Discombobulated Girls: A Fantastic Partnership Project

By Emily Biggin

I am the newest member of The Ranch Link Forward children’s wellbeing service here at Southmead Development Trust. By providing safe spaces to meet, play, and chat we support children aged 7-13, referred to us, with mental health, literacy, social skills, and confidence building.

I was delighted to have recently co-facilitated a fantastic project for primary-aged girls with our partners Girlhood Reclaimed. Together we met a group of girls at Badock’s Wood E-Act Academy to explore questions about what being a girl means, how gender roles are taught, and how girls show resistance and strength when something does not feel right.

During the first few sessions we looked at terms like sexism and internalised misogyny. This led to the group choosing a name for themselves – The Discombobulated Girls – which we all thought was a hilariously adept description of the confusing nature of modern girlhood.

We then looked at where girls learn about gender roles and expectations, which created a range of conversations around what it means to grow up as a girl in today’s world. As the girls shared and supported each other’s experiences, they built strong bonds of friendship and trust.

Other sessions saw the girls create a variety of different projects to understand what they need from the world for them to feel safe and empowered. This included planning a town together and designing placards to be used in protests. While some of the conversations were very heavy, there was a spirit of resistance and hopefulness which made the sessions incredibly meaningful.

Over six weeks we witnessed a powerful sense of collaboration and cohesion between the girls with sessions being emotional, hilarious, and nurturing all at once. We felt deeply privileged to be able to help these girls on their journeys, and we hope they now have some additional tools and education to make more sense of their world.

You can read the full report of this fantastic project – The Discombobulated Girls – by clicking >here

I loved being part of these amazing sessions with Rae and Tatiana from Girlhood Reclaimed, and with the pupils from Badock’s Wood School – a huge thank you to all of them.

To read more about The Ranch Link Forward service click >here