All girls prep vs co-ed primary?

[Newfamily2014]

My dd starts school 2018.

Thinking of which school to enrol her in.

Likely we will send her to a private prep/primary school and wondering whether a co-ed or all girls prep is best of course depends on the individual child but looking for experiences of those who have dd in single sex prep schools and am interested to know why you chose that for your dd.

I would like her to attend an all girls senior school which would mean that if she attended a co-ed prep she would likely have to move and I worry she would miss friends who stay on at the school.

Any experience of co-ed vs all girls prep school? Thanks

I honestly can't see why any parent would choose to send their child to a single sex primary. It seems to me to be no more logical than sending them to a school for people with curly hair.

I'm not entirely sure about single sex secondaries either, but I can at least see an argument that boys and girls go through different things at puberty. If someone thinks boys and girls need different things at primary ('boys need to run around', 'girls are quieter and harder working' etc etc), it's subscribing to restrictive notions of gender that are easily disproven.

Mine is at a single sex primary, the main advantage being that it goes through to 18 so she avoids the 11+. I make sure that stuff she does outside school is mixed eg Cubs instead of brownies

I went to an all girls school and my sons went to an all boy prep school and are now at a boys senior school.

I like that they could be boys and they could be taught and not compared to girls when they were younger.

It's your choice but single sexed education has worked for mine. (Their school has a mixed sixth form
though)

My younger DD went to an all girls prep. I don't like all through schools quite frankly. Children need a change of ethos and scene occasionally!

The advantages for us were that it was far and away the best school. Art, music, drama, sport was fantastic as well as academics. It went to 13 but children could leave at 11. It's one of the best preps in the country so co-ed didn't trump that. The curriculum isn't different at a girls school and the girls run around and use computers. It is just that in the prep there are no boys. No big deal really.

Girls meet boys via family friends, brothers of friends etc. My DDs both went to a senior all girls school and it worked for them. No shortage of friends who are boys! Just not in the classroom. No condoms found in the grounds either!

My dc went to mixed primaries and will go to a girls school at 13. My main motivation for the girls to remain in mixed environment until teenage years is due to connection and friendships with boys. It is imperative they learn to connect with boys at a young age. I would feel worried keeping them at a girls school all the way through.

Girls school at teenage level due to focus on academics with distraction and not blow drying hair simply to go to school is important to us etc.

The studies school that the critical time for girls to be single sex is 11-16 years. Girls who are in single sex schools at this stage are far more likely to study stem subjects at A-level and beyond.

I have no personal experience as was in co-ed schools.
DS1 is at a boys prep. Only downside I can see is the lack of ability to development social skills with girls - it is our duty to provide that out of school. His school is good at providing for what boys seem to like.
DH and most of our friends went to single sex schools - it doesn't seem to have done them any harm. Girls much less likely to take maths, physics etc at higher level if they are the only girl or it is mostly boys. Ditto for boys and home economics.
I like the fact ds' school does hockey: at my coed comp only girls did hockey/ netball and boys football/rugby!
I would not worry about it but look at both schools and see which suits the best in other respects.

My daughter went to an all girls prep and senior and moved to a co Ed , before finishing at an all girls (job moves) . There is benefits to both but I think the social development with boys in senior school is beneficial.

Too many girls at all girl schools, don't have boyfriends, limited interaction with guys, it's just friends brothers, and then go a bit boy crazy. Lusting after young male school teachers is an extreme way you won't see any where other than an all girls school and then you get issues with them flirting with or trying to shag the kitchen staff or whatever men are around. They then move into adult life unequipped to deal with men in the work place.

On balance, i would put my daughter in a mixed school if I had my time again and feel the four years she spent in a mixed school served her well in terms of equipping her to manage in university and subsequent work place. I don't feel the benefits of an all girls learning environment outweigh the lack of social interaction with males their age.