Celebrating 10 Years
of girls at Trinity
September 2021 marks the significant moment in the school’s history when girls joined our Sixth Form for the first time. Melodie caught up with former Headmaster Mark Bishop and Chair of Governors, Lord Barwell, who were in charge of the decision-making process at the time. At what point in your headship did you consider a co-educational Sixth Form would benefit the school? "After my first year at Trinity, I began to realise that if we were to really thrive, we had to have something that made us more distinct from the two schools we were often compared with – Whitgift and Dulwich. We knew we were different in terms of size, atmosphere
and ethos, but I became convinced that this wasn’t sufficient. Equally, each year we were losing some really good boys after GCSEs because they wanted to join co-educational Sixth Forms at places like Alleyn’s and Caterham, so I felt we had to make a significant and, at the time, radical change. Clearly, from the first idea, it then took several years of planning and intricate discussions with various stakeholders to bring it to fruition." Were the governors receptive ? "The biggest challenge was trying to get all the Whitgift Foundation on board. In surveys, Trinity staff and parents were well over 90% in favour and, needless the say, the boys were extremely keen on the idea. But the Heads of the other two schools and some governors weren’t in favour. The Old Palace Head was understandably concerned, but was incredibly professional and rational in all our discussions. The Whitgift Head was not keen for reasons which, at first, I didn’t really understand. It turned out that Dr Barnett had wanted Whitgift to take girls and so wasn’t delighted that we had made the first move.
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The first cohort of girls joining us in 2011
At the time Gavin (now Lord) Barwell was the Chair of the Trinity Committee and he couldn’t have been more supportive or helpful in navigating through the various committees and political manoeuvres, whilst Ian Harley, who was at the time Chair of the Foundation, was also an enormous help." Were you surprised at the number of applications from girls? "I was surprised, delighted and mightily relieved at the number of applications. To have gone through all the work to get agreement to then find that hardly any girls wanted to come would have been heart-breaking." What was the reasoning behind all-girl tutor groups? "As part of our preparations for the arrival of girls, we sent senior staff to visit other schools that had recently taken similar steps, and one of these had gone for allgirl tutor groups. My initial response when I heard this was negative as I had assumed that we must have mixed tutor groups but I was eventually persuaded, if I remember rightly, by Sara Ward, to change course and it turned out to be exactly the right move." Did the performance of the girls exceed your expectations? "There is absolutely no question that the first group of girls were the reason that the move to a co-educational Sixth Form was a success. They were bright, talented and they had real courage. It cannot have been easy moving from often smaller girls’ schools to a school full of 800 boys but they adjusted superbly to being at Trinity. One of our biggest concerns about the move was would it change
our fundamental atmosphere and ethos, which is what most pupils, parents and teachers really liked about the school. I honestly think that the nature of the school didn’t change, but the girls broadened our horizons, added to the intellectual, sporting and cultural life of the school and just made it a far more ‘normal’ environment for both boys and girls before they go off to what will, of course, be co-educational universities." When asked about the move to a co-educational Sixth Form, Lord Barwell, alumnus, who left Trinity in 1990, said: "I was very lucky during my time as Chair of the Governors to work with Mark Bishop, who was an outstanding Headmaster. We agreed that we needed to do something to further differentiate Trinity from its competitors and to address the fact that some talented boys were leaving at 16 because they wanted to go to a co-educational Sixth Form. But as well as these pressures to change, I felt very strongly that it was the right thing to do. Once we had made the decision, my job for which I guess I was well qualified was to navigate the politics of the Whitgift Foundation and get their sign off. It's probably the single decision we took during my time as a governor of which I am most proud. Trinity today is a more
successful, better school than it was in the late 2000s and the admission of girls into the Sixth Form is a big part of that change and very much something to celebrate." Sara Ward, Head of Upper School at the time, was there at the forefront when the girls started: “As soon as I was appointed, Mark Bishop told me that the decision had been taken to welcome girls into the Sixth Form at Trinity from 2011. Already excited about my new job, this was the icing on the cake for me. Throughout my teaching career, I have always enjoyed the vibrancy of the co-educational Sixth Form classroom and the contributions of the capable, creative and impressive young women I have taught. I was thrilled, therefore, to find myself working with a team of enthusiastic people to create the right physical environment in the form of a new Sixth Form Centre and – more importantly – the right academic and pastoral environment in which our new girls would thrive. What a great experience this was. I am delighted but not at all surprised to continue to see the wonderful contributions of our girls to all aspects of school life over the past 10 years – what a privilege this has been!”
alumni@trinity.croydon.sch.uk
Head of Sixth Form Antonia Geldeard (right) with Sixth Form students
Current Deputy Head and Head of Sixth Form, Antonia Geldeard said: “A co-educational Sixth Form is undoubtedly an attraction when parents are looking at Trinity for their child, whether it is the parents of boys joining us further down the school, or students applying to study A levels with us. A diverse Sixth Form reflects real life and prepares our young people for university and beyond. Many of the girls who join us are brilliant mathematicians, physicists and chemists as well as those who choose to pursue the arts and humanities here. Our talented alumnae have gone on to read a vast range of subjects at university including Medicine, Engineering and PPE. This breadth and equality of opportunity crosses genders and develops our students within and beyond the classroom."
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