Single sex or co-ed

[tiffinboys]

Double standards here (or actually triple, given my opposition to selective education!)

Though agree with mixed-sex education, specially for girls.

[Rob Clark]

Funnily enough, although you hear a lot about girls supposedly doing better (academically) in all-girls schools, particularly in science subjects, and boys doing better in mixed schools, we have gone down the same route as Amber – boys-only for DS, which he loved, and mixed for DD. She opted not to switch to an all-girls school for Sixth Form.

I do think ultimately it depends on the child, and the schools, in question.

[equilibro]

Interesting responses. Our first preference GS, for our DC who passed the 11+ last autumn, is co-ed and virtually on our doorstep, and so it was a "no-brainer" to choose it; our second preference GS is single-sex and involves some travel.

Good luck to all those awaiting either next week's letter or, like us, the 2 March 00:01 email!

[Ess30]

Ach - my region emails arrive 6pm.

On the bright side - it's a perfectly respectable time of day to be drinking neat gin .

[MedievalBabe]

I had this discussion with DS the other day in the car driving home from dancing. He is at an all boys GS, loves it, he is not sporty - think geek, Big Bang Theory, and you have my DS. He said if he wasn't at an all boys school he would have a girl problem as he spends most of his time outside of school with girls, whether its at home surrounded by his sister and her friends or at dancing where he is the only boy and occasionally when he is dragged along at my Guide unit. When he was at a mixed primary he spent all of his time with girls as they understood him and copied with his quirks, whereas the boys were nasty to him instead. At his GS he meets and spends time with boys who are similar to him and now has a good group of friends, and when he is more interested in girls he knows where and how to meet them.

DD is hoping for GS and she will also be in single sex, as she didn't pass for our only mixed one. My biggest concern is the falling out girls can have and she has had a few in Y5/6, but she is also very academic and pushes herself. She wants to be as good or better than her brother and to her the only way is GS. She has mixes with fewer boys due to her interests, but she also has an older brother when she is ready!

[pushydaddy]

my unquestioned preference had always been for mixed, however that is before I had and got to know my daughters. My eldest, would be fine in a mixed, however as she is very able she is going for selective schools, which just all happen to be single sex, she isnt at all bothered about the lack of boys as "most of them are idiots." I don't think she will miss out on much, that she can't pick up quickly enough.

My youngest DD, is probably not going to be going down the selective route, yet when dragging her around 6 or 7 schools open evenings with her sister the only school that she said she wanted to go to was an excellent comprehensive girls school. considering how little she has to do with boys at primary school, i don't think she will miss them if they aren't at secondary school. She is also far more likely to keep up with maths and science in an all girl school. we are considering moving across the river the tiny catchment area, however we're waiting on 2nd of march before we really decide on anything.

My little girls are never going to grow up and mix with boys anyway [sticks fingers in ears, squeezes eyes shut].

[tiffinboys]

[Rags]

It is a funny subject. Swayed by so many different aspects.

In principle, I'm more in favour of mixed education - although as I understand it, it's better for boys, but girls frequently do better (academically)in SS schools.

In our area, we have the choice - SS boys, SS girls and a mixed - all GS. That said, their academic results are a little different (the SS schools significantly higher than the mixed.)

So ... we took our eldest around the mixed and the boys' - and he chose the boys'. His brother followed him there.
Their sister chose the SS Girls, even though her best friend chose the mixed (she didn't even want to look at the mixed.)

With my SO having worked in both the mixed and the Girls', we think she's probably made the right choice (not so sure about the boys, but that's water under the bridge - they made their choice at the time, and we supported it.)

So, the facilities, the academic results, the sociability, siblings, distance and the child's preference - all factors of varying relevance. Sometimes it all seems a bit too hard. but, it's done now.

Personally, I can't imagine being in a SS school, because mine wasn't. I can see plusses and minuses, both ways. And being in a SS school doesn't seem to have affected the boys' ability to have romantic relationships with girls (much to their mother's ... <conflicted emotional state> !)

[Guest55]

It is a funny subject. Swayed by so many different aspects.

In principle, I'm more in favour of mixed education - although as I understand it, it's better for boys, but girls frequently do better (academically)in SS schools.

In our area, we have the choice - SS boys, SS girls and a mixed - all GS. That said, their academic results are a little different (the SS schools significantly higher than the mixed.)

So ... we took our eldest around the mixed and the boys' - and he chose the boys'. His brother followed him there.
Their sister chose the SS Girls, even though her best friend chose the mixed (she didn't even want to look at the mixed.)

With my SO having worked in both the mixed and the Girls', we think she's probably made the right choice (not so sure about the boys, but that's water under the bridge - they made their choice at the time, and we supported it.)

So, the facilities, the academic results, the sociability, siblings, distance and the child's preference - all factors of varying relevance. Sometimes it all seems a bit too hard. but, it's done now.

Personally, I can't imagine being in a SS school, because mine wasn't. I can see plusses and minuses, both ways. And being in a SS school doesn't seem to have affected the boys' ability to have romantic relationships with girls (much to their mother's ... <conflicted emotional state> !)

If these are the schools I think they are then actually the mixed school does better on progress! They also got better A level results in 2013 than the other two ... Raw results can be misleading as you don't see the entry profile of the students.

[Rags]

If these are the schools I think they are then actually the mixed school does better on progress! They also got better A level results in 2013 than the other two ... Raw results can be misleading as you don't see the entry profile of the students.

They likely are. I think, if you look at Value Added scores, one of the upper schools not a million miles away does better than almost everyone.