Are single sex or mixed primary schools generally better?

Pixied

Hi

I have a boy and a girl. The little girl is heading to school first and I am unsure whether it is generally better to send her to a single sex or mixed primary school.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the advantages/disadvantages to either?
Also if there has been any research done in this area?

My daughter likes to mix with both sexes her age- so I am unsure which option would be better both socially and academically for her..

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Pix

RH149

You'll get lots of different opinions on this. At post primary, girls generally achieve higher academic levels in single sex schools. Google it and you'll see lots of studies to support this. The government is moving towards co ed as nearly all new state schools are Community Schools/Colleges but most studies done show higher academic success in single sex schools. The social aspect of mixed schools is obviously important so I'm sending my kids to a mixed primary school (mixed right up to 6th class, not just at the Infant stage) in the hope that they'll learn to mix well with both sexes (they already do but things can change) and then won't suffer socially if/when they attend single sex schools later on. Our local boys and girls secondary schools are hopelessly over subscribed with long waiting lists (they aren't private or fee paying, just good schools!) so I may not have the luxury of choosing.

mariebeth

It's ultimately up to you for Primary School, but I would prefer a mixed school for a couple of reasons, the first being that it would be nice if both your children can be in the same school.

Also, I think it's good for kids to be able to get along and socialise with both sexes, and if she's in an all-girls school the whole way up, I'd feel that she would be losing out on that aspect of socialisation in a way.

byhookorbycrook

Our school is mixed and I prefer it that way. I subbed in single sex schools and without making sweeping statements, all boys tended to be more rough and tumble and all girls could be catty. This doesn't happen in a mixed school to any great extent. It's good for the children to see each sex treated equally and that they get the same chances. I'd go for a mixed school every time, for primary.

overmantle

Having worked in both single-sex and mixed, while it DOES depend on the school, I would generally prefer single-sex. I felt really sorry for the girls in many of the mixed schools in which I worked. Boys tended to 'show off' more in front of girls.

If the Boys and Girls schools are on opposite sides of town, then it could be awkward for dropping and collecting. One of the greatest advantages of the mixed school is that all children from the one family can go to the same school. In my humble opinion, the best solution is, however, when the Boys and Girls schools are side by side and all the children can still be dropped and collected together.

Provided they are good schools, I would go for single-sex schools.

spurious

The over-riding factor as to how they'll do in any school is the parental involvement and encouragement, so I'd say pick whichever one is closest to home.

Chuchoter

I would always choose mixed schools, and I've been in both (mixed school until 4th class, single sex for 5th and 6th, I moved schools because I moved cities). It was really nice having my brother and me in the same school so I could look after him, it also made picking and dropping ten times easier.

The other advantage is I think the girls in the single sex school were painfully immature compared to the girls in the mixed school and were very (VERY) bitchy and cliquey, which you simply don't get when boys are involved. I was bullied a lot in school all the way through, but if the girls were being mean there were always the boys to go play cops and robbers with. (those were the days before Applied Maths and Choir at lunch:rolleyes: ). I think girls function better when they get into secondary school as well, because theres not this 'Holy mother of God, its a boy, lets attack him!' factor.

scifi77

spurious wrote: »

The over-riding factor as to how they'll do in any school is the parental involvement and encouragement, so I'd say pick whichever one is closest to home.

It's completely wrong to make a choice based solely on the 'type' of school - mixed, boys', girls', urban, rural, English-speaking, Gaelscoil and so on. What is far more important is the school itself.

My niece is in a mixed school and is utterly miserable but that does not go to say that all mixed schools are bad. My sons are in a single sex school and it's a fantastic school but some others probably are not.

I was in a single-sex school, as were all of my siblings and we certainly didn't suffer from any of the alleged hang ups mentioned by an earlier poster. From my experience, single sex schools worked very well but I would still choose the school for other reasons than the type of school.