Forest Hill School fighting 'toxic masculinity' stereotypes

Michael Sullivan, headteacher of Forest Hill School, is shaping the next generation of men to be academically and socially well-rounded.

The school’s motto is “aspiring to excellence together” because while Mr Sullivan wants his pupils to achieve high grades, he also wants them to work together as a community.

He said: “We have four core values which drive the day-to-day activity at the school and they are hard work, ambition, respect and kindness.

Forest Hill School (Image: Forest Hill School)

“We use them to motivate the boys to perform well both in lessons and around other aspects of their school life as well.

“We award house points when they display those characteristics, they can accrue those points in form time, school competitions and around the school and it really does draw together everything we think is important about a caring yet academically ambitious school, so those four core values are key to what we are doing day in and day out.

"These are things not stereotypically thought of as being characteristics of an all-boys school.

“When I say I’m a headteacher of an all-boys school in south east London I can see in someone’s eyes the horror stories that flash across their mind of what an all-boys school in south east London might be like.

“But this is not like that at all, it’s a very caring and nurturing environment where boys feel respected and pushed to do their best.”

Forest Hill School opened back in 1956, and so Mr Sullivan believes it is a well-established part of the community.

It teaches boys aged 11 - 18.

Forest Hill School (Image: Forest Hill School)

While many schools over the years have made the move to become co-educational, Mr Sullivan is certain that his boys thrive in a single-sex environment.

He added: “As a state boys school, we work to counter the negative view of what an all-boys school is like.

“We put a lot of effort into personal, social and health education to make sure boys are getting good exposure to things around gender equality, masculinity, mental health and all those things that are very important to young men as they grow up.

“So, as well as catering for their academic success and wellbeing we’re putting a lot into developing them as people.”

Forest Hill School prides itself on having a broad curriculum where boys must participate in dance, drama, music and art among other artistic subjects.

Forest Hill School (Image: Forest Hill School)

Mr Sullivan has seen that at this single-sex school, the boys must take on roles typically filled by girls such as prefects, house captains, dancers and artists.

He argues that by removing these gender stereotypes, boys are put in a position where they have to pursue what interests them no matter whether or not it is considered “socially acceptable”.

Boys from Forest Hill School have performed at Lewisham Live Dance Festival and had their art displayed at the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition.

Mr Sullivan has found that the all-boys environment has given his pupils “a real appetite to do well and flourish".

He said: “I don’t think boys are deliberately negatively compared with girls in mixed schools but I think it tends to happen and boys tend to feel that sometimes, having worked in mixed schools in the past.

“In that sense, we think the single sex environment can be beneficial to them.

“These things aren’t appreciated by people out there – this school is not like what that negative stereotype is at all.”

The school was recently rated as 'good' by Ofsted following an inspection in December 2023.

Inspectors praised the school’s academic achievements, strong pastoral care and wider personal development.

This came after Forest Hill School was rated as 'requires improvement' by Ofsted back in 2021, a rating that Mr Sullivan disagreed with, feeling that the school was not given “a fair crack of the whip”.

But he was “very pleased” with the updated report, feeling that inspectors really engaged with the school and “saw it for what it really is”.