Sara Annie Burstall

Sara Annie Burstall (2 November 1859 – 26 March 1939) was a Scottish born writer on education and the second headmistress of the Manchester High School for Girls.

Life Burstall was born in Aberdeen in 1859. Her father, Henry, had a number of jobs until a legacy in the 1870s made the family financially secure. She was educated first by a governess, then at Dr Lyon's Union Street Scottish Academy in Aberdeen. After moving to London, she attended Camden School for Girls; and then won a scholarship in 1875 the North London Collegiate School, where she became head girl. (Both the latter schools had been founded by Frances Mary Buss, whose biography Burstall would publish in 1938.)

She took the University of London General Examination for Women in 1877, and won a scholarship to Girton College, Cambridge. As an assistant mistress at North London Collegiate School she attended classes at University College London (UCL), and took the Intermediate Arts exam in 1883, "from North London Collegiate School and Girton", and the BA in 1884 from UCL. She later obtained qualifications in Scripture (Hebrew Prize 1886) and Pedagogy (1894) from UCL.

In 1893 she travelled to the USA where she studied education and wrote her first book, The Education of Girls in the United States. The building is now occupied by the University of Manchester School of Social Sciences.

Burstall's introduction of streamed education was considered controversial. The girls of lower ability were steered away from academic ambition and towards newly introduced domestic subjects. Burstall defended this approach as a way to attract more pupils and give access to girls who might otherwise be denied schooling – but it has been considered by some a step backwards from the partial educational equality that had been achieved. Nevertheless, she continued to lead the debate on girls' education. In 1903, she became one of three women members of the newly formed education committee of Manchester City Council, installing the first woman inspector of infant schools; and securing two of the four local authority university scholarships for women. She had also served as a magistrate for three years after retiring from the headship.

She died in Fulham, London, on 26 March 1939.

Assessment Burstall is widely regarded as a champion of both girls' education, and of the importance of teachers. "Parents have to realise that the teacher is an expert professional and is entitled therefore to the deference shown to the skilled professional opinion of the doctor, lawyer or architect", she wrote.

Selected works 1894: The Education of Girls in the United States 1907: English High Schools for Girls: Their Aims, Organisation, and Management (BiblioBazaar, ) 1909: Impressions of American Education in 1908 1911: The Story of the Manchester High School for Girls: 1871–1911 1933: Retrospect & Prospect: sixty years of women's education 1938: Frances Mary Buss: an educational pioneer