INSPIRE! Session 2 — 2025 ICGS Conference

INSPIRE! Session 2
June 25, 2025
8:30-9:30 a.m.

Redefining Success: A Holistic Approach to Student Achievement
In 2024, our PreK-12 working party began a journey to redefine success within our school community. In this session, we will share research and strategies designed to help students see themselves as more than just their academic results. We will explore how to cultivate a holistic understanding of success, encouraging students to dream big while fostering a positive academic self-concept. In a high-performing context, we recognise the importance of setting suitably challenging goals and instilling the belief that hard work leads to achievement. Join us as we share how we are redefining success for the future, ensuring students feel ‘enough’ as they are.

Presenter: Victoria Rennie, Deputy Headmistress and Head of Senior School | Abbotsleigh School (Australia)

AI-Powered Futures: Empowering Girls Through Self-Directed Innovation
We are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist and a workplace that we’ve never seen before. As AI transforms our world as we know it, it is crucial that youth are empowered to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and community leaders. With its flexibility and creativity, girls’ schools are uniquely positioned to be a space where students can develop these skills and launch into community leadership. This session will unfold in three sections:

AI Today: We’ll briefly review recent developments in AI and the skills students need to be responsible AI leaders
AI in Action: We’ll explore real-world examples of AI in action from our global program where youth have produced thousands of AI solutions for community problems.
AI for the Future: Drawing from human-centered design principles, participants will engage in an interactive brainstorm on how to leverage their classrooms and school to empower youth to use AI and tech to make a better future. We’ll provide concrete resources and best practices for equipping students with AI and tech skills in the classroom & beyond, including Technovation’s free AI curriculum and learnings.

Presenter: Luella Provenza, US Partner Specialist | Technovation

Leveraging the Girls’ School Network to Promote Leadership and Service

Service learning and leadership development can be closely intertwined, and most impactful for students when scaled collaboratively and implemented on a larger scale. Both of these skills and experiences can be honed in the elementary and middle school classrooms. Utilizing the Goals and Criteria of the Sacred Heart as a foundation, Stuart Country Day School and Convent of the Sacred Heart partnered to design an in-person three-day service and leadership experience for middle school students. Attendees will leave with tangible service project concepts and leadership activities to implement, and strategies for partnering with other schools.

Presenters: Dominique Kucharczuk, Director of Summer Programs; Jacqueline Silva, LS Service Learning and Leadership Coordinator; Kristen Zosche, MS/US Dean of Students | Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart

Consistency and Clarity in Grading: A Data-Informed Grade Study
Conversations about grade inflation felt overly simplified and impossible to approach. What started as a question about grade inflation led to a historical, data-driven study that informed teacher-designed divisional grading philosophies, practices, and policies. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that conversations about grade inflation are actually conversions about consistency and clarity in grading. Thus far, our project has led us to create divisional grading practices, consistent grading policies on late work, extension requests, and reassessment – all of which are informed by research on educating girls.

Presenter: Allison Bishop, Head of Upper School | The Chapin School (United States)

Equal and Different: The Transformative Power of The New Single-Gender Education
Equal and Different is a non-profit association whose purpose is to promote educational pluralism, through the dissemination and support of the single-gender educational model in conditions of equality, at the national and international levels. At Equal and Different we seek to respond to the uniqueness of each person, overcome gender stereotypes, reduce school failure and advance educational equity. In this session we will describe what we define as “The New Single-Gender Education” and how Equal and Different promotes this educational model. Additionally, we will share best practices for a positive and constructive advocacy action in favour of girls’ schools.

Presenter: Felipe Mosquera, Manager | Iguales y Diferentes / Equal and Different (Spain)

Exploring Engagement: The Influence of Mathematical Mindsets and Gendered Beliefs in an All-Girls Classroom
Student engagement shapes future academic and career trajectories, influenced by cognitive and socio-cultural factors such as mathematical mindsets and gendered mathematical beliefs. This study, conducted at Hathaway Brown, employs a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between these constructs and students’ self-reported and observed engagement in mathematics. This investigation also explores teachers’ perspectives on school-specific affordances and instructional strategies that support students’ mathematical mindsets and challenge gendered mathematical beliefs. Findings highlight the distinctive role of the all-girls school environment in fostering positive mathematical mindsets, reducing gendered beliefs, and enhancing engagement among female students.

Presenter: Dr. Zohreh Janinezhad, Teachers College, Columbia University (United States)

Assessment of Learning: A Small Shift to Positively Impacting Student Success
We will explore the benefits of shifting to the assessment for learning for students. Being transparent with mastery of content and skills can transform a classroom into an energetic learning environment that best meets the needs of all students. We will discuss how this model can eradicate barriers to student participation, how the information collected can assist educators in shifting instructional pace and content, and how we mitigate assessment anxiety and promote self-confidence by highlighting the comprehensive components of assignments and learning objectives.

Presenter: Ed Dougherty, Director of Innovation & Strategic Initiatives | Chatham Hall (United States)

The Opportunities and Essential Role of Girls’ Schools in this Moment of Intersecting Crises

Across the globe, the climate and biodiversity emergencies are deepening, along with many intersecting social crises. Research shows women and girls are both disproportionately affected, and disproportionately leading society towards solutions. A recent study of 11 – 14 year-olds in the UK showed that 44% of girls have high rates of eco-anxiety, and 75% want to learn about how climate change impacts human health and wellbeing. We will share a vignette of a recent middle school leadership symposium hosted by The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto, and discuss how schools can lead strategic, aspirational, hope-filled, whole-school climate and nature action.

Presenter: Michèle Andrews, Co-Founder & Executive Director | DoorNumberOne.org

Empowering Girls Through Auditory Learning: Creating Student Podcasts with the Power of AI
Girls thrive when they are empowered to take ownership of their learning. Responding to student requests for diverse revision tools, I used AI to clone my voice and create a podcast tailored to their needs. Grounded in research into the psychology of voice and how girls learn, this project emphasized trust, fostered intrinsic motivation, and offered choice in learning modes. In this session, I will demonstrate how to create a podcast episode using two different AI platforms, providing practical tools and strategies you can take straight back to the classroom. Together, we’ll explore how auditory learning can strengthen relationships, build student agency, and celebrate girls as powerful, active participants in their education.

Presenter: Jayne Schinckel, Teacher | St Hilda’s School (Australia)

Addressing Teacher Retention through Strategies Focused on Recognition and Wellbeing
Supporting teacher wellbeing is a significant challenge facing schools globally. It is critical to the ability to deliver excellence in educational outcomes and care for our girls and young women. It is critical that we support and retain the very best teachers and staff in our schools. This presentation will discuss the Staff Wellbeing and Recognition Strategy that has been implemented at Pymble Ladies’ College over the last three years and its positive and measurable impact on staff engagement. The presentation will focus in three areas including understanding the needs of your staff through data, the value of differentiated staff benefits, a case study of an innovative staff recognition program that is now embedded in our school culture. This session aims to challenge, inform and inspire the audience while providing innovative and accessible strategies that can be adopted for teachers and staff in most schools. The presentation is a story about the value of consulting, listening and responding to teacher voice to deliver impactful strategies to foster wellbeing and recognition.

Presenter: Kate Rimer, Chief People and Culture Officer | Pymble Ladies’ College (Australia)

Bridging the Gap: How and Why Cross-Curricular Projects Matter
This session will explore how to design and implement cross-curricular assignments, projects, and units that foster deeper student engagement and interdisciplinary thinking. Presenters will walk participants through their full process—from initial concept to classroom execution—by highlighting two successful Humanities-based projects integrating English 8 and U.S. Civics. While rooted in the Humanities, the session will emphasize the transferable strategies and skills needed to develop cross-curricular experiences across any subject area. Designed for educators who are curious about where to begin, this workshop will equip participants with a toolkit to confidently launch their own cross-curricular project.

Presenter: Marjorie Nunn, Middle School Teacher and Julie Elmore, Middle School English Teacher | St. Catherine’s School (United States)

Create a Toolbox for Advancing Women’s Leadership
The Women in Leadership course at Stuart Country Day School employs self-discovery, goal setting, research-based inquiry, collaboration with professionals in specific fields as well as civic engagement as tools for leadership. This workshop will include lesson plans and strategies for engaging young women in their leadership journey. This workshop will be for educators who want to include leadership strategies in their classes as well as plans to begin a leadership class. It will include information about: strengths and challenges personality tests, how to engage guest speakers, ethical and personal growth using The Four Agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz, creating a vision board, self-care and self-regulation techniques, barriers and biases, personal saboteurs and learning how to create and support a team.

Presenter: Jan Baldwin, Visual and Performing Arts Faculty | Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (United States)

Planning for Success – Process and Practice for Campus Master Planning
“Not enough space.” “We acquired new property.” “We don’t have one.” There are countless reasons for schools to consider campus master planning. Regardless of drivers, successful campus planning comes down to a handful of key factors. In this session attendees will learn when and how to structure a campus planning exercise and techniques to build consensus, set priorities, and communicate effectively to the campus community. Hear from HCM’s campus planning experts for a comprehensive checklist of best practices, along with lessons-learned from past campus plans.

Presenter: Neil Murray, Associate Principal | Hord Coplan Macht (United States)