Prob done before but does a same sex school have that a mixed one doesn't?

DamonBradleylovesPippi · 2009-04-21T14:44:07+00:00

I do not like the idea of it but have no 'serious' reasons behind it. there was no such thing as same sex schools where I come from. I'm a long way from secondary school drama yet but please let me know more not so much as make me change my mind but at least to put them on the agenda. tia

MaryBS · 21/04/2009 16:10

Girls are supposed to do better:

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5008712/Girls-do-better-in-single-sex-schools.html

MrsGuyOfGisbourne · 21/04/2009 17:42

Allows pupils to concentrate on work at school and relationships outside - takes the pressure off. People who say this 'is no preparation for the world of work' entirely miss the point that school is not, or should not be a teenager's whole social life - plenty of orportunities outside school for mixing with opposite sex.

Runoutofideas · 21/04/2009 18:01

Having been to an all girls school I don't agree that it takes the pressure off. There was a lot of anorexia/bulimia and very fashion conscious behaviour even though there was no-one to "impress". Also a lot of talk of what went on with boys in the holidays or at weekends etc so we still felt the peer pressure. My mixed 6th form actually seemed less pressurised in this respect as the boys seemed to temper the all girls' bitchiness. My girls are only little but I don't think I would chose an all-girls school for them.

pagwatch · 21/04/2009 18:07

Two of mine are in single sex schools.
DS1 is doing his GCSE's . He was at a boys prep , then went to a mixed school and absoloutely LOATHED every minute of it.
we move him at 11 back to single sex.

I can't give you stats - I could only give you my views - but you are looking for research arn't you?b

Runoutofideas · 21/04/2009 18:59

I think, as with everything, it depends on how well a particular school suits a particular child and with the best will in the world we, as parents, are not going to get it completely right every time from information gleaned from brief visits and open days.

fivecandles · 21/04/2009 19:27

Girls especially do well in conventionally 'unfeminine' subjects like maths and science at all girls school because they tend not to meet the same prejudices and assumptions that they might in mixed i.e. that it's not for them or let me handle the bunsen burner sort of thing. Still the case that boys are more likely to be disruptive than girls and more likely to dominate discussion. Teachers tend to give more attention to boys. Boys tend to dominate the playground too with football so girls are sidelined and less likely to be physically active.

With all that in mind I'm very happy that my girls are going to single sex. Would probably be unhappy about it if I had boys though.

wb · 21/04/2009 19:42

I went to a single sex upper school (ages 13-18) and for me it was definitely the right thing. I was very shy and self-conscious, esp. around the opposite sex, and it was only in a male free environment that I felt able to fully participate in class, esp. in science. I was very shy though, am sure many girls would be fine in co-ed.

i overcame much of my shyness with the opposite sex at uni. Better late than never....

nkf · 21/04/2009 19:48

Most research suggests that girls do better in single sex schools and boys do better in mixed. Personally, I love all girls schools and will be looking into it very seriously for my daughter.

beforesunrise · 21/04/2009 19:58

i went to a single sex school from 11-13 (ok, in another country, the OP knows whcih one) and hated every single second of it. the competitiveness, bullying, bitching, widespread obsession with clothes, boys, and weight was simply too much to bear.

my theory is that, far from empowering girls, segregating the sexes actually allows boys to "flourish" unchallenged by brighter girls and therefore reinforces their sense of self-importance and confidence- it underpins the old-boys club and all that.

[runs for cover from the inevitable outrage...]

ABetaDad · 21/04/2009 20:04

Don't be fooled by the apaprent high average league table position of single sex girls scools. Often they are in that position only because they are in very high demand areas. They can afford to be very selective and therefore afford to also stay single sex. They tend to quote league table positions to prove single sex is best but forgetting that most single sex girls schools in low flow/low demand areas capitulated years ago and went mixed.

Interestingly I notice Magdalen College School (boys only) in Oxford is going mixed in the 6th form next year and it will be interesting to see how the high league table Oxford High School for Girls and the slightly lower league table Headington Girls school respond now we have an economic downturn. I wonder if they will capitulate and drop their principles against mixed schooling to take boys and keep the numbers up in competition with Magdalen College School.

francagoestohollywood · 21/04/2009 20:12

Damon, a very good friend of ours speaks highly of her experience in a single sex school. It was a very academic school where she thrived, and she loved the fact that there wasn't the pressure brought by the presence of boys. That was in Toronto though. I've always been quite of this, as I never felt any pressure from boys, quite the contrary. Actually i don't even think I understand what she means with "pressure".
I'd have never chosen to go to a single sex school, for all the reasons listed by BS.
But you need more opinion from real English people. Us Italians tend to have a skewed vision of private schools, imo.

francagoestohollywood · 21/04/2009 20:13

Damon, a very good friend of ours speaks highly of her experience in a single sex school. It was a very academic school where she thrived, and she loved the fact that there wasn't the pressure brought by the presence of boys. That was in Toronto though. I've always been quite of this, as I never felt any pressure from boys, quite the contrary. Actually i don't even think I understand what she means with "pressure".
I'd have never chosen to go to a single sex school, for all the reasons listed by BS.
But you need more opinion from real English people. Us Italians tend to have a skewed vision of private schools, imo.

scienceteacher · 21/04/2009 20:42

Have a look at this website - it explains why girls do well in single sex schools@

www.mydaughter.co.uk

fivecandles · 22/04/2009 19:50

It's not uncommon for large independent schools to have a diamond structure - co-ed till prep school at 7 then co-ed again at 6th form. The 4 biggest ones near us have this structure.

Of course, many independent schools are single sex so this skews the figures but even where you look at research which takes this into account girls do better at single sex especially in subjects traditionally seen as 'unfeminine' e.g. science and maths.

Also, if you look at single sex schools where boys and girls are taken from the same catchment (so the girls at the girls' school may well be the sisers of the boys at boys school) the girls' school will almost certainyl be outperforming the girls.