixth form girls starting in 2019.

The school has 170 boarders alongside its day pupils, but there are no current plans to admit sixth form girls as boarders.
The governors at Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School intend to give their views on the proposed changes to admissions at LRGS as part of their consultation.