Brighton Girls A GSG School

Curricula

Cambridge Pre-U - an alternative to A levels, with all exams at the end of the two-year course.

Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since 2020, Rosie McColl. Previously deputy head at Wellington College and before that, deputy head at Berkhamsted School. Studied at Oxford (English language and literature) and Trinity College Dublin (M Phil). Married, with a ten-year-old son.

We share a pot of school’s own-blend tea, aptly named ‘Chai to be kind’, a homage to the school’s mantra – kind and bold. Parents agree that the head has these attributes in abundance: ‘a breath of fresh air’, ‘dynamic’, ‘approachable’.

High praise too for head’s communications: ‘She never lets up engaging with parents,’ we were told. She’s ‘always listening’ and offers ‘very personal responses to emails'. All mentioned her ability to connect with the local community and how her different style and approach has ‘put Brighton Girls on the map!’

Staff agreed, saying ‘Rosie makes it happen’ and ‘has transformed the offering’. The school has indeed been transformed since our last visit with an extensive renovation of the magnificent main building, Temple, and its outdoor areas including a mini amphitheatre, sensory garden and pop-up skatepark. The prep school has moved into the vicarage over the road. Head is understandably ‘very happy with the school’s identity now’ and wants to ‘encourage students to be outward looking, values-driven and build their confidence’. She is leading by example.

Ms McColl’s connections across the city are wide: an active member of Brighton Chamber of Commerce and trustee of a local charity supporting Brighton Hospital, she is also collaborating with Brighton and Hove Albion FC with a view to setting up a girls’ soccer community-based club.

‘Interested in the big ideas’ such as AI, but mindful of its limitations. A recent assembly featured one address written entirely by ChatGPT and the other written by herself and students invited to note the differences. Set up a ‘future skills forum’ with local businesses to ensure girls are being trained in the skills future employers want to see.

She’s keen to future-proof the school to cope with political or economic changes, and told us, ‘There will always be a place for a reasonably priced school.’ A strong advocate of bursaries, her own independent school education was funded by one so she knows first-hand how transformative they can be.

Clearly enjoying the fruits of her labour seeing the school’s renewed vigour and higher profile, but is quick to acknowledge, ‘It’s been a huge team effort.’ No plans to leave the city she’s become so fond of, ‘Contentment is feeling part of a community, as though you’re part of something; everything leads back to that,’ she says.

Entrance

At 11+ from a wide range of local maintained and independent schools and also the prep school. A recent rise in the intake at year 7 is hoped to swell the sixth form numbers. GDST entrance assessment for the main school – selective, but not super selective. Entry at sixth form requires five GCSEs at 5 grade or above, with 9-6 in subjects to be taken at A level; girls come from Davison, Bedes, The Towers, Warden Park and Shoreham College.

Exit

Increasing number remaining for sixth form, but many still leave post-GCSE, often for BHASVIC, the sixth form college (less than half a mile away) – parents say a mix of economic and social factors. School is ‘doing all it can’ to retain pupils and reverse this trend and it seems to be working with ‘bumper numbers,’ for most recent sixth form intake. Recent university destinations include Sussex, Brighton and UCL. Subjects include robotics engineering, maths, computer science and languages. Occasional students head off to Oxbridge or to become medics.

Latest results

In 2023, 47 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 14 per cent A*/A at A level (47 per cent A*-B). In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 56 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 41 per cent A*/A at A level (69 per cent A*-B).

Teaching and learning

Recent GCSE and A level results contradict the few parent concerns we heard that the school ‘isn’t academic enough’. Others told us their daughters were being 'stretched’ and 'reaching their full academic potential’. Ms McColl’s sensible response is that, ‘A good school should have everything in balance and not be aggressively anything.’

Teachers have a ‘lovely attitude’ and are ‘encouraging’ say parents. ‘So positive’, ‘approachable and supportive’. Students agreed, one sixth former confiding, ‘There’s nothing I feel I couldn’t ask a teacher about here.’ Another added, ‘There’s a good mix between easy and challenging work.’ Girls we chatted to all spoke of feeling ‘supported’ and ‘encouraged’. Parents praised the new reporting system, ‘We now receive more personalised feedback from the teachers,’ said one. ‘Reports are now more specific about targets and development goals,’ said another.

We dropped in on a year 11 maths lesson (top set, no other subject is streamed). Traditional layout of desks, teacher commanding attention at the front while using the interactive white board; Pythagoras the order of the day. Students on task and unafraid to raise hands (‘the beauty of a single-sex education’, commented our staff guide). Refreshing to see little use of tech by students, all working on past-paper booklets using pencils, without even calculators on view.

School says 30 per cent go on to study A level maths and the average class size for A levels is five. Despite school's best efforts, post-GCSE-mass-migration to the state sixth form up the road remains rife. Parents of recent leavers cite a combination of financial and social factors, plus maximising Oxbridge chances. Sixth form numbers are steadily increasing though, perhaps lured by tiny class sizes and the incredible sixth form common room with its own kitchen, study areas and views out to sea.

Chromebooks are provided (at no additional cost) from year 7 but we saw few being used during our visit. Past papers in an in-tray outside English department for those who’d like to revise the old-fashioned way. There’s a portal for those who prefer to revise and do prep online, or they can stay for daily homework club.

Plethora of exciting A level subjects on offer: food tech and nutrition, dance, sociology, psychology all popular. Space diploma, devised by GDST, exclusively for sixth formers studying STEM.

Limited offering of modern foreign languages, only French and Spanish. Anything else must be taken outside school. A few parents said they’d like to see more in-house options. Latin, popular amongst students, is taught in year 7s and 8 and 10 per cent choose to take it for GCSE.

Overhaul of careers department (renamed Brighton Girls futures programme) means groundwork now begins in year 6 when girls are encouraged to understand their skills and attributes through the topic ‘This Is Me’. The GDST runs ‘Inspire Days’ for KS3 and 4 to learn about the more traditional career paths. More in-depth career guidance begins in year 11 with seemingly ubiquitous Morrisby profiling and a host of seminars, talks, work experience. School ensures the girls have 'at least six meaningful interactions with an employer’ before they leave. Head’s huge network across the city ensures this.

Learning support and SEN

Significant investment in the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) department with one full-time and one part-time SENCo, a school nurse, school counsellor and two teaching assistants. Around 16 per cent receiving SEND support at time of our visit.

No in-house diagnostics for dyslexia, autism or ADHD per-se, but school says it ‘works with three named practices externally, who can diagnose and do educational psychology reports’. SENCos, say they feel well-supported by GDST with a day per year spent at the SEND conference.

Reading is screened in years 7 and 9 and there are a host of dyslexia-friendly texts in the library with ‘friendly fonts’, plus coloured overlays. Students have access to sensory aids and fidgets, too. In years 7 and 8, extra lessons take place during Latin and other non-core subjects and sometimes in breaktimes. In years 10 to sixth form extra lessons take place during independent study periods. There is also an option to do fewer GCSEs if need be.

On the department's wish-list, ‘A specialist dyslexia teacher who can in turn teach the teachers.’

The arts and extracurricular

‘Busy students tend to be happier’ says head of co-curricular, and with that in mind there are over 100 clubs to choose from. Salvage Sisters being one of the most popular, where power tools are used to upcycle household waste into incredible pieces of art. One of the outdoor netball courts transforms into a skate park for termly skate jams, ‘Skate club is big here,’ say students.

Art happens at number 68 and 69 – adjoining elegant, terraced houses adjacent to Temple. Quite simply an Aladin’s cave of treasure, with magnificent work displayed on every surface. Photographers have their own dark room and can opt for the subject at GCSE and A level.

Food tech compulsory in years 7 and 8 – girls were making macaroni cheese when we popped in. No old-fashioned housewife vibes here, it was singled out by girls as one of their favourite subjects and is an option for GCSE and A level.

Exciting DT projects involve trying to solve real-world problems. Students were working in conjunction with Shoreham airport to stop birds from flying into planes’ propellers.

Rehearsals in full swing on the day of our visit for the annual Shakespeare festival hosted in the city. Each year there’s a whole school play performed in the assembly hall which doubles as a 300-seat theatre. An annual panto is organised by the sixth form and all invited to be involved. LAMDA, speech and drama lessons; and exams have a strong take-up. Once a year the entire school (including prep) go to London for a whole-school theatre trip.

Numerous choirs, indeed while waiting outside the head’s office we heard a beautiful unaccompanied version of a Mexican carol, it sounded divine. The music space is cleverly designed to be one giant room or concertinaed to be a host of smaller rooms.

From year 7 girls get involved in the school’s Cafe Enterprise scheme (young enterprise), brainchild behind Brighton Girls’ own blend teas which claim to embody the kind and bold ethos and are sold in artisan shops across Brighton. A virtual cookbook is next on the agenda.

Sport

New head of sport, with ‘good contacts’ has upped the ante on fixtures and competitiveness. Recent drive to recruit specialist sports training staff seems to be paying off - U16 netball team reached the national finals and the U14 had an historic win against a local all-girls (independent school) rival.

Fabulous multi-purpose sports hall, with disabled access and adjoining well-equipped gym. Next door, a stunning modern dance studio, dance is big here and many take it for GCSE and A level. Parents and students rave about the ‘impressive’ Momentum, an annual dance show held in the city; most girls we chatted to were involved.

Main sports are netball and hockey, with football becoming increasingly prominent – a partnership with Brighton and Hove Albion FC a real possibility. Girls head off site for swimming lessons. A little behind the curve on girl’s cricket, although cricket nets are now offered through the winter and the school has ambitions to develop the sport further. Head of sport says, ‘We’re building up to hardball fixtures.’

Newly surfaced netball courts on the main campus, and school retains the large Astro pitches on the old prep school site. Rumours of a new pavilion for match teas (and socialising) are doing the rounds.

Pupils receive around six hours of timetabled sport per week in year 7s and 8 and four hours from year 9 onwards. Things become a little more optional beyond this, but sport provision is in place until year 13 and encouraged by the school.

Ethos and heritage

With major work on the senior school site largely complete, the site has been transformed aesthetically and culturally since our last visit and now feels a true through-school. The prep school now firmly part of the campus in the glorious glistening white Old Vicarage over the road. Once the home of Brighton's Regency landowner Thomas Kemp, Temple, is the main hub of activity with its chic and cleverly designed lobby, The Hive, reminiscent of a slick corporate co-working space.

Classrooms feed off the grand main staircase, ceiling heights are vast as is the natural light flooding in from all directions, a glimpse of the sea from many of the windows – uplifting. Year 9 has its own extension block near the netball courts, and sixth form take pride of place at the very top of Temple with their own modern common room, complete with kitchen, study booths, study tables and comfy sofas. A cardboard cut-out of Harry Styles oversees proceedings!

Main hall used for weekly whole-school assemblies, not overly religious but regular guest speakers. Retractable seating for up to 300 allows the space to transform for plays and performances.

Main library is serene and well-stocked, with an adjoining ICT suite. No hints of mobile phones here, although sixth form have access to theirs throughout the day, the younger years only for use before and after school. School canteen is over the road at the prep school and tries to use locally sourced produce where it can. The homemade broccoli soup, the day of our visit, was most welcome on a chilly autumn day.

School has been a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust since 1880 and true to GDST form both girls and staff seem very grounded indeed - being in the heart of a truly diverse city must surely rub off on character too. Regarded as down to earth and not as hothouse-y as near neighbour Brighton College, we met a few pupils who’d ‘defected’ from the latter, preferring the ‘less pressurised’ nature of Brighton Girls and its ‘well-rounded approach’.

Notable alumni include Elisabeth Beresford, author and creator of The Wombles, Rosemary Coogan, astronaut and Karen Pickering OBE, Olympic swimmer.

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

Far more cohesive feel since our last visit and central to that is the time and thought invested into the pastoral side. Girls are well-versed in the ‘kind and bold’ mantra, starting with ‘feelings books’ at prep school and encouraged to be open about their feelings through the senior years.

Weekly wellbeing sessions for all: half-termly groups with the head of wellbeing, walks, yoga sessions, assemblies on anxiety and sleep, and a wellbeing house where students can go ‘and find peace’. Posters of an ‘emotional barometer’ in each classroom. Mental health support has been ‘ramped up’, say parents, who also praise the new joiners programme and the school’s management of the year 6 to 7 transition. Full-time school counsellor (long waiting list, we’re told), a nurse, and inclusion and diversity staff.

House system has been rejigged and ensures a mixture of ages, talents and strengths in each, with no house dominating the scene. One girl told us, ‘Before there was no real sense of belonging, now there’s much more house spirit.’ Another added, ‘There’s more competition between the houses now.’ Siblings stay in the same house. Students say their first port of call is always to their head of house. Big sister, little sister scheme ensures students coming up from the prep have a mentor when they arrive in year 7, a ‘hugely effective system’ say parents and girls. Peer supporter system from year 9.

Much pastoral praise from parents who say, ‘My daughter is happy and. speaks to teachers freely.’ Another told us, ‘The school is very vigilant about bullying.’ Others agreed that the school was particularly good at educating on cyber bullying. However, praise not unanimous, ‘Mental health within the school isn’t great, not sure the school knows how to cope with children coming in with more issues.’ When asked about tackling bullying school stresses that ‘working closely with parents is essential’. Not a whiff of any issues from the parents or students we spoke to, though. Termly (optional) student surveys to gauge feelings, ‘give the school some benchmark data’ and ‘help identify trends’.

‘Everyone is valued,’ says the school, and students agree telling us they feel ‘included’ and ‘accepted’. A few non-binary students and some who identify as male, school tells us. Allies club (BLM) and LGBTQ + clubs well supported.

Student Voice happens each Tuesday; randomly selected groups of students meet with the senior leadership team to voice any concerns or ideas. Very collaborative and an openness we don’t often see in schools between staff and students.

Pupils and parents

A large proportion of families live within a few streets of the school, the rest hail from across Brighton and beyond, coming in (via school bus) from Lewes, Worthing, Hurstpierpoint, Pulborough. Plenty on offer for new parents: welcome days, coffee mornings, nights out, WhatsApp groups, beach meetups. Professional parents, often both working to afford the school fees; doctors, lawyers, bankers, artists, tech, media, teachers, business owners.

Money matters

Around 10 per cent of students benefit from a Brighton Award, means-tested from year 7 and help with between 30 and 100 per cent of the fees. Scholarships for academics, music, art, drama, gymnastics, sport and skateboarding(!). Temple scholarships for all-round performance, too. Year 12 offers another opportunity to apply for bursaries and scholarships into the sixth form.

The last word

Now a proper all-through school, Brighton Girls is firmly back on local families’ radar, providing real value (both academic and economic) compared to nearby independent rivals. Strong sense that the school is on an ‘upward trajectory’, due in no small part to inspirational leadership. One parent of a recent leaver said they’d ‘choose it again in a heartbeat’.

Special Education Needs

A careful register is kept of special needs, and individual support clinics are offered, as needed. Teaching staff are advised regularly of developments and special support needed. In the Junior School pupils are supported within the class. In the Senior School there are, or have been, pupils with registered special needs. Some are dyslexic or dyspraxic, others mildly so. There are, or have been, pupils with hearing or visual difficulties, and others with motor difficulties of various kinds. No current pupils have EFL requirements.