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Original poster

ratio of boys to girls

17 replies

madammitofsky · 22/09/2010 10:37

my son has just started reception at a 3 x form entry Primary. He has 19 girls in his class and 10 boys. Slightly worried about the non-balance, although girls tend to be better behaved and more studious so maybe I shldn't worry. does this seem high to anyone else, esp as school has 90 pupils to 'play with'......
thanks, x

OP posts:

redskyatnight · 22/09/2010 10:59

What is the ratio like across the year - maybe there just are more girls? The ratio in DD's Reception class is something like 12 girls and 16 boys but is exactly the same in the other class - there just are more boys in the area in that year group.

DS's class (Year 2) is the opposite way round! With a year group of 90 I don't think there is a worry as your DS will have plenty of potential "boy" friends. We did have an issue last year with DS in that none of the other boys in his class were working at the same level as him and he was complaining of being in groups with just girls, however this has now been resolved by a class shuffle.

BeenBeta · 22/09/2010 11:17

madammitofsky - we are very happy that our DSs have almost always been in schools with a very heavy girl:boy ratio for their whole school life. They arw now age 8 and 10.

In general it has always been a girl:boy ratio of 15:5. In some years it has been less than that and in one year DS2 was the only boy in the class.

For one year, we put them in a boy heavy school with a 40:60 girl:boy ratio and we immediately noticed they were stresed, constantly complaining of random thug behaviour from other boys and their concentration and performance at school dipped.

We quickly moved them back to a very girl heavy school. Both schools were well regarded private schools so we are not talking sink schools here. The atmosphere in a boy heavy versus girl heavy environment s very different. Defintely more focussed. We have an issue that DS1 was not being pushed hard enough but apart from that the atmosphere is wonderful.

I would not worry about it. Indeed, I would strongly recommend it. People who have girls comment how our DSs are so kind, polite and gentle. However, I also know they are also 'proper' boys who like 'boy stuff'.

domesticsluttery · 22/09/2010 11:36

DS1 is in a year with 10 girls and 4 boys.
DS2 is in a year with 10 girls and 4 boys too.
DD is in a year with 11 girls and 5 boys.

Their school is obviously very girl heavy!

The only down side for the boys is the fact that they have a smaller "pool" of same sex friends to play with. It has never bothered DS1 as he is very good friends with the other 3 boys in his class. It is more of a problem for DS2, but he often seems to play with either girls or the boys in the year above.

Original poster

madammitofsky · 22/09/2010 11:45

thanks for all your comments, very reassuring.
my son is very good natured and actually plays really nicely with girls - here's hoping it lasts!

OP posts:

mnistooaddictive · 22/09/2010 12:10

It does happen even in secondary schools where the larger number of children often vens it out.

arizonagirl · 22/09/2010 13:04

Thank you for starting such a great thread. This is one I will be following closely as I am in a very similar position.

We are about to put ds in a school where year one is a 2:1 ratio of girls:boys. The class he will be in has 9 girls and only 4 boys. In a year of 30 there are only 10 boys. We love the school but this is our only worry and it still bothers me a little. However, ds is very gentle and prefers playing with girls so I don't think he will mind. I also know that girls do tend to work harder which is a good thing. I do worry though that he might be placed with all girls if he is on the same academic rung.

I guess the answer is to make sure he joins some boys' oriented after-school clubs. The other option was an all-boys school which I think ds would hate. I am getting my head around this although dh is a little worried that all his sister's best friends were boys and they all ended up with 'boyfriends' later in life : /

Be interesting to see what others say.

GoingLoopy · 22/09/2010 13:27

Last year ds1 had a class with 19 boys and 4 girls. He is quite tough, and very outgoing but he found the noise and the agression quite overwhelming. He withdrew into himself, didn't seem to be developing and stuck together with one other little boy.

Curious about the UK system (I am in Switzerand). How old are kids in reception? how many kids are there usually in a class and how many 'teachers' do they have.

BeenBeta · 22/09/2010 13:48

GoingLoopy - very similar experience for us. DS1 especially is sensitive and somewhat geeky and 'old' for his age. The noise, lack of focus, and aggression is a major feature I dislike of all boys schools. I went to one at secondary school age.

arizonagirl - "I do worry though that he might be placed with all girls if he is on the same academic rung."

Do not worry, DSs sat on all girl tables and it helped a lot with concentration.

mumoverseas · 22/09/2010 13:50

DD2 started in F1 this week and on the first day there were 9 girls and 3 boys. Since then 1 more girl and 2 more boys have passed their assessment and are starting but the boys are still heavily outnumbered by the girls. Poor little loves

domesticsluttery · 22/09/2010 15:16

DS1 tends to be on a table with all girls, I think he secretly likes it

RatherBeOnThePiste · 22/09/2010 15:23

DD had 6 girls in her primary class with 24 boys!

arizonagirl · 23/09/2010 01:01

I would definitely prefer a higher ratio of girls to boys than the other way round. Been really reassured by everyone's comments

kylesmybaby · 23/09/2010 01:53

ds in year 4 and has 8 boys and 21 girls. it didnt start off this way and used to be more balanced. hoever, everytime a boy leaves he is seemed to be replaced with a girl.

ds is in a little click of 5 boys. but there are two boys that are left out of their click and havent paired together so are by themselves alot. think i'd be a bit peeved if it was my son left out.

MrsShrekTheThird · 23/09/2010 02:06

our yr 1 has 21 girls and 7 boys, yr 2 has 20 boys and 6 girls all weird....
they seem to get on fine, and children from the different classes mix and play well together.

zapostrophe · 23/09/2010 10:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

wheresthegin · 24/09/2010 10:23

At our primary school DD (yr1) has 6 girls to 14 or 15 boys. One girl will be leaving to go private soon as she is now no1 on waiting list, so that'll be 5 girls.
DS year 4 has just left, leaving 5 boys to 11 girls.
Being in the minority has never caused any issues to be honest.

wheresthegin · 24/09/2010 10:28

Mind you - DS is now in boys only school and thinks it's great there are no girls! I've always presumed this was an age thing though. No more kiss-chase. (I hope!!!!)

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