mixed sex education

[esme]

i agree with observermum - mixed for primary age - then single-sex for secondary, back to mixed from 6th form onwards

[sophiesofa]

I went to all girls primary and secondary and then mixed sixth form and I was incredibly distracted (i.e. didn't do much work) at sixth form by all the boys! I think it depends on the child so just go with your instincts.

[BB100]

But education has changed a bit since then Magpie. Children are not so tied to gendered labels in education as the 'now 40 years' were when they were at school. So I'm not sure the research is so relevant to this generation of children.

[Narnia]

Some years ago now but I was sent along with my younger brother to the convent 3 miles away instead of the local boys college. Most of my teachers were nuns and as they had only started taking in boys, I was just one of 5 in a class of thirty. The school got the best results in the area. However after 3 years of it I asserted my authority and told my parents I wanted to leave and both of us moved to the boys school for the rest of our secondary education.

After three years of nuns I began to hate the place. At the age I started there I probably would have enjoyed myself more in a boys only school. The only plusses were sitting next to Geraldine Daly and admiring boobs. Alas I was too immature to do anything about it. Then came two funfilled years in the less well respected boys school. I probably didn't learn much but I enjoyed the boyish banter with both the kids and the male teachers which just didn't exist previously.

Thus I would say that if it had been the other way around (boys school first, then the convent)I may have got the fun bit out of the way earlier and subsequently gained a decent education. Having experienced both I know which I enjoyed most though.

[Magpie]

Good link here on gender issues in teaching - there are definately still strong gender preferences to certain subjects, No idead as to whether this can be explained by nature or nurture?

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/46117?uc%20=%20force_uj

[BB100]

This is a very good link Magpie - thanks for the info.

'Pupils' subject and course choices are influenced by a range of factors: their own views and expectations, those of their peers, parents and teachers, and the media'. This is what I was trying to say - it's not just about whether the school is mixed or not, there are a range of other factors that influence outcomes for girls achievements.

'Some words of warning:

Most single-sex girls schools are in the independent sector; this makes for difficult comparisons with a national picture, as it is likely that any differences are artefacts of the independent/maintained split rather than the gender difference'. Again here gender doesn't seem to be the issue but instead whether it is a state or private school

I found this research on single-sex teaching which although conducted in mixed schools is relevant to separately educating boys and girls:

'The evidence on the benefits of single sex classrooms is inconsistent and inconclusive, especially in showing any impact on attainment. Single sex classrooms have often been introduced for a number of different reasons and so it is difficult to reach an overall conclusion on their merits'.

'Disadvantages of Single Sex Teaching

Researchers have also noted some disadvantages of single sex teaching. Sukhnandan et al. (2000) argue that tailoring lessons to the different learning styles of boys and girls can be problematic:

" ?'matching' the learning styles of boys and girls can be perceived as an approach that simply reinforces the different learning styles of boys and girls by exploiting the areas where they are strong and by ignoring their areas of weakness. Although this may lead to increased pupil achievement in terms of examination performance, it may have detrimental effects on pupil achievement at a broader level." (p.28)'. http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/46133?uc = force_uj

'Riordan (2002 cited by Smithers and Robinson, 2006) argued that the academic culture and ethos of the school is the key to success' This is the point I mentioned in my previous post. It's about the school and your child and not about her gender

However: 'Pupils are almost always in favour of single-sex groupings, especially girls'. http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/46121?uc = force_uj Based on this evaluation I would ask your daughter what she wants and go with that! :)

I would be interested to hear what she thinks.

[BB100]

By the way my son goes to a mixed school but until recently was taught maths in boys only class. They recently mixed them up so he is taught in a mixed class now. He says the only difference is there is more chatting - about shoes and bags! lol

[littleEDfamily]

I agree with overserver mum and esme - esp for a girl, mixed for primary, single sex for secondary. Don't know about about boys as much, but my male friends who went to boys' schools def don't seem as 'balanced' about the opposite sex. From their tales boys' school can be quite intense and competitive places that could do with a bit of estrogen kicking about!!!

I went to a girls school in secondary and, contrary to many people's experience, it wasn't bitchy and we did well academically (small school). The only downside was that in my gap year and at uni, I probably could have done with being a bit less excitable about boys (but at least I was getting up to mischief at 18 not 14 and I had had the benefit of a good education - not to say I wouldn't have had as good an education at a mixed school, but I definitely would have been more, shall we say 'distracted' during those critical years). If you have mixed sex children, I really can't see any downside to single sex education as they will get plenty of exposure to the opposite sex via siblings' friends.

In the end though, I would choose what in my estimation was the better school available, and whether it were single or mixed sex would be the less important variable.

[littleEDfamily]

PS where I come from 'secondary school' goes from 11 - 17/18 years. Noted from one of the other posts the term may be used differently here. Will I ever integrate properly!????

[SteveT]

My daughters went through mixed primary and secondary schools. I asked if either would prefer single sex both refused although I asked them 3 years apart.

Both had the same answer, they preferred mixed because when it all got to bitching time at school, as it inevitably does, they felt they could always hang with the boys, who were obsessed with other more important things, like who was going in goal.

[citizenED]

LittleEDfamily; secondary school in the UK goes from 11 to 17/18yr-old

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I went to a mixed primary, loved it, went to a mixed secondary school which I liked but the distance was too far for travelling so I went to a single sex school and hated it. There was so much bullying, bitching etc it was unbelievable. Lots of my friends were also boy obsessed because there was none ( instead of the male teachers became the focus of their attention!) and some of them still today have problems forming a relationship with the opposite sex as they had no experience whilst growing up of mixing with boys.

It is a very personal thing, and it does depends on the personality of your child. My sister wants to send her girls to a single sex school as she thinks mixed schools will provide too much distraction, so we both think differently about it!