In the classroom I never felt particularly limited by my gender, but when the bell rang for break time, it was a different story. Being a competitive child, I would naturally get frustrated when the boys wouldn’t pass the ball in football or include us while playing basketball in the playground. It would leave myself, and other girls feeling excluded and not as worthy because we weren’t boys. We weren’t taken seriously. However with time it became accepted that the boys had control when it came to sports and that was that. Nothing more said about it.

In Primary six, my family moved house, so I had to attend a different school that was in the catchment area. I was taken aback to find out that the massive football pitch at the front of my new school was reserved by primary six and seven boys only, at break time and lunch time. Meanwhile, the girls could be seen doing hand stands and cartwheels on the grass at the side, not daring to step on the forbidden land. These stereotypically ‘girly’ activities appealed to a lot of the girls, but many were desperate for some time on the football pitch. Looking back now, I can appreciate how unfair this was, and question why the teachers didn’t have more to say about these playground ‘rules’.

The problem that is gender inequality wasn’t addressed or taken seriously by the professionals in either of the primary schools I attended. After thinking deeper into how gender can impact learning, I’d say that it is crucial we take this issue, that is becoming ever more relevant, and bring it into the classroom, to educate children on the importance of being open minded, and not always to follow social constructs. It’s okay to do things ‘differently’ to the way we are used to.