Girls school vs. mixed? Which would you choose?

[MothershipG]

I went to a girls school and feel I did better than I would have done in a mixed school, although as there is only one of me I obviously have no way of proving this!

My DD is in Yr6 and has the choice of single-sexed or mixed.

If we count other factors as equal which would you choose?

[mnistooaddictive]

Girl - your comment isnt really relevant to this thread, why don't you start your own?

[Girlw6]

Yes sorry new to this and didn't mean toots to this thread.

[Startailoforangeandgold]

Depends on the child, DD2 would be fine at a single sex school. Perhaps more than fine, since she thinks boys are best at maths
(Top 2 in her Y6 class were boys, top 2 in mine were girls)

DD1 would be on the receiving end of bit of sneaky, insidious isolating bitchyness that girls are capable of.

For her the much more open, in your face behaviour of boys, both pleasant and unpleasant is way easier to cope with.
She both has boys as friends and boys writing her letters of apology.

Somehow I think boys keep the teachers on their toes. Real nastiness is kept in check and certain boys antics amuse everyone. For DD1 they dilute the intenseness of social interactions nicely.

In some lessons more work would get done if they were all girls.

Far more boys would do music and possibly other softer subjects if there were all boys.

There isn't a perfect answer.

[Sparrows12]

It has to be genuinely mixed rather than (as is often the case) a boys school with some girls in it. It takes many years to convert properly from boys to mixed - not just numbers, but ethos. Some never make it. The "mixed" school near us cheerfully acknowledges that it is a boys school that takes girls, but that is not good enough.

At a recent taster day, boys were scoring the girls who were trying out, for their looks - who was fit and who wasn't etc. Nice.

[quickdowntonson]

I agree with Startail - an all girls school is often a hotbed of insidious bitching (sorry!) and eating disorders. surely a mixed environment is more representative of society, universities, the workplace (usually) and so on? Both my DD and DS attend a mixed secondary school, and have friends of both genders as a result. The girls are certainly not intimidated by the boys, and, er, I suspect the girls 'score' boys on the basis of looks etc as well. That's just teenage hormones isn't it?

[BackforGood]

But both my ds and dd attend single sex school, and they both have friends of both genders, quick. School isn't the only place you make your friendships.

[Padar]

My daughter changed to a mixed school for the Sixth Form : so much happier !
She was a a lovely girls school and yes, no distractions.
But she is so much happier now having friends who are boys as well...the atmosphere is different.
I don't think it matters much at primary and up until the age of around 15, but after that, they need to interact with the other sex.
I let them choose their ( secondary)schools themselves .
At 11, they choose single sex.By the age of 14-15, they start complaint about it ;-)

[NessaYork]

Girls school, without a doubt. Earlier this year the institute of physics showed a massive statistic (which I don't have to hand) that girls studying Physics at Uni came mostly from single sex schools, because in mixed schools it is seen as a 'boys' subject and the girls' voices are kind of drowned out. Similar with other STEM subjects. Girls in a girls' school grow at their own pace, and have a natural confidence about them that girls in a mixed school need a lot more support to cultivate. The girls will still have contact with boys socially, but in the classroom, where they are learning, they will be in an environment that is more conducive to their learning style. Girls school. Without a doubt.

[Elibean]

I think - as usual - that it depends on the school.

And the child.

[Muminwestlondon]

It depends...

I have a daughter at a mixed comp. The boy/girl ratio is 60/40. Boys very disruptive even in the top stream, there is gross sexism, sexist and homophobic bullying and a serious sexual assault a few years ago, where the school didn't even bother to call the police although the boy involved was expelled.

I also have a daughter at a super selective, girls only. Generally nice well behaved girls, quite a few cliques and bitchiness. DD would have preferred a mixed Sixth Form but realised too late that people don't necessarily change in year 12.

[losingtrust]

I went to a single sex school and mixed and hated the girls but I always got on well with boys and still prefer mixed company although my dd is different and all girls may suit her better.

[losingtrust]

It was the bitchiness I hated at the girls school. Btw I was a bit disruptive with the boys.

[losingtrust]

Having read some of the gender bias comments, I never saw that at all. It was only to 16 and I choose two sciences and the classes were pretty well mixed. The same for languages. Also I really enjoyed trying metal work and woodwork. At the girls school we only did needlework or cookery which I hated. On the outing issues. I went to school in the 80s and all the boys thought it was cool to pretend to be gay. Personal opinion but girls are less likely to want to lose their virginity early when they spend all day with boys. At uni the girls from single sex schools had more of a reputation. The gender bias at uni was very stark though with an example being languages. I did German and in minority. With French the boys were in the minority.