For those who did, do you think going to an all girls school was a good thing for you...?

[BraveMerida]

...or did it scar you for life ? Why?!

And would/did/do you send your dd to one?

just interested.

I was more than happy at mine and it definitely didn't leave any scars!

Two of our DSs went to a single sex secondary school (though with a mixed sixth form) while the third is at a mixed school. Haven't noticed any particular difference in how they seem to be turning out.

I think it must be nice in many ways to be in an environment that is not dominated by the opposite sex.

....and this is precisely why I like Mumsnet so much.

Juliet They don't need to worry what to wear as no boys around.

So girls only worry about what they wear when boys are around? So much for dressing to please our selves.

Also I never said they were spinsters as, that was another poster who took that view. As I have said before they were all married with kids and I was not the only one in hind sight who thought they were all miserable and uninspiring and they weren't all female and no I would never have dreamed about making comment on someone's clothes but I sure as he'll thought it.
Loving the way that having been asked for an opinion you get turned on for expressing what you think. Just like my old all girls school.

I think it must be nice in many ways to be in an environment that is not dominated by the opposite sex.

....and this is precisely why I like Mumsnet so much.

Funny, I tend to come to Mumsnet looking for answers to parenting and family issues that affect me, DH and our offspring. Not for the female domination of the boards. But to each their own (which probably sums up this whole thread to be honest).

I agree with other posters that blue-stocking frump spinster teachers in bad clothes with worse cars are not any kind of role model and I would not want my DD in a school where she was taught by that sort. But do they still exist? I thought they were extinct!

Bonsoir, DD1 is taking an accelerated A level in a tutorial college that almost exclusively employs "blue-stocking frump brigade", average staff age probably 65+, because they get the results. It's a pretty tall order getting a retaker from a D or an E to an A in a year without knowing your stuff. And they manage it.

The stuff in DD2's school are a mix of ages, sexes, dress senses, life experience and and approaches. I am pleased to report that the girls are quite able to judge every teacher on their own merits, and not on the grounds of outward appearance either. Maybe they just cleverer than the average pupil? actually they probably are as it's a very selective school.

MillyMollyMandyMax, your experience is valid but I think you leapt to judge the teachers and judged them a bit sad and pathetic, on the basis of their clothes and cars! So, experience valid. Judgement a bit teenage?!

What's wrong with being a spinster?!

Nobody is forced to get married and have children! It doesn't work out. They choose to stay single. It's an option.

My aunt was a spinster teacher but she lived for the weekend, she was always off hiking or hill walking. cliché perhaps but she was happy. NO idea if her students realised that.

Bonsoir, I can't believe you would care what car your daughter's teachers drove! That has to be a joke !!

What have CARS got to do with anything?

I went to an all girls and preferred it to a mixed. At age 11 I still hated boys and thought they had "the mange". It didn't scar me and I was still able to interact with boys outside of school.

DSD went to an all girls school through her own choice. With dd1 it's a little different as we're trying to get her into a special school which will obviously be mixed and has a ratio of around 95% boys/5% girls. If she doesn't get in there then she'll be going to an all girls mainstream secondary. There's a particular all girls secondary that I'd like dd2 to go to when the time comes, but she's that opinionated and adept at getting her own way it'll be down to what she wants rather than what I want.

Dd goes to mixed secondary school and definitely hasn't come across any real bitchiness. There was no way I would have sent her to a single sex school.

Thing is Milly - I can balance that out by saying both my dds go to a single sex school, and neither has encountered any bitchiness. I wouldn't translate that to mean all single sex institutions aren't bitchy and all mixed ones are though. It's a bit of a leap, no?

I went to an all girls school and so I don't know any different. It always felt a little unnatural. I had some good friends but I missed having male friends. Even now I don't enjoy being in all female environments - girls nights out are not for me.

Girls school for secondary/sixth form here. I enjoyed it. Men are a bit of a mystery still but I don't think that's because I didn't go to school with them! We all had male friends outside school.
Sadly the school curriculum and expectations were a bit old fashioned so I didn't get the encouragement to do maths/science which with hindsight would have opened things up more professionally. I'm sure that aspect is different now. I would definitely consider single-sex schooling for secondary unless my DC had a very strong view against it.

Think I had the best if both worlds, female grammar school in south London until 5th form, then amalgamated with an all boys grammar school as a co-ed comprehensive, and was in the first co-ed sixth form......! I enjoyed the all female environment, did reasonably well in O levels, then had a fun two years learning to play with boys and therefore totally neglecting my A levels; I think we had the worst A level results in the history of both schools! Both my DC's went to co-ed schools (youngest finished this year) and have done well exam wise but we moved to ensure they went to one of the best in our area. I think the quality of the school is more important than the single sex/ co-ed issue.

I hated going to an all girls school.
It was all female staff too.
For a very long time in my youth I could never form platonic friendships with boys/men.
It is ridiculous to segregate the sexes in this day and age.

Well, all I can say is that out of the local comps on offer, I liked the single sex one best and it has turned out to be a surprisingly good choice. They mix with the boys' local comp at sixth form, and I would like them to mix more but in all honesty there are also huge strengths in being all-female.

But then I like all-women stuff anyway and think the assumption that a group of people without penises will automatically be 'bitchy' is v weird and sad.

I agree motherinferior.

And, altjough i quite like men's company i certainly like women's company too.

I dont see it as a necessity to be around boys. not having boys in class is not an unmet need!! Some posters say it is ridiculous to segregate but why is it ridiculous? It works well.

Emphatic aversion to single-sex schooling, on the (limited) basis of my own experience. Diversity is good for us! I would NEVER choose to send my DD to a single-sex school.

But don't boy's and girls learn in different ways? Single sex schooling can play to their strengths.

A friend of mind has a son at a very successful boys school and she told me that the lessons only last 35 minutes, as that is in line with boys attention span. My DD1's single sex school have lessons lasting 50 minutes, which suits girls better. How could this balance be best achieved in a co-ed school?

I didn't hate it at the time, but definitely attribute my difficulty in getting along with men to attending a single sex school. Am 34 now, but still think of men as 'other' and rarely enjoy their company. Just my personal experience, but would make me think twice about sending DD.

Academically it was great.

In every other way it was awful. Horrible, competitive (both socially [who's got the best boyfriend, who goes out the most] and materialistically [whose Daddy buys them the best clothes every weekend]), and the lack of interaction with boys meant I could hardly speak to one until university (in my school's defence I only had sisters at home and all my hobbies were pretty much girls only).

Whether this was because it was girls only or because it was private though (and my parents' income was waaaaay below that of most of the rest of the school) is unclear.

It was fine until puberty kicked in. Then it all got out of hand.

I would have issues sending DD to an all girls' school for secondary unless I was certain that she could cope.

Need to add though that I now have very good relationships with men (in the platonic sense - I have lots of good male friends) and have been with DH for 12 years and consider him my best friend. So being only around girls for so long hasn't had a lasting impact (other than to encourage me to avoid all girl groups - I'd much rather hang out in a mixed environment...).

Went to a single sex school from 8 - 18. Loved it up until GCSE year, we had a great laugh and the environment was a very positive one. Somebody mentioned upthread that the number of female teachers made them used to seeing women in positions of authority and excelling academically. I think they have a point- although I'd never really thought about it until now! At sixth-form level, the number of pupils in the year decreased and the atmosphere became horribly bitchy. I did well in A-levels, but left that place with physical scars and a prescription for Prozac. The experience affected me at university and took me several years to get over. I had the opportunity to change schools after GCSE, and to this day wish I had done so instead of staying on for sixth form.

I always had male friends outside school so can't comment on whether it affected my ability to form friendships with men.

It would be interesting to see a study of what sort of professions and further education girls educated in single sex schools choose vs ones educated in co-ed ones. I wonder what percentage of each choose traditionally male-dominated areas.