Women’s Education - Mulberry School for Girls

Women’s Education

Mulberry School for Girls has been a pioneer in women’s education for fifty years. We aim to raise young women’s aspirations, build their confidence and encourage them to make their voices heard. The school provides students with opportunities to engage with and learn from different generations of successful women, and supports them in leading a creative and empowering response to gender issues.

Girl Leading

After Mrs Obama’s exciting visit in 2015, we were able to carry out a legacy project in 2017, Girl Leading. This trip saw students travel to Kilve Court, Somerset, for a residential weekend. On this trip, which supported Mrs Obama’s ‘Let Girls Learn’ campaign, a student-led committee planned and coordinated the trip. Working with 10 other schools, students carried out workshops on leadership, public speaking, stereotyping and social justice. The students subsequently became activists in their local communities, helping to raise awareness of challenges facing young women and girls, and find and carry out solutions to these challenges.

Global Girl Leading

Our annual Global Girl Leading conference focuses on celebrating girls and their achievements. It takes place on International Day of the Girl and is a virtual conference with 25+ schools attending each year from across the country and world – including Singapore, Malaysia and Nazareth.

In 2020 we were delighted to have our friends at WOW – Women of the World- collaborate with us on the execution of this festive day. International Day of the Girl ‘aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights’.

Panellists included Barrister Schona Jolly QC, Tiffany Drake, Executive Director of the Obama Foundation – Girl Opportunity Alliance and Pinky Lilani, Founder of the Women of the Future Awards. Almost 500 students and friends of Mulberry took part in this very special YouTube live stream.

In 2021, in a post pandemic world, the theme of the conference was ‘Digital Generation, our Generation’ Mulberry School for Girls, alongside Ursuline High school, redefined the power of communication technology and how it can be used as a positive platform for empowerment and education. There was a specific focus on how the digital era has increased the potential for girls to flourish in education, the workplace and society, if used appropriately.

Read all about it on our dedicated Partnership of Equals website below.

Partnership of Equals

WOW Partnership

We have had a long-standing relationship with Women of the World Festival. We have been proud to attend and take part in each of their festivals and other special events. We have led mentoring at the London Eye and have heard from countless world-class speakers on subjects including international activism, female representation in UK politics, women and austerity, and how teenage girls are leading a new and dynamic phase of the feminist movement. Students have sung, danced, performed and sat on panels.

In 2023, over 45 of our students took part in the WOW weekend, with a mixture of arts and discussion taking place throughout the Southbank centre.

You can find out more about WOW here:

WOW Festival

WOF Partnership

We have enjoyed a long standing and fruitful relationship with Women of the Future, an organisation which exists to empower and spotlight on amazing women leaders. Their events inspire students in terms of career options, their aspirations and future life journeys. We have also nominated colleagues for the Women of the Future Asian Women Achievement Awards and the Women of the Future Rising Star Awards.

In May 2021, we ran a ‘Leading Lights’ session for 80 young people in the UK, Malaysia and Singapore – this was with ambassadors who were nominated for Women of the Future South East Asia Awards in February 2021.

Mexican Embassy

We have recently developed an incredible relationship with the Mexican Ambassador; Her Excellency, Ambassador Josefa González-Blanco. She is an inspiration to our students and has been generous in supporting us with many opportunities, such as ‘Ambassador for a day’ in which a student won the chance to shadow the Ambassador for a day, attending meetings in Parliament and having Breakfast at the Mexican residency.

We have also been collaborating on festivities such as Mexican Day of the dead, students decorated an altar to honour this long-standing Mexican tradition. Thirty students were also invited to the Mexican Embassy to have a Quinceañera, which is a beautiful celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood. We had the pleasure of trying Mexican food, enjoying Mexican music and playing games and sharing stories.

For further information about our Women’s Education offer, please contact:

Ms Ayesha Begum
Women’s Education Officer
Email: abegum3@mulberryschoolstrust.org