St Margaret’s independent day and boarding school for girls, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, is to become a coeducational institution. A staggered transitional period will begin in January 2020 and see the school emerge as fully coeducational across all year groups by 2022.
The school was originally established as a coed in 1749, only moving to single sex education in 1812.
Judith Fenn, chairman of the governing body at St Margaret’s, said: “Coeducation provides daily opportunities for nurturing mutual respect and understanding between genders, as they learn together and socialise respectfully, co-operatively and collaboratively.”
“We are looking forward to bolstering our already proven track record of academic success in public examinations, and to supporting girls and boys as they move onto competitive courses at leading universities both here in the UK and globally.”
Headmistress, Rose Hardy, added: “The world is coeducational and mixing boys and girls together in the classroom simply reflects the reality and the diversity of our society today. St Margaret’s has always encouraged a spirit of diversity at its core, and now is the ideal time to integrate both genders into the fold so it’s a natural progression.”
