At home, gender was never really discussed. The only real aspect of gender that I was told about, apart from physical, was ‘boys toys’ and ‘girls toys’; girls were expected encouraged to dress as princesses at play time, whereas boys were the knights in shining armour.

Boys and girls were given equal opportunities with regards to academic studies. Gender did not impact who was doing well, it simply came down to who was paying attention to what was happening around them.

When it came to the 11+ in primary 7, my classmates, male and female, scored a range of results. Gender did not play a role in this difference, I believe, as it was more to do with the social group that they were involved with.