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Secondary education

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Original poster

single sex vs co-ed

11 replies

misdee · 22/07/2010 20:28

i have to make dd1 secondry school choice soon.

am debating over the local girls school, or one over the other side of town.

both involve bus journies.

both have good points and bad points.

but am so confused.

OP posts:
pebblejones · 22/07/2010 20:36

I did my gcses in a mixed school, a levels in a girls school. They were both very good schools however if I am being honest I found the girls school very bitchy and cliquey (spelling?), maybe because I joined at a level and not from the age of 11 like most of the other girls. And if I'm being honest the boys were distracting, constantly had a crush on one boy or another.

Chatelaine · 23/07/2010 21:52

If the headteacher has a good reputation, go for the single sex school.

michaelaB · 03/08/2010 20:15

The most important factor is the quality of leadership and teaching in the school. Try to fit your your dd to the school irrespective of single sex or coed.

Shinyshoegirl · 04/08/2010 18:49

What would DD prefer? Where are her friends going? My DD1 is going to a girls' school in September and I did too for 11-16. My experience was really positive and left me with a strong sense that all subjects were open to me. There was no sense, for example, that physics was 'unfeminine' or that we were expected to be particularly suited to some subjects just because of our gender. I don't necessarily think there's lots of crass gender-stereotyping in schools now, but I can imagine that there's still a lot of pressure for adolescents to want to fit in with their peers.

pompadourprincess · 06/08/2010 07:01

I can only speak from someone that went to an all girls . But I will always regret my choice. It totally messed up my attitude to boys and boys became all potential boyfriends etc I could not and never have been able to just have male friends as I never got the chance to just hang around with them . A fair few of my friends also had this experience.
The school its self was good but very very bitchy some very nasty rumours would go around but I suppose that can happen in co ed.
I would never send my children to a single sex school but again this is just from my experience so others may have a different one and have loved it .

senua · 06/08/2010 09:54

Lucky you to have the choice!

Statistically, girls do better academically in single-sex schools and boys in mixed-sex.

I went to an all-girls school and didn't find it bitchy but do regret, as pompadour, that it meant that boys were 'other' rather than one-of-us. As a positive, as SSG says, I felt that all subjects were open to me and actually ended up doing what are considered 'masculine' subjects.

How many other schools are around and are any of them a boys' school? If not, then the co-ed is bound to be overly boy-orientated (if girls have the choice of school A or B and boys only have school B, then B has got to end up being oversubscribed by boys)

bigcar · 06/08/2010 10:09

personally I would prefer coed for my kids, just think it's a personal choice really. See what feel you get from the schools when you visit and ask her what she thinks. If you go for a girls school just try to make sure she has lots of social opportunities outside school to mix with girls and boys, dd2 goes to scouts and loves it.

Beattiebow · 06/08/2010 10:19

we have the same dilemma. i feel very uneasy about single sex schools and would prefer to send my dds to a mixed school. but it depends on the girl I think. My eldest dd seems that she would be affected quite strongly by peer pressure and I worry about a load of teenage girls together.

I also would like them to have friends who are boys as they grow up - I remember my friends at university who went to all girls schools didn't know how to relate to boys other than flirting/snogging etc. But again some girls schools have better links with boys schools than others.

notagrannyyet · 06/08/2010 10:19

I would always choose coed but mine are boys. They do have an older sister but she left home when they were still small. Most of their cousins who are in the same age group are also male. The only time they meet girls is at school.....they do lots of sport after school which is also boys only.

maggotts · 09/08/2010 23:34

I went to both mixed (Year 7 and 6th form) and all girls (Years 8-11) due to various moves and much preferred all girls. Never had a problem with boys as friends. In fact had more boys than girls as friends at uni. Now sending both DDs to all girls and they are very happy too.

ArthuriaAugustaDArcy · 09/08/2010 23:43

Single sex. I went to a single sex private school from 5-18 and, yes, it could be bitchy. But the academic side was great, and it's good for girls not to be dominated by boys (who are invariably louder, even if they have nothing to say, as I discovered at university). I wasn't interested in boys when I was at school (I thought they were all spotty and boring), but have never had any problems relating to males since then (despite having only sisters). My 6-y-o DD is at a single sex school and will be staying there. Her brother is currently at a mixed school as there aren't any boys-only preps here, but he will go to a single sex school at 13.

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