Co-ed or uni-sex school?

I've been to 1 co-ed primary, 1 co-ed intermediate, 1 uni-sex high school, and 2 co-ed high schools... I think it honestly depends on the school. I think primary co-ed is definately best, but I think I umm... "concentrated" better at my first (girls only) high school than my 2nd... (co-ed) by the 3rd (also co-ed) I had grown up a bit, (6th form) and I don't think I actually dated anyone at the school... were all older guys by then, so guys were just good friends, and it was great. I think it is easier to find a uni-sex school that *works* than a co-ed.

I've also heard boys in general perform better in co-ed schools, and girls in uni-sex, but that could be wrong. It does make some sense to me having been to both though.

DH struggled with girls once he was at uni where as for me talking to guys was easy.

I spent a week working with nga tawa (girls boarding school) and it nearly drove me nuts - catty behaviour - so I think I worked better with guys around too. It was lots more fun (not in the dodgy way either lol) to have guys sense of humour around.

my Mum went to single sex and hated it.. and i think i would have too.but thats just the kind of people we are(more tomboyish) she had 5 brothers just hated the cattiness of her school..(but my co-ed was VERY catty too)

having said that i have friends who were happy at both..i would prefer Ethan to go to co-ed but it will be a lot of his decision and where we are zoned.. its true what they say about the boys doing better at co-ed... educationally proven that girls do better at single sex school..

anyway our kids will probably go to co-ed school. (though DH wants them to go to the Catholic school down the road which would then lead to private single sex ....so hmm we will have to talk more about exactly what we think is best!

I went to a single sex school and loved it! I had more guy friends than girl friends anyway so wouldn't have bothered me either way. The reason my parents decided I was to go to a single sex school is because I excelled in male dominated subjects eg: woodwork, metalwork and vehicle mechanics. I was top of our school for those subjects the whole way through high school and was second in the country for woodwork in school C. Infact I am pretty good at most hands-on type things; eg sewing etc.

I really wanted to be a mechanice but my Dad wouldn't have it, go figure when he sent me to a girls school so I could excell at those subjects

Gosh I make myself out to be a right tomboy don't I, I'm not really!!

I went to co-ed schools all the way through until I moved to Wgtn in 7th form and went to a girls only and couldn't believe how excitable and girly the girls were when we had classes at the local boys school. It seemed very odd to me.

I have read studies that show that girls achieve higher at uni-schools while boys work best at co-ed but I think it depends on the child.

I went to a co-ed (Catholic) primary, then a girls only (Catholic) intermediate, girls only (Catholic) college until 4th form, then 2 co-ed colleges, then a girls only. The co-ed girls dealt with boys soooo much better and didn't lose their heads, like the girls only students did. The Catholic college I went to had the highest pregnancy rate in Taranaki and I think the lack of association with guys helped there. Personally though, our future daughters will most likely go to the same Catholic girls college that I did, because the quality of the education that I got there was far superior to that of anywhere else, and purely for that reason. DP went to co-ed his whole life, which was best for him - he wasn't hugely academic and it suited him.

ETA: I have been to all the colleges in our area that have girls, so yeah, IMO that college is the best education provider.

Edited by minik8e

I went single sex, but all the rest of my siblings (3 sisters, 2 brothers) went co-ed. I loved my school and did really well there, but I think that was more because of the school than because it was girls-only. Although I think I had a good personality for an all-girls environment because I don't have time for cattiness. We certainly had a group of catty "popular" girls, but their social power was that everyone wanted to join them, and they had the power to exclude those they didn't want... I had no interest in joining them, so they had no power over me, and I had a very pleasant and productive education!
The big difference between mine and my siblings' educations, as far as I could tell, was that at my school, I commanded a certain respect for being *smart* (I was dux etc) and had a really good group of friends, whereas my older sister got bullied because of it (she was also dux), and my 2 younger sisters and my brothers have been very careful not to be smart, which I think is a real shame because they are very clever people and could have done very well academically. My youngest brother is seriously supersmart (he used to test me for my school C exams when he was 7!) but he didn't even get into Vet school last year, because he never learnt how to apply himself at highschool, even though he's more than smart enough. So I think it was really stupid of my parents to send their intellectual kids to a school where it was a big social no-no to achieve academicly.
So after all that waffle... perhaps it depends more on the individual school than whether it is single-sex or co-ed. Certainly I never had any issues relating to guys and I think I personally benefitted from being 18 before I was really in an environment where I was interested in boyfriends, because I was grown-up enough to deal with it... I ended up marrying him!

Edited by rhick

I have thought about this a lot, as me and DH have a similar problem. we've decided to wait and see what kinda kids the boys are. If you have a child who benefits from VERY strong boundaries and a kind of military regime - boys high. if you have a more artistic child, then the management at boys high will seem more like bullying.

Well it's all very real for me at the moment Natasha starts high school next year.
Over the years I've swung between both options but in the end have decided to go co-ed as we have three girls and I'd hate her to be uncomfortable around boys. Hopefully she won't get too distracted by them like her mother did .