Fully funded workshops for schools in London and Greater Manchester
At GFS, we create fun, safe spaces where girls can explore who they are, build confidence and challenge limiting stereotypes together.
In 2025, we grew our schools programme by welcoming two new Schools Coordinators, one in London and one in Greater Manchester. This means we can now offer fully funded workshops to schools in these areas, reaching the girls who need our support the most.
How do they work?
Our interactive workshops are designed for girls in Years 4 to 6 in primary schools and Years 7 and 8 in secondary schools. Schools can choose between two half-day sessions or one full-day session, or we can explore alternative timings to suit your school’s schedule.
Each workshop supports Relationships, PSHE education, helping girls develop practical skills to build self-esteem, navigate friendships and recognise gender bias.
In addition to our school workshops, which take place during the school day, we also offer after-school clubs specifically for Year 5 and 6 girls.
We come to your school for an hour each week to create a fun, supportive space where girls can continue building confidence, making friends and trying new activities in a girl-only environment.
These sessions are important because we know that girls are struggling. Despite being told they can do and be anything, girls still face stereotypes, bias and pressures that can affect their self-esteem.
Our workshops and clubs provide a positive space for early intervention, helping girls think critically, celebrate their individuality, and feel confident before these challenges start to hold them back.
See below for more information on the workshops and after-school clubs we offer.
Workshop 1: Thinking Differently
- Thinking Differently, helps girls explore how gender expectations influence the world around them, from the media they see to the language they hear every day.
- Together, we look at what gender stereotypes are, spot examples of them in action, and think about how they can affect us and others.
- This session encourages curiosity and critical thinking, helping girls to question assumptions, celebrate individuality, and recognise their own power to make change.
Teachers tell us this session has a real impact, with 93% saying it helped girls understand what a stereotype is.
More than 90% of girls said they left with a clearer understanding of how stereotypes can influence their own lives and those of others.
One Year 7 girl from Greater Manchester said:
“I learnt that feminism doesn’t mean that girls are better than others.” Another participant from Year 5 in London summed it up perfectly: “It’s okay to break the stereotype.”
Workshop 2: Be you
In this workshop, girls focus on building confidence, exploring identity, and developing healthy relationships.
They take time to reflect on who they are, their strengths, values, and individuality.
Through reflection and discussion, they explore what makes them unique, practice self-compassion, and learn how to build supportive and respectful relationships with others.
This session is especially valuable for girls who may be experiencing anxiety or low confidence.
It helps them recognise their strengths, see their own worth, and develop empathy and understanding towards others, which in turn supports positive, healthy relationships.
Teachers tell us that this workshop really makes a difference, with 93% saying it helped girls celebrate their individuality.
“I will remember how I feel about myself. I feel confident.”
The clubs offer a calm and familiar setting where girls can pause, reflect and feel heard without pressure or judgement.
Away from the classroom and free from the influence of boys, they can explore new ideas, try activities they might not usually get the chance to do, and recognise their own strengths and interests.
These sessions can be especially valuable for girls who may be struggling with friendships, confidence or emotions.
With trusted adults and peers around them, they have the opportunity to develop resilience, grow emotionally, strengthen relationships, and prepare positively for the move to secondary school.
At GFS clubs, girls get the chance to develop confidence and leadership skills, strengthen friendships, explore new activities that challenge stereotypes, and most importantly, have fun and feel free to be themselves.
Beyond the Workshops:
After School Clubs
Our school workshops are just the beginning.
Through our weekly GFS after-school clubs for girls in Years 5 and 6, we create a fun, safe and supportive space where girls can keep building confidence, making friends and trying new things.
The clubs are shaped by the girls’ own feedback and run for one hour each week over a three-term programme fully funded for schools.
Impact
Who took part?
Between January and July 2025, 282 girls took part in GFS workshops across London and Greater Manchester.
We also supported girls with a variety of SEND requirements, ensuring all participants could fully engage with the workshops.
Teachers reported the main challenges girls face include friendships, confidence, self-image and teamwork.
Younger girls focused on learning to share and respect boundaries, while older girls prepared new friendships and navigating conflict.
Overall, 94% of teachers said the sessions helped address these key challenges.
Awareness, understanding and girls’ feedback
The workshops helped girls reflect on their strengths, understand gender bias and recognise how their feelings affect others.
86% of girls said they better understood gender bias and 92% of girls could name something they liked about themselves.
“I can be myself around someone without being judged.”
– A Year 6 Girl from Greater Manchester
“It’s okay to break the stereotype and we should stand up for ourselves.”
– A Year 5 Girl from London
“Feminism doesn’t mean that girls are better than others, but that both genders are equal and shouldn’t be prejudged.”
– A Year 7 Girl from Greater Manchester
Practical Skills and Relationships
Teachers noted that the sessions gave girls tools for positive friendships and self-reflection, helping them celebrate individuality and develop confidence in expressing themselves.
A Year 6 teacher in London said:
“The girls were able to share what is important to them in a friendship and what makes them healthy.”
A Year 5 teacher in Manchester said:
“It will help them to understand their emotions and the impact it can have on them.
You can be anything you want to be.”
Overall impact
Through creative activities, interactive discussion and supportive guidance, girls leave the workshops feeling empowered, heard and understood, with practical tools to navigate friendships, boost confidence and develop lasting self-belief.
Get involved:
Bring GFS workshops and after-school clubs to your school and give your students the opportunity to build confidence, explore their strengths and develop positive friendships.
We offer interactive sessions for girls in Years 4 to 8 during the school day, and weekly after-school clubs for Year 5 and 6 girls.
To find out more about booking a workshop or setting up an after-school club, please contact us.
Contact your local school’s coordinator in Greater Manchester or London here:
schools@gfs.org.uk
