I would always choose a co-ed school if given the choice, especially if the child has no siblings of the opposite gender. However I do think you need to take the individual needs into consideration. In my experience boys from all boys schools haven't turned out to be the nicest of people and not terribly respectful of women BUT that is just in my experience so could be just the horrible blokes that I have had the misfortune to meet.
I think that might just be the guys you know Nai. Both my brothers went to boy's schools. My big brother is one of the kindest, most non-confrontational people I know. My little brother isn't as gentle as my older brother but he's generally a decent person.
TBH I think it's my responsibility (and DH's) to teach our sons to respect women not the schools. Maybe families that have less respect for women are more likely to choose boy's schools? I guess I need to think about that. Because when you select a school you're selecting their peers.
I'm kind of torn between the academic and the social. Because most research indicates that both girls and boys do better academically in single gender classes.
I went to a single-sex school, but we had a very close relationship with a boys' school around the corner. We were in each others' plays and musicals, held events together and religious thing were done together, shared resources and the senior grades had joint classes in many subjects... I think it was a great way to go.
Do any of the schools you are looking at have close working relationships sister schools, where that gender interaction can be fostered, while still maintaining the single-sex focus of the school?
It is interesting to note that my 'brother school' has since turned co-ed, while my school has remained all girls, and many of Melbourne's best private boys' schools have also gone co-ed now as well. Whether that is based on education and social outcomes alone or the primary motivator was financial, is another question I suppose!
I went to a single sex selective school in Sydney and like ls had interactions with the boys selective school next door.
I think it's the best of both worlds if your single sex school also interacts with the opposite sex. We had some great classes with just the girls and some equally great ones with the boys.
My brother went to a different all boys selective school with no sister school close by and as such they all struggled come formal time and when it was time to start dating others. We used to work together after school and he was hopeless with the girls. He did however do just as well academically and has a great group of friends still 15 years later from his school.
The high school that DS1 goes to (selective government boarding school) does run single sex classes for their year 7 and 8 students. It is a co-ed school, but they choose to have a straight sex class of both girls and boys, and one mixed class. DS1 is in the mixed class which is for the more able students. The lower students are in the single sex classes. Honestly, I'm not sure what I think of it. I think both have pros and cons though and its up to you do decide what are the most important things you want out of a school and their education. I think a lot of the social stuff comes from home anyway, so regardless of what school you put them into, they are always going to be more influenced by what goes on in the home. If you have a son who is a self-entitled jackass who thinks that people should just bend over and kiss their butt is always going to be like that no matter where they go to school. When we were deciding on a school for DS1, co-ed or single sex didn't even come into it, it was the academic side of things we were looking at.
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