We are committed to opening up our facilities, expertise and time to our local community, creating opportunities for collaboration and supporting and engaging with their initiatives.
Partnerships and Social Action
Through our partnership network, we aim to foster aspirational futures, academic curiosity and social action.
Our partnership network
Little Caterpillars
Our Little Caterpillars Stay and Play group offers free half-termly sessions for pre-schoolers. Families, including grandparents and childminders, are invited to use our Early Years Hub for outdoor and indoor exploration and play with themes such as forest schools, arts and crafts and cooking.
We also run Baby Bugs, a termly drop in seasonal play session for children aged 0-2 years and their carers.
Read moreForest School
We are pleased to host forest school sessions with local nurseries for children aged 3-4, which don’t have a similar facility at their own sites. We collect the children with our minibus and they can discover our woodland site, bespoke forest school area, with campfire and activities and play in the mud kitchen. The sessions promote exploration and active play through physical activity, freedom and movement.
“As always, the children (and adults) absolutely loved their time with you this morning.”
“Thank you so much for organising these events for us. The staff and children really enjoyed their Forest School session with you.”
Swan Swimming Club
We launched our partnership with Norwich Swan Swimming Club in September 2021. Our through school swimming provision benefits from the experienced swimming coaches provided by Norwich Swan. Our Sixth Form students are also able to gain qualifications including the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification and to be part of the Norwich Swan Coaching Academy to give back to the sport.
Read moreAlliance Française
We are delighted to host renowned language school Alliance Française East Anglia for weekly primary school level French classes. The beginners’ level classes for Primary School age children offer an amazing opportunity for children to gain confidence with languages in a fun and interactive way, at a particularly receptive age. Students also gain a greater appreciation of another culture.
Read moreThe STEM Squad
The ‘STEM Squad’ was a free after school outreach STEM club for girls aged 6-9 which met every Wednesday after school. The club utilised the strong STEM offering of the school for those interested in science from the wider community.
Read moreThe Footy Squad
The ‘Footy Squad’ was a free indoor football club for girls in Years 3 and 4 from around the Norfolk region. The Footy Squad trained from 5-6pm every Wednesday in the Norwich High School for Girls Sports Hall.
Read moreCode Club
The ‘Code Club’ is a free after school coding club for girls from the local community in Years 5 and 6. Participants learn good coding practices, explore new ideas and expand their coding skill set. Led by students including alumnae, we also host coding events including our Hack-her-thon coding challenge.
Read moreThe Sixth Form Activities Programme
The Lower Sixth Activities Programme takes place on one afternoon a week. A range of activities are offered from three broad categories; service, active and creative. Students can volunteer with conservation projects on Mousehold Heath; work with elderly residents of local care homes; co-teach practical science to local primary school children, lead singing projects or take part in our art partnership with Parkside School. They are encouraged to develop existing interests and to explore new ones.
Social action
A CarbonNeutral® organisation
The GDST celebrated Earth Day 2022 as a CarbonNeutral® organisation for the first time in our history. Our family of 23 independent girls’ schools and two academies has achieved the certification by reducing our emissions internally and supporting four emission reduction projects around the world, to offset our carbon footprint in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol. These include clean cooking using biomass in India, land restoration using funghi in Chile, improved water infrastructure in Africa, and protecting rainforests in Indonesia.
Working in partnership with climate impact company Natural Capital Partners, we have carefully selected these projects to ensure that they align with GDST’s emerging sustainability strategy. Our strategy has been shaped by those UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) most closely related to our ethos and mission: Good health and wellbeing, Quality education, Gender equality, Climate action, Responsible consumption and production.