As we celebrated International Women’s Day this week on Tuesday, I shared with the Senior School girls some of the reasons that I believe it is important for them to develop a thoughtful approach to matters such as gender equality and the role of women.   I reminded them of the complexity of concepts such as equal pay for equal work and of the challenges for a modern society in recognising the important role of raising children in a context where careers in the paid workforce are desired or necessary. We looked at some statistics about women in leadership roles around the world and I encouraged the girls to think about how (and if) men and women lead differently. I shared some statistics about violence against women and reminded them how important it is that we continue to work together to reduce this. We reflected on the juxtaposition of the House Performing Arts Competition – a veritable showcase of what a group of girls can do when they work together - and our casual clothes day, which raised money for our school in Bangladesh – a country where many primary school aged girls do not enjoy the benefits of an education. I remain confident that at Lowther Hall, our girls will continue to develop into thoughtful young women who will seek to have intelligent and informed responses to the many ideas highlighted by this important day.