Creativity, innovation and enterprise have come to be cornerstones of the FHS ethos, and we were thrilled to have consequently been awarded an Independent School of the Year Innovation Award for an Outstanding New initiative in October 2021.

Mrs Elphinstone began the discussion with a powerful quote by Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” She described how we are entering the “Exponential Age”, where a job for life is a thing of the past and it is absolutely crucial that children learn how to think creatively and problem solve in order to respond and adapt to advances to technology and to make and to be the difference in society. At FHS, integrated, interdisciplinary learning is interwoven into the curriculum from the age of 5 in order to encourage girls to think outside the box, learn to take risks, problem-solve and defeat the stubbornly ingrained cult of ‘Little Miss Perfect’, empowering them to become the leaders, thinkers, innovators, designers, entrepreneurs, and game-changers of tomorrow.

Jenny Campbell, who has worked extensively with FHS as a Link Entrepreneur since 2018 and been a true inspiration to FHS girls, spoke next about her own path to success. She highlighted the importance of confidence and interpersonal skills in building a business, discussing how ‘people buy people’, and how these skills can be subtly and gently encouraged in those to who are not natural extroverts. She attributed her three Ds – drive, dedication and determination – to her spectacular success, and encouraged students to research and write to their most inspirational role models in order to advance their entrepreneurial aspirations.

Zena El Farra, another of FHS’s Link Entrepreneurs and Founder MasterPeace, then discussed her pathway to success and MasterPeace’s ‘truly symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship’ with FHS. Zena and her team work with our Year 10s every year; teaching them about Design Thinking as part of the Upper School Enrichment Programme. Zena described how impressed she had been with the girls’ idea and praised the uniqueness of the FHS approach in terms of creative enterprise being interwoven into the entire curriculum rather than being confined to one off events.

Finally, Mr Dyson explored the inception of the programme and discussed how it is an ever-evolving proposition; the exciting next step of which should be a cluster group of partner schools sharing ideas and working together to eventually open a joint online trading platform for students’ businesses. He discussed the importance of Creative Enterprise initiatives being embedded into the curriculum; for example our Thinking Innovatively and Problem Solving (TIPS) Week which is partaken in by all Year 7 and 8s in place of an exam week in the Summer Term. He also highlighted the importance of social responsibility and sustainability embedded in our programme; with partnerships with charities such as Mary’s Meals and Peter Higgins forming important parts of the Upper School Enrichment Programme.

Thank you to all the schools who attended this webinar, to the GSA for hosting it and recognising our pioneering progamme, to Zena and Jenny to their time and invaluable contributions, and to our Headmistress, Director of Creative Enterprise and indeed all of our wonderful staff and pupils, whose enthusiasm, courage and imagination have made this programme such a success.