Not everyone is engaged in the subject of gender equality from the jump. At one point, I spot two female students exchanging acerbic eye-rolls, and feel my heart wither a little in my chest (nobody does contempt like a 14-year-old girl). Later on, I accidentally knock a box of scissors onto the floor, prompting a chorus of mocking “oohs” that makes me wish a cartoon-style anvil would fall from the sky and crush me on the spot.

But there are also moments that feel like genuine breakthroughs. Many of the students are especially interested when we introduce the concept of intersectionality, and several girls share stories about sexism they’ve encountered in their own lives – from parents who have one set of rules for them and another for their brothers, to boys who turn nasty when rejected romantically.

When we ask who’s familiar with the term ‘gender pay gap’, every hand in the room shoots up. Incredibly, one girl can cite the exact mean average pay gap – 13.7% – off the top of her head, something I’m not sure many adults could do so confidently.

“What happened when Stylist went into a school to talk about gender equality”