The advantages of a single-gender education

Some parents and visitors question the validity of a single sex school in this day and age of sexual equality. Girls do benefit from being educated separately from boys as :

• It is widely accepted that girls and boys develop physically, emotionally and intellectually at different rates.
• Girls can be offered the emotional support they need in their adolescent years –a time when physical and intellectual changes dominate, which can confuse and be disruptive.
• Girls can be presented with opportunities that encourage learning without being distracted by the 'peacock effect'.
• Girls can be challenged according to their own intellectual and physical stage of development in a single sex school.
• Girls at a single-gender school are not bound by social stereotypes or hindered by uncompromising competition from boys, nor distracted by disruptive behaviour
• Confidence and self-esteem can be nurtured in such an environment. Pupils are more likely to achieve their full potential in a structured, disciplined environment.
• For many girls the security of a single-gender school offers a much more secure launch pad into the future.
• It is important to recognise the differences between boys and girls, and between individuals, so that all can be ambitious and strive to be successful in the world today.
• The opportunities for leadership and responsibility, and to develop interests and ambitions, encourage pupils at a single-gender school to strive for equal opportunities and to achieve their full potential in all areas of the curriculum, at least to the age of 16. We aim to produce rounded individuals who can contribute positively to society outside school.