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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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Original poster

Is changing from girl school to co-ed at sixth form a good idea?

23 replies

schools01 · 04/02/2015 21:32

English is not my daughter's 1st language but she has been in the UK since year 7 so her English is quite fluent. She has been at a very small school (around 200 students) since then so she does not know how to communicate with boys very well. She has been thinking over and over if she wanted to change school or not to prepare her for university but on the other hand she is scared that she might regret it because she has friends at the current school and the teachers knows her well and if she moves she will spend the first couple of months adjusting to the new environment and not concentrating on her study.

However, the school that she is in is not very good on the academic at all, she said all her classmates will talk in class and distract the teachers. The school is not very pushy at all. Basically anybody can get into that school.

The schools that we are looking at is Dauntsey's, Durham, Truro (cornwall), Prior Park(Bath) and Raiph Allen. We have not been to visit the school yet because we wanted to make sure that we are definitely moving. But we are looking for a school that is friendly and the teachers will be supportive but will also give my daughter a push at studying.

What I really want to know is that

"Do teachers matters at A-Level? Or most students will teach and study on their own"

"Do you think my daughter should change from girl school to co-ed? To prepare her for university."

"Does she actually needs that preparation for uni now? Or will it be easy to adjust to uni environment from girl school all her life?"

OP posts:

StripeyCustard · 06/02/2015 12:34

You may want to ask MN to move to the education section - you have this in Business Start Ups. Good luck.

Original poster

schools01 · 06/02/2015 19:39

StripeyCustard - How may I do that? I'm new to this website. Thank you very much

OP posts:

MNHQ

IonaMumsnet · 07/02/2015 12:17

Hi OP. We'll move this over to Secondary Education for you now.

ShipwreckedAndComatose · 07/02/2015 13:38

Teachers absolutely matter at sixth form because the jump in studies ( conceptually and also personal organisation ) is huge from GCSE and students need to support to do that.

Moving to a co-ed is a good idea but the most important thing is the academic and pastoral support the sixth form provides.

squizita · 07/02/2015 13:47

Teaching quality in 6th form is vital. Go for that!!
Any decent mixed school will be able to give you a breakdown of boy/girl results in every subject at a click of a mouse these days. My school is best in borough for girls' science subjects for example and is mixed.

Essexgirlupnorth · 07/02/2015 14:05

Yes teachers matter at A level they are expected to do self led study but teachers point them in the right direction.
I went to an all girls school from year 7 till I went to uni. It wasn't boarding though so saw boys socially outside school and we had 4 boys (to ninety girls) in year 12 and 13.
Was slightly strange having boys at uni for first couple of weeks but soon settled in. I did do a female heavy subject (biology) and lived in an all female flat in my first year.
I don't think she need to change school just to be used to mixing with boys but if the teaching and results are better then it would be worth doing.

MissMillament · 07/02/2015 14:08

Teaching quality should be the most important in your decision making process. Yes, self-motivated students will and must do plenty of independent study, but that should be in addition to high-quality teaching, especially if your daughter has her sights set on a good university.
Would a mixed-sex 6th form prepare her better for university? Very possibly. I grew up in a country where almost all secondary education was single sex. I found the boys struggled more than the girls in making opposite-sex friends at university, but there was a certain amount of social awkwardness on both sides at first. Not enough to trump the academic considerations though.

BackforGood · 07/02/2015 15:32

Yes, I agree having the right teachers can make all the difference - although, of course you won't be able to tell this about prospective schools until she's been there a while.

Personally, whether it is co-ed or single sex wouldn't be a deciding factor for me or for my dc, but you know your dd better and perhaps have a reason to think this might be important ? Will also depend on how much of her life that is. My dds go to a girls' school, but outside of school both do hobbies that mean they have lots of friends who are lads and don't see them as anything exotic.

Original poster

schools01 · 07/02/2015 16:32

Okay, so the comments I have been getting so far is towards a 'NOs' in moving school just because of social situation. I can totally understand that. But do you think it will be a good idea just to sleep overnight there and see if the feeling is right at the new schools? Or not bothered with it?

OP posts:

BackforGood · 07/02/2015 16:37

Oh! I hadn't twigged you were talking about boarding schools. That puts it all outside my experience then. Not sure how the 'sleeping there one night' would work - is that a 'thing' a school would even offer?

Also, if she is in Yr11 now, shouldn't the applications be in now ? The local 6th forms around here wanted applications by January - obv., I don't know if that is different with Private and/or boarding schools.

Original poster

schools01 · 07/02/2015 19:16

Yes, the schools I have contacted offers trial night. All the schools I have contacted fortunately still have places left but we are definitely late into applying.

OP posts:

MassaAttack · 08/02/2015 15:09

Ralph Allen is a state secondary - I'm pretty sure they don't do boarding.

Original poster

schools01 · 08/02/2015 17:24

Yes, I'm not considering most of the schools I've listed anymore. Now it's just Dauntsey's or Dean Close

OP posts:

Decorhate · 08/02/2015 19:05

My daughter moved from all girls to an all boys that took girls in the 6th form. The advantage was that all the girls were new to the school so no existing friendship groups to break into. Plus the boys were very friendly & welcoming! She wanted to move as her old school was not strong on science subjects which is what she wanted to do for A levels.

Original poster

schools01 · 08/02/2015 21:38

I was looking into schools that do that but some of them are out of my daughter's ability. May I ask which school does your daughter moved to? That would be very helpful. Thank you Decorhate

OP posts:

MillyMollyMama · 08/02/2015 23:57

Both my daughters were in girls' boarding schools for 6th form and I never considered moving to be more acquainted with boys!!! They knew boys because they had a social life outside school. I would try and sort out this aspect of your DDs life and get her to mix with boys in the holidays. You cannot really prepare for university by going to a school with boys. You can prepare for university by getting the exam results to get in, so I would concentrate on that.

Decorhate · 09/02/2015 06:29

It's a state day school so not what you are after I'm afraid

Bonsoir · 09/02/2015 06:39

I agree with PP: moving schools for sixth form ought to be motivated by getting a better academic experience rather than about other things!

Having said that, as an adult I have known several friends who moved for sixth form and, with hindsight, regretted it as they didn't think the disruption was outweighed by the academics.

nooka · 09/02/2015 06:41

I moved from an all girl's day school to a boys boarding with girls in the sixth form only school. Mostly because I wanted to board and also wanted to be starting with a bunch of new girls, so everyone starting together. I made more friends with the boys than the girls so the social side was good, academically less so, although the school was in theory excellent some of the teachers were better on paper than in practice and the boys messed around in a way I found quite amazingly bad!

opalfire · 09/02/2015 13:21

If the current school doesn't do well academically I'd definitely switch. Lots of new friendship groups form around A level choices so friends shouldn't be an issue.

Re coed...well I moved from all girls to a mixed 6th Form and would probably have done better without the distraction of boys, but that might be just me!

dinkydonky · 09/02/2015 14:46

I was at an all-girls school until year 11 and switched to mixed for 6th form - I wasn't really keen to move but my parents persuaded me it was a good idea. I'm so so glad they did - it was quite a culture shock (I didnt really mix with boys outside school) and I'm so glad it happened age 16, not at 18 when I went to uni.

Yes she will have to adjust if she moves but that shouldn't affect her work too much - she will be busy with lots to do so that will take her mind off the fact she is in a different school!

Spindelina · 11/02/2015 09:17

I went from an all-girls state comprehensive to an all-boys private selective day school that had a few girls in the sixth form (we were the minority). It was my choice - I asked my parents, they didn't suggest it - and the driver was the quality of science teaching and facilities.

I had lots of contact with boys outside school anyway - I did a lot of extra-curricular music. For me, the culture shock was more state comp vs private selective. Working with boys was fine. In terms of who fancied whom and all that sort of thing, it was actually worse in the girls' school, because it had a smaller catchment (so everyone was trying to get into the same dodgy pubs / same parties etc, whereas with a larger catchment we all had lives outside school), and because the more academic atmosphere meant that it was more socially acceptable to just get on with studying.

Much of that isn't relevant to a discussion about changing from one boarding school to another, though!

sleepymum50 · 11/02/2015 09:58

There is a boy in our village who went to Dauntseys (I assume there is only the one school of that name which is in Wiltshire?). He is the loveliest lad I know and through my daughter have met his group of friends and they are just as nice. As far as I know the school is very good and friendly and academic.

From another perspective, my daughter (now 18) moved from her all girls boarding school to a very large state 6thform college with a very good reputation.

I believe she hasn't done as well academically as she might have done if she'd stayed at her old school. Most of her teachers are lovely but they don't seem to push her so hard, and as a parent you have to be much more proactive. Also at her old school she had to work hard to stay in the top 25% - at college she doesn't have to try nearly so hard. But even so, it was still the right decision for her and us.

Regarding mixing with boys. She's had no problems at all.

If yr daughter has reservations about leaving her old school, then moving to somewhere like dauntseys witha much smaller mixed sixth form could be ideal. Perhaps u could ask the school how many new students are joining in the sixth form. The pastoral care at boarding is usually vey high.

But go and visit the schools as soon as you can and take up the overnight boarding trial. Sometimes it can feel right as soon as you cross the threshold.

I agree with most others, move her for the academic reasons. If it's the right school than mixing with boys will just take care of itself.

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