Should we cancel the term ‘Head Girl’? Apprentice star says we should scrap the title

‘It’s woke madness!’ GMB viewers slam decision by £26,000-a-year St Paul’s Girls’ School to cancel the term ‘head girl’ because it’s ‘too binary’ – saying ‘people need to get a grip’

  • St Paul’s Girls’ School will no longer use the term because it says it is too ‘binary’
  • The £26,000-a-year school will now refer to those in the role as ‘head of school’
  • Joanna Jarjue, 27, Leeds, believes change stops chance of misgendering pupils
  • Journalist Rebecca Reid, London, argued ‘everyone’s pronouns are important’


Good Morning Britain viewers have branded the decision to stop using the term head girl ‘woke madness’ after one of Britain’s leading private schools scrapped the title. 

St Paul’s Girls’ School in west London announced last week they will no longer use the term because it’s too ‘binary’, and instead the £26,000-a-year school will refer to the position as ‘head of school’ from the next academic year.  

Former Apprentice contestant Joanna Jarjue, 27, from Leeds, appeared on the show this morning alongside London-based journalist Rebecca Reid, to debate whether the title should remain.  

Joanna argued that ‘this is the way society is going’ and feels the change could help ‘eliminate the change of misgendering students’, while Rebecca said ‘the concept of being a girl is a really important one’. 

Viewers were quick to take to Twitter with their opinion, with some expressing their ‘very strong’ concern about ‘getting rid’ of female pronouns. 

Former Apprentice contestant Joanna Jarjue, 27, from Leeds, supports the decision to scrap the term ‘head girl’ because the change could help ‘eliminate the change of misgendering students’

London-based journalist Rebecca Reid said 'the concept of being a girl is a really important one'

London-based journalist Rebecca Reid said ‘the concept of being a girl is a really important one’

‘I think the difference with this specifically is the fact there are some non-binary students in this school and if they were to take up this role I think this creates a level playing field where you eliminate the chance of these students potentially being misgendered’, said Joanna. 

Host Susanna Reid pointed out that seven of the 778 pupils at the school identify as non-binary, and asked whether the title could be changed according to who is elected to the position. 

‘If we have that approach to everything and say it’s only a minority, a small number of people I think a lot of rules and a lot of things we have changed to become more inclusive wouldn’t happen’, replied Joanna. 

‘I think it’s more important to have that level playing field. We know this is the direction society is going in and its important to point out it’s the student that chose this. 

Viewers were quick to take to Twitter with their opinion, with some expressing their 'very strong' concern about 'getting rid' of female pronouns

Viewers were quick to take to Twitter with their opinion, with some expressing their ‘very strong’ concern about ‘getting rid’ of female pronouns

‘It’s not some rule that has been pushed upon them, this is something they want for a healthier environment and are thinking of the non-binary students around them and how to make them feel more comfortable.’ 

Viewers disagreed with Joanna, with one writing:’I am a woman and feel very strongly about our titles being ‘got rid of’.’ 

‘Omg have some people not got more important things to worry and moan about. Big up and leave things alone’, said another. 

A third agreed: ‘We are being so woke, you can’t remove head girl without removing ‘Girls School’, while another branded the change ‘woke madness’.  

Meanwhile, journalist Rebecca argued that we should be making non-binary people feel comfortable without having to get rid of female pronouns, and that ‘it’s really important that girls still exist’. 

St Paul's Girls' School, which costs £26,000-a-year, will no longer use the term head girl as it says it is too 'binary'

St Paul’s Girls’ School, which costs £26,000-a-year, will no longer use the term head girl as it says it is too ‘binary’

‘I went to an all girls school and I feel really strongly that the concept of being a girl is a really important one’, she said. ‘Just as being non-binary is really important.’ 

‘But my frustration comes when the word girl being removed and not non-binary added and us having both because it’s really important that girls still exist.’ 

She went on: ‘If we broaden this out to talk about schools in general, that’s where I think it’s really important, I do think there is this move of getting rid of all gendered language and going straight to non-binary everything.

‘For trans people being able to use their correct pronouns is really important so non-binary takes that away from them, I’m a woman and my pronouns are important too. 

‘Everyone’s pronouns are important and we need to make sure we have everything people need, but don’t get rid of any.’