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Education

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Original poster

Did you go to single sex or mixed school?

50 replies

Posey · 12/11/2006 22:11

And did you like it, or do you wish it had been the opposite?

I went to a mixed school and really liked it. Glad I didn't go to single sex school.

OP posts:

serenity · 14/11/2006 11:01

Mixed primaries, but tiny single sex independant school for secondary. I did really well academically, but I don't think it helped my terminal shyness or social awkwardness. On the other hand I might just have disappeared in a bigger or mixed school - definitely wouldn't have done so well at my exams imo.

The only single sex schools near me are either private or Catholic, so DCs will be going to mixed ones (good for DSs, not sure for DD - vaguely remember from A'Level sociology that girls do better in all girl environment)

serenity · 14/11/2006 11:03

Oh, and left school at 16 to do A'Levels at a mixed sixth form college, which was great

Clary · 14/11/2006 11:21

I went to a single sex secondary school and really did not like it. It was a grammar school as well. We used to escape on "town leave" at lucnhtime and ogle the strange species of boys over the singles racks at Smiths.

I was so jealous of my mixed ability co-ed pals when I finally entered the real world at university.
Mind you I did get the chance to learn ancient Greek and Latin, so it wasn?t all a downer.

Everhopeful · 14/11/2006 11:29

Mixture for me: mixed from 5-7, girls only 7-10, mixed 10-13, single sex 13-16 and mixed 16-18! I've done the lot, I reckon. The feedback I'd give is that I would have preferred mixed all the way up at the time, as I always got on with the boys well, though it might have had a small impact on me academically (ridiculous amount of quals in the end though, so didn't hold me back that much). However, my sisters were all single sex from 7-18 and varied as to how they found mixing, with one struggling a lot when she left. I don't think there are any hard and fast rules, it's all down to individual reaction. IMO, secondaries are probably better off being single sex, as that's the most likely age for a problem with it. Not many of them around us though, so DD may not get the choice.

Gwu · 14/11/2006 11:58

Went to a convent school from 4 years to 18 years, all girls all the time. Mum hated me socialising outside school so hardly knew any boys at all. During this time, I ended up feeling really self conscious talking to any boy.

Went to university and went mad with boys. Couldn't tell my Mum I had a boyfriend till I'd left university as education to her is paramount and she's always associated relationships as a distraction to studying.

I don't mind if ds goes to single sex or mixed.

yeahinaminute · 14/11/2006 12:22

I went to a convent too - prep school from 4 - 10 then on to the senior school 'til 17. When I got to university I found it really odd to be in lectures with .... BOYS ??!!

Gobbledigook · 14/11/2006 12:23

Mixed primary school

All girls grammar school

No gripes - I liked them both. Prefer single sex at secondary level.

mrsflowerpot · 14/11/2006 12:28

All girls from 7 to 18. Loved it mostly - being a bit shy generally I think I almost definitely did better academically there than I would have done at a mixed school, although the flip side of that is that I was a bit awkward socially outside school.

I think girls do better at single sex schools than boys do, just from the people I know.

zippy34 · 14/11/2006 12:36

Am I right in thinking and single-sex comprehensives are a largely English thing? I have quite a few English friends who went to them but I associate them with private or religious schools (went to co-ed, non-denominational state school in Edinburgh)?

I don't think being at a single sex school would have affected me one way or other educationally. It may have made me feel less confident socially around boys. Can't really say though.

zippy34 · 14/11/2006 12:39

...am I right in thinking that...

frances5 · 14/11/2006 12:49

I went to a single sex school from the age of 12 to 18. Yes I got brilliant academic results, but the bitchness was unbelivable. I found it a culture shock when I went to study physics and the male to female ratio was 10 to 1!

SparklePrincess · 14/11/2006 12:49

I went to a mixed primary school & a single sex comp. It was probably the best option for me at the time. I was petrified of boys

AlanasMum · 14/11/2006 13:22

I went to mixed primary then girls grammar.
Never had any problem making friends with boys
nor do I feel the girls at my secondary school were particulary bitchy. The teachers on the other hand were absolute cows!

harktheheraldfoxessing · 14/11/2006 13:56

I went to a convent grammar school. Never did me any harm [twitchy emoticon]!

elleMNOP · 14/11/2006 15:06

girls convent from 4 to 14, co-ed comp from 14 to 18. did struggle with the change but for reasons other than the fact that boys were suddenly on the scene.

don't think i would choose single sex for my ds though. not sure that the academic benefits of keeping boys and girls apart are that significant.

Orinoco · 14/11/2006 20:08

Message withdrawn

7up · 14/11/2006 20:08

mixed

Original poster

Posey · 14/11/2006 21:32

Round here there seems, in state schools anyway, to be a reasonable choice of mixed or single sex.
But where I was brought up (Grimsby) my parents couldn't have sent me single sex even if they'd wanted to as there weren't any.
I always had a lot of mates who were boys, never went through the awkward phase around boys which may have been the case had I gone single sex. My dd also has a lot of boy friends and I want her to go mixed at secondary where hopefully she will continue to have a great attitude towards the opposite sex.

OP posts:

fubsy · 14/11/2006 21:50

Went to a single sex grammar from age 11 to 15, then moved and went to mixed school suddenly surrounded by huge hairy MEN when the last boys Id had anything to do with had been puny wee things. I would never send DD to a single sex school as it did nothing but give me hangups. Two of my frienmds from the same school have suffered from serious mental health problems since school and blame a lot of it on the school. Luckily I got out early. The bullying in girls schools was weird and bitchy and I would not inflict that on a child of mine.

AlanasMum · 15/11/2006 09:56

It's a shame that many people who went to single sex schools feel that they had problems with members of the opposite sex.
Were there no extra curricular activities that involved boys. I used to play with many of the boys that lived near me and then used to go to a youth club.

MissGolightly · 15/11/2006 10:15

I went to mixed sex schools all the way through and, not having any brothers, I think it was an essential part of learning what boys were like in a day-to-day setting. When I went to university many of my friends had been to single sex schools and although they had interacted with people of the opposite sex in out of school activities, it was very obvious that they mostly regarded people of the opposite sex as potential boyfriends/girlfriends because they had always met them in that context. They seemed to be less able to just relax in front of people of the opposite sex, I guess because they had never interacted with them day-in-day-out, in that rubbing-along-together just-mates kind of way. I think that going to a mixed sex school helped me regard boys/men as friends as well as boyfriends. (Having said that I think you can also get that from having brothers)

MissGolightly · 15/11/2006 10:18

Oh and fwiw both me and my partner (who I met at school) are ridiculously over qualified so I don't think it did either of us any harm academically.

oliveoil · 15/11/2006 10:19

mixed infants and juniors, then single sex secondary

have no pros and cons about it, it was just the best school in the opinion of my parents (local one was dump)

rocketupbum · 15/11/2006 20:17

I went to mixed all way through and have a big group of mates of both sexes. My DH went to single sex school and says he is bit envious of the fact I have mates of both sexes.

JoolsToo · 15/11/2006 20:24

single sex at secondary level. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way tbh. All my dcs also went to single sex schools - doesn't seem to have cramped their style!

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