DD is to be interviewed for the "Girls do better in single sex schools" debate!

[Milliways]

Just had a phone call from her Head of Sixth form to ask if she is prepared to do this, on behalf of her school (a co-ed state comprehensive) to argue the other side!

It is true that personally, she has probably done much better in a mixed school as the desire to "beat the boys" was always strong

Also, as she "failed" to get a place at the single sex grammar school, and did not get amazing CAT results in Yr 7, she is very "value added" for them.

Do you agree girls are better in single sex schools (I think boys are!) or that they benefit from the extra competition in Male dominated subjects?

I went to a single-sex school and loathed it - but it was undoubtedly better for girls academically. Partly because it was academically selective, so it was anyway competitive; partly because there was absolutely no sense in which certain subjects were dominated by boys. It was absolutely routine for girls to do medicine/engineering/architecture; it would never have occurred to us that there was anything mould-breaking or unusual about this. I imagine that it might be harder if girls also face the prejudices of boys!

That is a good point.

I suppose some girls may give up in subjects where boys are shining, but others relish the challenge.

The News article this morning was saying that lower achieving girls got progressively worse in a co-ed school, and improved much more in single sex. They didn't say anything about higher achieving girls though.

It goes to show - there can be no rule that applies to everyone.

It's like saying whether a particular child would do better in private or state - chances are you never know because you can't go back and relive it!

I also went to single-sex grammar and hated it. However, dd is at girls comp and loves it - different person, different circumstances. Seeing what teens are like I can see the point in focusing on academic work rather than on a particular type of extra-curricular activity

Higher achieving girls still do better in single sex schools, Milliways. Just look at the GCSE and A Level results each summer. Boys tend to demand more of the teacher's attention in a lesson at the expense of girls plus there's more unconscious stereotyping.

Girls are more relaxed in an all-female environment and I think this helps them to develop both personally and educationally.

There's lots of research suggesting girls do better in single-sex schools - this latest study just confirms what all the others say but with an extra twist about low achievers progressing.

One study tested what observers would think when a teacher gave both boys and girls equal attention - observers were convinced the teacher was somehow 'favouring' the girls because we are so conditioned to expect that boys should dominate.

DD's school want her to argue though because she achieved higher results than any other child in any (state, private, single, sex, co-ed, grammar etc) school in our town [completely smug overly proud Mother emoticon]

Blimey, do you have sex schools in your town , Milliways?

I don't really understand this recent flurry of interest in single sex schools. My understanding is that research has always shown that girls did better academically in single sex schools. The change seems to be that previously research showed that boys did worse in single sex schools, and now it shows that they do better. But I wonder about how controlled such studies are. Are single sex schools the same as mixed schools? Grammars seem to be predominantly single sex as do religious schools. As these are selective schools wouldn't they skew the results?

Both dh and I went to single sex schools, and we will be making sure that our children do not.

Girls and boys learn very differentely and a single-sex education means that the teaching can be more targeted.

A girls-only class is so different from a mixed class (and there is less of a difference between mixed and boys-only).

When I taught in a mixed grammar school, we had single sex classes from Year 9 upwards. I now teach in a girls' only school and love it. I could not imagine going back into mixed sex teaching.

www.mydaugher.co.uk

What are people's views on the diamond system - you know, teach separtely to 16, then mix for A levels. A school near us does it.

"I suppose some girls may give up in subjects where boys are shining, but others relish the challenge."

That's assuming that they are given the chance. Slightly different I know, but DD prefers single-sex hockey because in a mixed team the boys won't pass to the girls (their team-mates, supposedly!) Boys can, in subtle ways, put girls down in class but it takes a strong person to rise above it and beat them academically. See, I'm faliing into it now - why does it have to be a battle, why can't they just peacefully co-exist?

From Campion: "do you have sex schools in your town , Milliways?"

Er, not sex schools! Just single sex or co-ed

I think the ideal is a co-ed school with single sex classes in some subjects, as tried in some schools for things like Eng Lit so girls can express themselves without being "put down".

I can't imagine my dd ever being put down! Or me for that matter - as the youngest of four I had no problem fighting my own corner. I don't think keeping girls (or women) in their "own" environment in a good idea at all. Certainly I much refer working in a mixed environment, the dynamics are just so much better. My cousins went to a mixed selective school and did as well or better than me and my siblings at single sex schools, and boy did we envy them (although not as much as our other cousins who went to single sex boarding schools). My sister and I then went to a boys boarding school with mixed sixth form, which was fun. I don't recall having to fight to be heard there, although the boys did behave very badly at times.

I think it depends on the school. I went to Perse Girls in Cambridge, which is a pretty intellectual all girls' - and I loved it, I'm very glad I made the decision at 11+ (my parents let me have free rein on my choices really.)

By the time I left my mixed primary, I was sick of the boys messing around in class, playing pranks, making dull jokes etcetc - I think at that age, girls mature a lot faster, and maybe given a couple of years the boys wouldn't have annoyed me so much!

But yes... I always had a brother, and male friends outside school, so socialising with boys wasnt a problem, but it was separate from my 'work' life, which I'm glad of. I got good grades in everything.