THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2021
a range of accommodation from the ancient spaces of College to the newer Commoner Houses .
‘ One of things I ’ ve done this term is to spend time in almost every House , to see how they operate , where the matron ’ s flat and laundry are , and how big the rooms and galleries are . They are all very , very different . But , of course , that ’ s right ; you shouldn ’ t have identical boarding houses ; if you did , where would your House spirit and ethos be ? The Housemaster and his team are integral to that .’
Sustainability has been a key concern — particularly given the need to keep St Cross Road free of additional traffic . And interestingly , the design of the Houses also takes into account the unique requirements of girls ’ learning . I noticed how Ali was speaking passionately about the ‘ garden courtyards and cloisters ’ of the planned new buildings . What has she noticed from working in a girls ’ school about how they live and learn ?
‘ Girls are quite tactile educationally ; they often learn with others in a kind of clique . That ’ s not to say they don ’ t live independently ; they do , but they enjoy time spent together in quite unstructured social spaces . For example , when the sixth formers would be working together at Benenden , they might find a little window seat to be based in together , or they might be holed up on the sofa having that workbased conversation . So , a slightly softer and slightly more organic way of working , and usually involving time with others in social spaces … on a stairwell or on beanbags outside the matron ’ s office .’ I wondered whether the arrival of girls in the school would be a more profound change than the numbers suggest — with 50-60 girls in each of the two houses , and over the next two years an increased intake of day girls in Sixth Book . The character of the school will change quite profoundly .
‘ There is a danger of us thinking that the girls are going to arrive and then just fit in . We might talk about assimilation , but we ’ ve got to recognize that things will look different . There will be new conventions , and there ’ ll be new ways of talking about things . The language will change , and the way you might do pairwork , for example , in a lesson or the way you set up a presentation or whatever else it might be — those things will look and feel very different . The tone and pitch will sound a bit different , and there ’ ll be different kinds of voices .
‘ Plenty of conversations are ongoing at the moment amongst both pupils and dons . We listen to what the current pupils have to say , and to what concerns
24