Girls at the Marines

The presence of girls on site turned a few heads at the all-male Royal Marine Commando training base in Lympstone.

The girls, from Torquay Girls’ Grammar school, were visiting as part of a course the school has developed to encourage its girls into positions of leadership. The Royal Marines contributed by providing a full day of activities. It began gently, in the warm and dry, with lectures on leadership by serving officers before the girls were kitted out, in full marine uniform, to take part in problem solving exercises. The day culminated in a timed attempt at the iconic assault course on the bottom field involving plenty of mud and water. The girls dragged themselves along ropes, climbed walls, crawled through tunnels and swung on monkey bars. At the end the girls ended up in the giant water tank.

‘It was much harder than I expected,’ said a cold and wet Sarah Stoyle in Year 13, ‘but I was keen to be a Naval Engineer before the visit, now I want to even more.’

Headteacher Dr Smith said, ‘The assault course is designed to be a tough, both physically and mentally. I am really proud of the way our girls’ kept going. The fact that they all got round shows the type of resilience we are trying to nurture. We are indebted to the Marines for organising a fantastic day. It is a real privilege to gain insight into such world class leadership and the girls were absolutely buzzing when they left. Now they can boast that they are some of the only girls ever, to complete the Marine’s assault course.