Does anyone have an imbalance between boys and girls in a class and what does the school do about it?

[Anchovy]

My DS is in Reception and we are very happy with the school in general. The school is mixed, private and with a single intake class per year of about 20. DS can stay there until he is 11 (which is my preference as DD will start there soon).

One thing that is niggling me is that there are 7 boys and 14 girls in the class - this will change over the summer when another boy will leave and another girl start so we will be down to 6/15. Now DS has a little sister and has plenty of friends among the girls. Also he is not a "roughy toughy" boy and is fairly popular with the girls. But I have noticed that they are at an age where their interests are starting to divide (Ds was talking rather pointedly about how a very good friend of his - female - only wanted to play "princesses" these days and was simply not interested in Thunder Birds at all).

Obviously the school can't chuck out girls who are there to make way for (or keep a place open for) hypothetical boys. But I do need to see some way in which the "boyishness" is preserved and not subsumed by a class tidal wave of girlyness. I've got a nasty feeling that at some stage the number of boys will fall below "critical mass" (haven't quite worked out what that is).

Does anyone have this "problem" - or the other way round - and have any views on how it has impacted on their child?

ds is in a class of 8 girls and him - doesn't seem to bother him - one more boy is due to start soon. It does change over time - and there are other kids to play with at play time.

Not much the school can do about it as far as I can see.

ds has this in his reception class - I think there are 19 girls and 11 boys, or something like that. Funnily enough, it's a 3 class entry school and it's roughly the same gender divide over the other 2 classes so out of 90 in reception, there are only about 30/35 boys!

I've not noticed this level of divide in other years (certainly not dd's year). Doesn't seem to be causing any problems - things like football/rugby after school are run for all infants so it doesn't really make a difference.

I suppose it feels like more of an issue to you because you only have one class. I know, round here, the classes change a fair bit with people moving in and out so maybe it will change for you as he goes up through the school.

DS3 is in a class of 27 and there are only 8 boys. It is the same in the other Y4 class, so clearly that year was a low birth year for boys - at least in our area! I don't know if this is replicated across other primaries in our town. Apparently, in Y3, the mix is reversed with many more boys than girls.

Throckenholt - I'm interested in whether the school can do anything about it. Its a private school with the usual slightly opaque admissions procedure, so I would think that if a girl left they should offer the place to a boy, eg, to level it up a bit. Or do we think they are not allowed to do that?

Foxinsocks - I think I would be less concerned (although I'm not really concerned) if there were a larger number of boys in absolute terms, even if they were still obviously in a minority. It is more that the pool of available boys is so very small.

Still, on the bright side, I suspect DS will always be in the school teams!

In my DC school last year we had 9 girls and 22 boys. It had always had more boys started with 13 of each in reception!

The teachers found it really hard work with all the boys and the whole class got a reputation but the boys made some great friendships. The girls on the other hand had a rough time. With only a few girls there is no-one else to play with when the group "fall out" as girls often do!

Dear Parent/Carer,

Your child Harry has been selected for our Gender Rebalance Programme. From next term, he will be addressed as Hannah. I enclose an order form for dresses and gymslips. Please ensure they are labelled with new nametapes.

Thank you.

Head Teacher.

Well, it's what I thought when I read the thread title anyway...

Ds is in a minority in his class, and strangely enough dd is in her preschool year as well. Ds's reception teacher was wonderful and he had no problems at all. This year, his teacher 'doesn't understand how his mind works'. He's not boisterous particularly, but he is very 'male-brained' in other ways. I think she's relieved there aren't more like him actually.

My DS is the only boy in Year 1 at his school and so far we have had no problems at all. The friends that he invites home to play are inevitably all girls but he has an older brother and male cousins and therefore gets a balance.

I think the school handle the 'gender imbalance' very well - as they ignore the gender make up of the class and provide a varied range of activites. Last half term, the whole class did football / gymnastics as their P.E. activities, this half term it's hockey / tennis, for example.

As long as the school does not have a bias towards activities that would traditionally appeal to the dominant gender, there shouldn't be a problem........

Beckybrastraps - that is the obvious solution - thanks!

Our reception class has 9 boys and 6 girls. No problems as such. A lot depends on the kids themselves as to how well they all rub together. I guess we have been lucky with the personality mix.

The other way around - DS's class is 12 boys & 3 girls - and it is not good - too much testosterone (and therefore fighting) - although well managed by the teacher - but not much the school can do (even though it is private) as it is not in the sort of area where selective admissions are practicable. Interestingly the mother of one of the girls (who only recently joined the school) said she far preferred it to the other way around as in a mostly girls class at her DD's previous school she had found it to be very cliquey and that they were too old for their age IYSWIM - for better or worse little boys seem to stay little for longer - and this class gives the girls more of a chance to do the same.