All girls or mixed

[TeaAndTumbles]

We’re looking at buying a house and I’ve been thinking ahead to secondary school catchments. My DD is still in infants (so about 6 years to go), but I’d like to get a feel for this now.
For those of you who’ve been through it — is a good rated all-girls environment, like Carshalton High school actually better for girls in terms of confidence, focus, and achievement? Or is a high-quality mixed school, like Harris Academy Sutton better for preparing them socially and academically? TIA

Don't know about those particular schools but girls are more likely to continue with STEM subjects in an all girls school.

Your focus on specific schools is the key. All girls vs mixed is too general and specific schools at open days with DC will give you a feel of what is suitable. The STEM for all girls is true for the 80s, 90s and 2000s but you need recent data points, nothing beyond 5 years and beware of Covid years grades. Check GCSEs curriculum, they vary between schools so worth comparing.

I feel like developmentally and socially I'm glad I went to a mixed school. It's really not an important metric in my opinion (and even though I moved lots never had the option where I lived). I think good teachers, the curriculum, pastoral care etc are way more important

My two went to an all girls school up to sixth form. Both did well, both are young adults who have many male friends ( one dd went to a boys school for sixth form) they have boyfriends and it hasn’t affected them socially or in education.
it was the best non selective school around so that’s why chose it and glad I did

I hear mixed things about both those schools. Carshalton girls I hear a lot of comments about bullying. Also a few people with first hand experience say SEN support isn’t great.

Harris I think again is not great for SEN if that may be a concern. Carshalton girls catchment is wider I think so there are probably some spots you would be in catchment for both.

depends on the family makeup. if you have an involved dad and brothers then there is zero downside to all girls.
most all girls have scheduled events with local all boys schools.
and yes in the past it was associated with more stem involvement.

DD went to a girls’ school (as did I) and it worked out very well for her. Lots of girls doing Physics, Maths, Further Maths etc. A levels.

She is glad that she went because by the time she went to Uni she was confident enough to not let the boys talk over her. She would have struggled to do that at 13.

She has just graduated and has a large, mixed group of friends so it hasn’t hindered her in making friends of both sexes.

Dd had the choice of mixed or single sex grammar and is thriving in the mixed school. It was her choice, which I was pleased about as, whilst I thrived academically at a single sex, it was definitely an issue for me socially.

She’s a strong all rounder, including STEM, but has been encouraged in her passion for languages. I think it’s important that they are not pushed in a particular direction.

DD insisted on all girls for secondary. said she was sick of boys messing about. She did very well there but went to a mixed 6th form college.

We went with a mixed senior school for DD. DD is an only child, so I felt it was important she went to a mixed school. I went to both a mixed senior school and a girls senior school, and the girls senior school was quite bitchy - so it's possible my experience had an influence.

I had always assumed that we would want a mixed school for DD (going into Y6 at a state primary) who has always had a mixed friendship group. I also didn’t myself much enjoy my own girls school experience. But this last year as they approach puberty had been a real eye opener in terms of the level of sexism and male entitlement that has affected her class. Only a minority of the boys behave like this, of course, but that minority are having a disproportionate effect on the learning and well being of the girls.

I now feel like I’d really like her to spend the next phase of her education somewhere where she doesn’t have to worry about making herself a target for misogynistic comments if she answers a question in class or outdoes a boy at sports.

My daughter has just finished Y7 at an all girls comp. She wanted to go there as the boys in her primary class were disruptive and "annoying". She loves it, when she is older, her 6th form will be mixed. She also goes to scouts, which is mixed.

Some people have told me that bullying can be worse at a girls school, but I was bullied during secondary school and this was mixed. I find girls and boys show off to each other when it is a mixed school. And when I think about it, a lot of the boys were rather cruel to me, telling me I was flat chested (I was 12!) etc. So bullying is definitely not exclusive to single sex schools.

I think it depends on your daughter, ask her what she wants and be guided by her :)

It's fairly well researched that girls do better with STEM in all girls schools - often they are given more options such as Computer Science rather than just Computing, for starters.

In our experience dd wasn't happy with the noise and aggression of the boys in her class, even in a very MC village primary (as she is quiet and polite she was labelled sensitive and shy - not what she is at all!). She also has dyslexia so perhaps that didn't help with concentration when the boys were shouting too. We decided all girls for senior and she frequently says how much nicer it is. She has a big group of friends and is luckily clever enough not to be in the catty streams, so they are all very supportive and still feel like kids, certainly in comparison to the girls we knew who went to the mixed schools who are all wearing makeup and dating at 13.

I think important to note that not all girls (as boys) want to do STEM subjects and should be encouraged in their choices (as should boys)?? STEM subjects are not the be all and end all.

Obviously, but it is a bundle of subjects that girls have struggled to access which lead to high paying and interesting careers. Just enabling that choice is enough.

Absolutely. But it does concern me that there is a massive push towards STEM at the expense of other subjects. Languages being the overriding example. Education is not just about well paid jobs.

The data indicates that a higher percentage of girls who attend all girls schools for GCSE take STEM A Levels than girls who attend mixed schools. However, whether that is because of the school environments or because parents and/or girls who were already more interested in STEM are more likely to choose all girls schools is unclear.

The data does not indicate that girls who attend all girls schools get better grades on STEM A Levels than girls who attend mixed schools. For the girls who take STEM A Levels, whether they attend all girls or mixed schools doesn't seem to have much effect on the grades.

Well, the school has to offer them in the first place. Computer Science is usually dominated by boys, for example, with many girls having Computer Studies, which is completely different and not counted as STEM, IIRC. Thousands of girls miss out on coding and python skills because they aren't offered or encouraged to do Comp Sci but do the more admin based Computer Studies.

I am very lucky that dd's school scores very highly on STEM and is all girls, which out performs the all boys local schools. If STEM is important to you obviously as a parent you find a school that covers subjects your children have competence in. My dd is dyslexic, but loves science, so a strong STEM department was high on our list. As another poster said, some parents don't value it at all and don't see why girls are being encouraged to do it. Horses for courses. Having the choice is key, as I said.