In an unprecedented, exciting move, girls at Queen Margaret’s in Escrick will be invited and encouraged to use their mobile phones during Assembly on Friday 11 October all for a good cause. Friday is the International Day of the Girl and in a ground-breaking initiative within the Secondary Education sector the School is to use ‘live-tweeting’ to enable the girls to engage fully with each other at school and across the world for this very special day. Girls from year 10 and above, alongside staff, will use the hash tag #qmdayofthegirl for all their live tweeting throughout the day.
The event will bring awareness to the inequality of opportunity for girls across the world and will also raise funds for the School’s two Charities of the Year, both of which support education for girls.
Students will learn about the daily realities which at least one in five adolescent girls around the world face such as poverty, conflict and discrimination, denying them an education. The girls will then be invited to reflect on the rights and roles of girls and share their thoughts and ideas through the use of ‘live-tweeting’.
‘At QM we encourage girls to be engaged citizens of the world. This is an opportunity for girls to react in an immediate way to the issues facing their contemporaries in other countries,’ said Dr Paul Silverwood, Head Master. ‘We want to give our girls the freedom to express themselves using twitter to show up the enormous inequalities faced by young women around the world.’
There are also a number of other events planned throughout the day. These include a sponsored walk by girls and members of staff to replicate the journey girls in Zimbabwe and Gambia make to receive a transformative education. The two School charities for this year are based in these countries. In the evening an event bringing together former girls, current girls and other friends of the School will take place in London.