Expert gives girls health talk

DR Shilpa McQuillan, who leads the Berkshire Menopause Clinic in Henley, spoke about women’s health to 140 girls in the sixth form at Queen Anne’s School in Caversham.

She focused on menopause and taught them how to perform a self breast examination and showed them on models how a cervical smear is performed.

Dr McQuillan said: “You can never start too early and I believe we should be teaching anatomy, screening and all women’s health issues from a young age. I teach my own three-year-old real anatomical names and body parts. If we do this, the subjects become less taboo and everyone will feel knowledgeable and self-empowered to help those dealing with menopause and hormonal conditions.”

Ben Stephenson, head of sixth form, said: “It’s really important that we educate students not just what is on the curriculum but about important health issues they will experience throughout their life.”