Socialising of boys in single sex schools

[edim76]

Hello all,
I am considering public secondary schools for my DS and though I am not 100% against single sex education (My DS loves the idea, but he's only 9!) I wonder how do boys socialise with girls as they get older if the school keeps them busy with extra curricular and curricular activities?
Thanks for the help!

Scouts. Family. Friends of family.

The world outside school 😂

My kids went to single sex grammars. Girls abs boys went on the bus etc then away to separate schools .

They also had mixed orchestras drama etc etc. And some 6th form lessons eg music in order to get enough numbers to run the course. However things like stem subjects , English etc were separate

I mean, I wouldn't worry too much about socialising but research suggests boys typically do better academically in mixed environments (sadly, girls do worse). Worth thinking about!

Thank you Helenluvsrob, My DS has no siblings, family is far away, friends have mostly boys...
I'm just worried that at 15-16 he'll be studying a lot and doing stuff with his mates rather than coming with mum to see her friends ..
DS likes Dulwich college and City of London....I just imagine him only socialising with boys and never hearing a girl his age point of view!
Am I being paranoid? Should I let him choose even though he's only 9-10 now and has no idea how this decision can impact his next 7 years of education?

@EllieNBeeb

I mean, I wouldn't worry too much about socialising but research suggests boys typically do better academically in mixed environments (sadly, girls do worse). Worth thinking about!

my gutfeel is to sway him towards a co-ed school...and by sway I mean brainwash him! These are the last years they can be 'swayed'...

You can always reconsider for 6th form. Both DS and DD went single sex for Y7-11, but co-ed 6th form.

My husband went to DC.

He has a sister so did have her friends around, but what teenage boy wants to hang out with his younger sister's friends.

He had some mixed PSHE classes and met his first girlfriend that way. I think they had some other classes mixed with JAGS as well ... that might have been drama clubs or something like that.

I met him at 19 and tbh I couldn't tell that he'd not been around girls much. Perhaps having a sister helped, idk.

He loved the school and it's under consideration for our DS.

Independent schools have long holidays …

And single sex independent schools do make efforts to enable pupils to work and interact with the other sex.

But the boys I know at single sex independent schools (day and boarding) tend to grow up alongside their sister’s friends and / or the sisters of their own friends. They’re certainly not isolated from female company.

As per the first two replies.

My ds went to a boys' school, but still went to Youth club, swimming, Scouts, Church, drama, triathlon, at different times. Still walked to and from school. Still met with friends from Primary occasionally, or mixed with siblings of friends and so forth.

DS only child at all boys school & thriving. Lots of girl friends from shared bus journeys, friends of friends and co-curricular activities. Also don’t underestimate the positive influence of female teachers who are very visible and respected members of the school community at all levels

My son met his last girlfriend thru Snapchat. His first went to the same school but that can get awkward when they break up. Now he's broken up with his last one he doesn't have to see her every day.

Great to hear all these positive views. Thanks a lot.

City does a lot of events with the girls’ school and DC does events with JAGS.

you do get bits and bobs, but in terms of overall exposure comparing it with co-ed's 7 hours a day, 5 days a week would be a bit like comparing being an auntie with being a mother

I don't know about the research that shows Boys perform worse in single sex schools however what I definitely know is that the Schools that produce the best results as far as boys are concerned are majority Single Sex schools. Well up to GCSE level at the very least.

Two of my DC at different singles sex schools. No problems there, and if anything it looks like their academic results have improved.

One has a sister school, so they host or get hosted by the girls almost every weekend from the looks of it. The other have discos, other social and extra curricular with a girls school nearby. The schools usually try as much interaction as possible with girls, especially 6th form.

DC and City have sister schools, so will be having lots of interactions.

We decided against the single sex grammars in our area for ds, as we didn’t think an all male environment would suit him. So he’s at a small Co Ed independent instead. I’m glad we made that decision, but obviously all kids are different, what suits one might not be right for another.

I won't pretend to have researched the issue very thoroughly but my instinct is that the evidence on whether single sex produces better or worse results is inconclusive when you control for budget and intake etc. The evidence normally seems to be very selectively quoted by parties with skin in the game/an axe to grind one way or another [e.g. by an organisation such as the Girls' Schools Association].

My instinct is to strongly prefer co-ed, but not based on anything like hard evidence.

We [sometimes] act like single-sex schools are some hallowed tradition, but, when it boils down to it, universal secondary education is very much a twentieth century phenomenon, with the earliest boys'/girls' secondary schools very much being about producing earners/wives respectively, hence, I suppose, the case for segregation.

It's a tradition which has mostly died out but its few remaining strongholds [mostly private] are so strong that I daresay these last outposts will be around for a fair few decades, even centuries, yet.

Where I live, 8 of the 13 grammars are single sex. They are state schools. Interestingly no single sex secondaries for the non grammar DC! The older more established schools hold on to their traditions and they are not all private.