To be angry so many girls schools are going Co-Ed?

[FaeryRing]

Yet again it’s been proven girls do better in single sex schools (I have a son as well as a daughter so please don’t think I’m ’hating on boys’).

https://amp.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/12/girls-do-better-in-exams-at-all-girls-schools-than-mixed-research-finds

In my hometown growing up there were 4 girls schools. 1 grammar, 1 private, and 2 regular secondaries, meaning pretty much all parents regardless of background had access to single sex education for their daughters if they wanted it.

2 have announced their plans to go Co-Ed, with 1 already having done so, leaving just 1 (the grammar, so working class girls will be inherently disadvantaged). This seems to be a pattern across the country.

AIBU to be angry this is happening? Can’t girls have anything to themselves?

Have they learned to work together since Co ed came in? If so, how?

Maybe I'm not typical but my results informed me that I was definitely better at certain STEM subjects than many of my male counterparts 😉....I get that confidence can be an issue though, at least for some students.

That's a real shame.

That’s exactly what happens at ours. So PE type sports are mixed. Other sports are single sex. For example, rugby. Both have a chance to play, but putting a small teenage girl against a huge teenage boy wouldn’t be safe.

Why? Both sexes are happy with it.

Exactly.
There's opportunities for mixed events but also situations where it's more logical to be separate. They compete in their houses on Sports Day and boys and girls (noisily) encourage each other!

@KeinLiebeslied54321 well yes, my DD is towards the top of her class for the sciences, there's no evidence at all that the boys are doing better in general in science. Certainly she is better than my DS in science who's better at English and Music than she is! And I did Chemistry at Uni, so no lack of confidence of the girls in our family regarding STEM, but I have heard it can be a thing!

@Another76543 yes, I agree with a lot of your posts but I think the main thing is that girls are under-represented in STEM because science has been seen as a male domain. It seems to be seen as OK for women to do Biology but unusual to do Physics. https://www.womenintech.co.uk/small-amount-of-women-in-stem/#:~:text=At%20university%2C%20there%20are%20only,as%20a%20male%2Ddominated%20subject. I think there is a link to the Maths element which women are shown to feel less confident in. Largely it is about confidence rather than ability.

Ideally we would have even amounts of boys and girls picking all types of subjects, but we do need to be mindful of not giving equity to girls in careers with high pay.

I went to a mixed state school and remember how high the standards were. If we weren't getting straight A* grades and going to Oxbridge or a top London uni to do a STEM or medicine related degree we were actively told we were a drain on society and might as well just give up on life.......at 14!!!! Regardless of sex. Mixed schools doesn't necessarily equate to lower standards!

I’m not saying that I disagree with single sex education. It probably suits some children (probably quieter girls for example).

Quiet? Tell that to Harriet Harman, Shirley Conran, Anna Wintour, Esther Rantzen, Susannah Reid, Sophie Raworth, Victoria Coren, India Knight, Baroness Butler-Sloss, Kate Beckinsale, Sophie Ellis-Bexgtor, Davina McCall, Nigella Lawson, Zoe Williams, Amelia Gentleman, Rachel Weisz, Rosalind Franklin etc.

ok that's good. My DCs are happy that it is not mixed. I guess experiences vary.

Very much like a single sex school…

😁

I had to do a lot of chemistry as part of my undergraduate degree - I have mostly very fond memories of that time and I honestly didn't have to look hard for amazing female role models. Interest in a subject can be an amazing natural driving force.

How is boys and girls cheering for each other and opportunities for mixed sports within a school 'very much like a single sex school'?

So did mine as it happened, but I wouldn’t have chosen them myself as I was more interested in humanities and languages. I wanted to study Ancient Greek instead of physics and a second modern language instead of chemistry for O level. School said no. Given how useful my science and tech have been I am very grateful.

Do we know how loud or quiet they all were to start with?

There isn't a compulsory GCSE called "science".

I was torn between biological sciences and social sciences. I went for the former but still have an interest in both. I rejected art, despite having potential and enjoying it, but decisions had to be made.

Maybe pp means 'a science'.

“There's opportunities for mixed events but also situations where it's more logical to be separate.”

Is what I was responding to.

Not keen on sports days - bit boring for everyone. But mixed orchestra, chamber music, choir, drama, debating, school trips etc - all good.

Science is compulsory at GCSE level is what I meant...but I think you knew that.

Yeah we do.

I notice that Kein (and others posting against the choice of single sex schools) have quietly ignored my post yesterday saying that, despite a decade of trying, I couldn’t change the way boys needs and preferences were prioritised at the primary school my dds attended.

In a Utopia, mixed sex would be great. But in the school I have experience of, it just wasn’t possible and so my dds chose single sex for secondary.

I understand why this is - with constrained resources schools have to maximise engagement and minimise disruption, and catering to the boys in various ways (see previous post, if you want real-life examples) did this - but I do want the choice to opt out of it.

Not keen on sports days - bit boring for everyone. But mixed orchestra, chamber music, choir, drama, debating, school trips etc - all good.

Everyone? I loved sports day and both my DCs much prefer it to the other activities you've stated.
Another cliche - that girls in particular don't enjoy sports.