‘Frustrated’ Toorak College principal calls 3AW to respond to ‘girls’ controversy

The principal of Toorak College has responded to reports the elite all-female school on the Mornington Peninsula has stopped referring to students as “girls”.

The Herald Sun this week reported the school “avoids general female references when addressing cohorts with non-binary students to make gender fluid and transgender students feel safe on campus”.

This prompted questions from Tom Elliott about the wider implications of such a move in the education system, including the name of some schools such as Methodist Ladies’ College.

Minutes later, Principal Kristy Kendall called into 3AW Drive, saying she was frustrated with the reporting on the issue.

“We still very proudly identify as a girls school, we still very proudly refer to our girls as girls,” she said.

“But we have a couple of students in our school who don’t necessarily identify that way so we’re very sensitive to helping them to feel included, but absolutely have not changed how we refer to the students as a whole.”

Press PLAY to hear the full call and exchange