All girls or mixed secondary school?

pollypenny

Mixed, every time.

I went to a highly academic single sex grammar school. I ended up thinking boys were some exotic species, rather than treating them as human!

From my teaching experience, girls in mixed schools treat boys as friends initially. There are few who are 'boy mad' as my friends and I were.

shoppaholic_returns

I went to both mixed and single sex.

Mixed school gets my vote, single sex !!!!!y and at times very cold environment. Mixed sex, lovely atmosphere.

Funnily enough I have one boy obsessed step daughter at an all girls school and one well balanced step daughter at a mixed school

Hope this helps.

Lunar_Eclipse

Person_one wrote: »

I'm not sure how flirtations between teenagers can be described as 'fake', surely its the most natural thing in the world!

I mean deliberately put on, trying to be cool, consciously behaving in a specific way that is obviously all an act (loud and attention seeking of the opposite sex) as opposed to natural flirtation or just being themselves (and ideally accepted for it.)

I agree flirting should be natural; I just didn't feel the gender interaction was relaxed and natural, but hyped up acting.

Lunar_Eclipse

I spent most of my childhood in mixed schools overseas and loved every minute of being in school.

The last few years of senior school were spent back in the UK, in both a mixed comprehensive and then all girls private environment. I can't say I enjoyed either, the academics were poor at the comp (hence the move), but the cliques and !!!!!iness were very strong in the second so it took me 2 years to feel comfortable going to school.

It all depends on the school/cohort though. I don't think either of these two experiences are typical of any of the schools I looked at for my children recently.

Lunar_Eclipse

shoppaholic_returns wrote: »

Funnily enough I have one boy obsessed step daughter at an all girls school and one well balanced step daughter at a mixed school
/QUOTE]

Personality?

The girls at DD1's all girls school who are obsessed with boys, were the ones who were already interested in going out with boys at our mixed primary school, often being quite flirtateous by the time they started junior school at 7. She likes the fact that her school day is not taken over with flirting and constant chit chat about who is going out with who.

My daughter who is in a mixed environment is friends with boys, and girls who aren't interested in boys. She wants to play basketball, ride skateboards and play guitar in mixed groups. She isn't friends with the girls who are interested in spending all day chatting about who looks cute and who said what to whom. She has always been like this (best friends for years were boys); I can't see her suddenly becoming desperate for a love interest just because she switched to an all girls school.

Obviously hormones kick in and nature takes its course, but there are fundamental personality aspects that I think hold true for the majority of girls, despite school gender environment.

I've just realised that I also think primary environment has a big influence. The stereotypes talked about here might well apply to those who go single sex all the way through, from 4-18. Mixed until 11 could keep things more normal.

Lokolo

I went to an all boys school. Now almost 25 and the friends I made at 11, I am still friends with them to this day, we all went to different universities.

We had a girls school opposite, so at lunch and after school we saw them. We had joint after activities with the girls school.

The only problem with being all boys is the amount of adrenaline! But I guess you'd still get that at a mixed school anyway.

In my area 8 of the top 10 schools are single sex (GCSE), and 9 out of 10 (A Levels)

Dunroamin

My vote, all things being equal, goes to the girls' school. So much more relaxing not having to worry about what you look like all the time and what half the class is thinking about you.

In general, girls do better in single sex schools and boys in co-ed, which says it all to me.

balletshoes

Dunroamin wrote: »

My vote, all things being equal, goes to the girls' school.
So much more relaxing not having to worry about what you look like all the time and what half the class is thinking about you.

In general, girls do better in single sex schools and boys in co-ed, which says it all to me.

I do agree with this - having said that, we have one non-fee paying girls school here, and its academic reputation is awful. Its been the same for about a decade, 2 years ago it changed to an Academy, still single sex, and hopefully things will change for the better.

Angelicdevil

angelil wrote: »

MIXED all the way. All-girls' schools are very unhealthy environments in my experience.

Me too! I went to a mixed primary, mixed state secondary for a year prior to be taken out and dumped in a private all girls' school.

I hated it. Everyone was so cliquey (having gone to the lower school together) and !!!!!y.

My self esteem went through the floor and my grades went from top of the class to average.

I wish I had had the opportunity to fight to stay at my mixed state school. My life would have been very different now, although, to be fair at 30 I've found my place and I am very happy, but I know I would have followed my dream career had I not have been put in the all girls' school. A place where technical things were for boys and girls made dresses and played netball.

Erg, such bad memories of an all girls' school. If I ever have children (unlikely), they would definitely be going to a mixed school.

Dunroamin wrote: »

My vote, all things being equal, goes to the girls' school. So much more relaxing not having to worry about what you look like all the time and what half the class is thinking about you.

Hmm I was bullied really badly at the all girls' school because I wasn't allowed to "tart" myself up with make-up and perfume! My parents also didn't agree with young girls having designer outfits or bags etc, so I was an outcast due to that as well.

bylromarha

My time at Helenswood was the making of me. I grew in confidence and loved not having boys around to preen and primp for. Travelling up to Cleeve made ou feel older and more mature as you didn't have yr 7s running about.

Hillcrest - agreed it is better now ofsted wise, but the iPad thing would really put me off. I don't want my kids staring at screens all day. Yes, iPads are good or some things, but not everything. A friend's child goes there and iPads are used in most of the lessons, so all day 3 days a week.

Individual choice though...see which you feel is best.

Edit:FWIW I think state all girls school is a very different kettle of fish to private/grammar all girls school.