Come and tell me what you think of girls schools...

Liking the idea of the Diamond Structure mentioned above, though. Can certainly see the merit in that.

My all girls school was not a 'nasty bitchy place'. On the contrary it was a nurturing, unthreatening environment with some great feminist role models on the staff. I will definitely send my three daughters to girls-only establishments.

I have a slightly unusual perspective on this.

My two boys went to an all girls school in Pre-Prep (they took just a few boys but had to leave at age 8) and then we sent our boys to an all girls school. They were the only boys in the whole school.

They now go to a co-ed school.

My view is that the 'Diamond' structure is best. Co-Ed Year 1- 6. Then single sex classes in Year 7 - 11 but joining together for social activities. Then fully Co-Ed again in Sixth form.

We nearly picked a school where that Diamond structure was in place. It works well because you get socialisation between sexes but girls and boys do operate differently in classroom settings and I think separating for lessons makes sense.

I went to a single sex boys boarding school that went Co-Ed in the Sixth form and my DW went to a single sex Girls Grammar day school that had a brother school on the same campus. My wife was a lot more used to boys than I was of girls.

'Girl schools are nasty bitchy places.'

Generalisation much?

There is more to life than academics. Girl schools are nasty bitchy places.

I feel that having boys and girls seperated creates an artifical enviromnent and both of them are less mature. For example when I went to university there was a girl had sex with every lad on the rugby and rowing team. I found that boys who had been to all boys schools were very immature compared with those who had been to a mixed school.

We don't have single sex work places. A woman has to learn to deal with domineering males if she is going to be sucessful at work or in relationships.

I am certainly a feminist though Nigella, yet I found I was jettisoned out of my girls school situation, wholly unable to interract with boys, and tbh quite scared of, and intimidated by, them.

Looking back, it made me very vulnerable in the company of boys.

In Ireland it's the norm to have single sex schools. I went to an all-girls primary and secondary. Primary was rubbish but that was due to the school. Secondary was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. No one cared what they looked like and the culture was very much one of respect and achievement. I feel very lucky to have attended it. I suspecty teen years would have been very different without it and not in a good way.

i would have thought that 'the feminist in you' would prefer your daughter to go to a school where she will not be sexually harassed and shouted down and made to feel inferior in 'boys subjects'?

I went to an all girls school for a time.

I found it to be very unhealthy, especially considering that had no brothers.

I wouldn't want it for my dd's, but if it was unavoidable I would definitely make steps to ensure they had plenty of interraction with boys of similar ages.

At secondary level one DD was at a mixed school, the other at a girls' school until 16, then mixed.

I think it depends on the girl. If you have an independent girl who can put two fingers up (metaphorically) to boys who try to dominate then mixed is fine. My DD at a mixed school soon sent any boy off with a flea in his ear who thought he had a right to dominate. My other DD was only at a girls' school because she had a scholarship but was a gentler soul although I don't think she would have stood any nonsense either (she certainly had a share of fights with boys in her childhood). She changed to mixed at 16 and got on fine.

So I would say girls' school if your DD has any tendency to defer to boys or let them dominate. Mixed is fine otherwise.

I would choose single sex for dd if we could afford it but all out state schools are co-ed. She is definitely under the impression that the boys in her class have the right to dominate the space. She can't play football at playtime, she is often bullied into going inside, she defers to boys over and over . Even the reading scheme is boy-centric and pushed by oup as 'boy friendly'. I went to a girls school and it was by no means perfect but I wasn't made to feel self conscious about being good at physics and chemistry and maths.

ukfeminista.org.uk/take-action/generation-f/statistics/

ukfeminista.org.uk/take-action/generation-f/statistics/

that, for a start

Everything Everton said - I too went to a girls' school. The liberation in knowing that I would be taken seriously, in not having to think about whether a given subject was "feminine" or not... it was brilliant. Ended up at a women's college, which again was brilliant in terms of being a wonderfully supportive atmosphere for learning... so I did single sex ed from 11 to 21 (with a few exceptions...)!

I did have one very interesting experience. 4 boys from the school next door joined our A level physics class (due to timetabling difficulties at their school). They didn't show till week 2. Week 1 - nice relaxed atmosphere with all the girls round the front bench of the lab. Week 2 and the rest of the sixth form - 4 boys have co-opted the front bench, spread themselves out in such a way that no-one else could sit there. Girls sit at back for rest of time. Now, I knew already that I wanted to do physics at university (in fact I still do it for a living!) I also knew that our teacher, who was a good physicist and good at communicating her subject, but hopeless at discipline (not so much of an issue in sixth form) and the managerial skills of running a group, would struggle to get through the syllabus, so to some extent I was going to have to "organise" the class - i.e. make sure we got through topics at the right speed. Which meant I had to be the one dealing with the boys' tendencies (because they weren't the sharpest tools in the box) to muck around, derail, get lessons off topic. And I remember being aware at the time that it was bloody lucky I found the physics straightforward, because if I'd had to put mental energy into the subject matter, I wouldn't have had it left over to do the "managerial" stuff too.

Cottoncandy - it feels wrong/hypocritical to me to effectively want other people's DDs to be educated with my DS when I don't want my DD educated with other people's DSes. But then I try to remind myself that other people prefer their DDs to be in a mixed environment and I'm providing the boy to do that :)

I went to two girls' schools and it wasn't a bad thing - young teenagers have so much crap coming at them and out of their mouths that removing direct sexism probably helps. I certainly didn't feel I'd missed anything when I got to know young men for the first time age 17 (and most of them said they were little shits age 13-15 and I wouldn't have wanted to know them!)

I would have a concern that the school didn't have indirect sexist beliefs - mine was hot on you can have any career you want, but no suggestion on how to earn enough to support a family, poor CDT and IT facilities, and maths was deemed vital but not interesting and not encouraged. Unless you were Chinese or Asian.

But none of that is down to being a single-sex school, just happened to be the case.

I went to a girls' school many years ago (in the US where it is much less common). I also went to a women's college within a coed university. These were very positive experiences and helped make me a strong feminist early in my life.

Some pretty strong arguments in favour here!

I don't have a lot of experience of all girls schools. But I do know a few women who did go, and the high achieving element and competitiveness amongst the girls seemed add to the likelihood of eating disorders etc. clearly, that is anecdotal, but it's something I would worry about.

Evertonmint - that reminds me of something I heard a girls' school headmistress say when asked if the 6th form would go co-ed:
"I am perfectly happy for my sons to be educated with other people's daughters, but there is no way my daughters will be educated with other people's sons. Does that answer your question?"
I think I agree with her -I think it is good for boys to have girls around but better for girls not to have boys around!

Mum - I had a similar experience to to you, and it took me a while to settle into relationships (platonic and otherwise) with men when I went to a mixed university.

But now in my 30s, I actually realise that the education first, boys later approach was absolutely the best thing for me. I was very strong and sure of myself and what I wanted, and though it took a while to find good male friends and get a boyfriend, I went into those relationships honestly and as myself, rather than as a naive teenager trying to change myself for boys.

I think Tunip has been much more articulate. In an ideal world yes mixed sex schools wouldn't be an issue. In an ideal world there wouldn't be this perception that girls and boys need to be taught in different manners. because gender stereotypes wouldn't be inexistence.

I went to an all girlsgrammar school in the 1970's/80's which was stuck in the 1950's. It was what put me off all girls schools for DD. Luckily she got a mixed comp and has no intentions of being downtrodden by males!

I went to an all girls school which resulted in me being very shy, insecure and generally uncomfortable with males. It did not help that I had no brothers, male relations or male friends. My OH went to an all boys school and he also remembers feeling very uneasy with the opposite sex. That is why we wanted DD at a mixed school. Before I am pounced on with lots of posters telling me how confident their DD is around males I am not saying this will happen to every girl who attends an all girls school, I'm just sharing my experience.