We are a group of teachers who met working at a school in Southall, a disadvantaged area of West London, Villiers High School. We were deeply concerned by the low aspirations and lack of resilience we observed in our female pupils. We were also frustrated that no one was tackling the problem effectively, including external organisations. We decided to give it a go ourselves, and ran a programme of weekly workshops for a group of teenage girls over the course of one academic year. And because we really knew our students, we were able to connect with them in a way that no external organisation could. We were also able to tailor our workshops around their interests and needs, and collectively work to change the school culture to be more aware of gender inequality. We believe that teachers' in-depth understanding of students and school context puts them in the best position to change students’ lives, so we train them to deliver our programme to their students. We mobilise women' skills and knowledge to help them tailor a series of workshops for selected students. We enable them to take ownership of our programme while still receiving as much help and guidance as they need. After our training, teachers will be ready to run a Be Her Lead programme adapted to their school context. This 7 week series of workshops builds teenage girls’ self-worth, confidence and resilience in order to help them make concrete steps towards their career goals. After the end of the workshops, we provide support in measuring the programme’s impact, and making that impact sustainable in the long term. Alongside our programme and training, we aim to build a network of Be Her Leaders. We run exciting events to foster ambition and collaboration. Role models from different sectors will meet with participating students and teachers, allowing networks of support to grow across schools, sectors and generations.
