Kate was in Grade 4 when she wrote The Letter to the headmaster. She was concerned, she said, about a matter in which the school was not conforming to its values.
Values are a serious matter at Pickering College. Although the school is non-denominational, every day starts with a Quaker-style "meeting" in the tradition of the school's 1842 founders when staff and students can speak out. The head, Peter Sturrup, had the nine-year-old in for a meeting. And then another. By the end of the year, she had convinced him to change school policy and allow junior girls to wear pants to school (except on Thursdays, when they go back to tunics). Her argument: Tunics were too cumbersome and hot for girls playing soccer at recess and, besides, if junior boys and older girls at the coed school could wear pants, why not the junior girls?
"He was very open-minded," says Kate, 12, who, in spite of appearing shy, is described by a staff member as "humble, but a real leader."
"I thought it was fantastic," says Sturrup of the letter. "It was exactly what we teach our children: to stand up for what they believe in."
The rule change may have paid off: With Kate playing at mid-field, the junior girls soccer team came second in a private schools' tournament this year.
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School size matters
How school size impacts the student experience at TCS (April 4, 2024)
La critique de l'éditeur de Our Kids: La Citadelle International Academy.
(March 19, 2024)
Out of the class and into the community
TCS’s service learning program provides the hands-on experience of giving back (February 13, 2024)
The benefits of multilingualism
What language education at Alexander von Humboldt German International School Montreal provides (February 1, 2024)
Profile of Carrie Hughes-Grant, Head of School, Holy Name of Mary College
“It’s all about giving the girls a voice.” (December 14, 2023)
