We are now official licence holders of the Girls on Board programme, an approach to help girls between the ages of 7 and 18 navigate the often troubled waters of friendship problems.

About Girls on Board

Girls on Board is an approach which helps girls, their parents and their teachers understand the complexities and dynamics of girl friendships. The language, methods and ideas empower girls to solve their own friendship problems and recognises that they are usually the only ones who can. By empowering girls to find their own solutions, parents need worry less, schools can focus more on the curriculum and the girls learn more effectively – because they are happier.

Girls on Board is working closely with the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) and the National Education Union (NEU) to bring this approach to as many schools as possible. So far, over 200 schools have adopted this award-winning approach and are now supporting thousands of girls in their friendships.

The approach was developed by Andrew Hampton, Headteacher of Thorpe Hall School in Essex, and recognised for excellence and innovation at the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Annual Awards 2016 and 2019, and was shortlisted for the TES Independent Schools Award for Wellbeing Initiative of the Year 2019 and 2020.

Girls on Board at Norwich High School for Girls

Mr Thomas (Head of Upper 4) has led Girls on Board at Norwich High School for over two years and continues to train the Heads of Year to be able to deliver the sessions. He said:

“In my role as Head of Year, I see the challenges that our students have to face in this modern world. I identified early on that one of the major driving forces that dictate their mood, and often mental health, is their need to feel like they fit in.”

“Girls on Board is a brave and practical initiative which tackles friendship issues head on. It holds a mirror up to the girls and puts the onus on them to solve their own friendship issues. Empowering and practical, it builds resilience in a real way. The result of the initiative can be seen in the way the girls take responsibility and interact, the improved empathy and the reduced reliance on others to manage their friendships for them.”

“When we work through the Girls on Board sessions and shine a spotlight on the girls’ actions and interactions, they start to see how some paths they choose to go down affect others.”

The project will shortly be introduced to Lower 3 students as part of their transition events in preparation for joining the Senior School.

Parent involvement

The approach benefits from parents also being on board! We encourage the girls to engage in honest conversations with their parents, and also for parents to encourage their girls to resolve conflict themselves. Due to the fluid and dynamic nature of their friendships and also the multiple perspectives that are all in play, unpicking this can be difficult and often detrimental. Due to the emotional reliance on these friendships, the girls can often feel sad if they fall apart. These states are impermanent and it is up to us to help them navigate through to building new friendships.

Girls on Board material has been delivered in Parent Seminars and in the recent GDST Talk by founder Andrew Hampton, which can be found here.

Norwich High School for Girls has recently purchased the licence and officially joined this community. It has also given us access to the Parents’ Handbook.