Co-Ed or single sex school?

[toobusytothink]

Just wondering whst people think are the advantages/disadvantages of both. I am split on this. I went to a single sex day school till 11 and then co-ed boarding after that and loved it.

Also at what age do people think this decision is best made?

Co-ed boarding as a girl was tough in some respects as I was not overly attractive and sometimes this got me down, but then again I was massively into my sport so it didn't bother me to much. Also, I got on much better with boys than girls so think all girls would have been too bitchy for me.

No posh school for me! I knew one of the girls who joined our 6th form already and she certainly didn't lack in male attention so not sure why she came to school with lots of slap on. There was a definite difference. I wonder whether it was because there was no boys school anywhere near the high school so the high school girls would only see boys out of school time and probably dressed up for that. It just wasn't something our co-ed girls bothered with. We also found it very funny that boys we'd known from 12 were suddenly considered to be a catch!

Have to agree about girls being more mature too (throughout life ime!).

Discovered the downside of a single sex education today when my ds said he only wanted to do out of school classes (swimming etc) if they were boys only! Also I am finding that all the birthday parties we go to now are all boys. My ds's last party before starting school was 50/50 so I am wondering how many girls will be at the next one. He will continue to have friends who are girls but doesn't see them on a daily basis the way he did at nursery.

I went to a co ed comp and it was fine for me! I had both male and female friends right through, though probably more so from around age 14/15. Didn't get in the way of studying - I did well and went on to University. All seemed entirely normal to me.

I went to a girls only secondary school (state). It was definitely the best school for me, my brothers went to local mixed schools - incidentally not the same one. My parents tried really hard to find the right place for each of us, even tho it used to drive my mum mad keeping up with all the different parents evenings, concerts etc at 3 diff schools!

We had some mixed classes with the local boys' school for GCSE & A-level, and also joint drama/music productions etc. I also had a good mixed circle of friends outside school when I started teenage socialising (from about 15 yrs).