Single-Sex Education: A Vital Voice from Scotland's All-Girls and All-Boys Schools

An article recently written by the education correspondent for The Scotsman highlights the importance of single-sex education, drawing on the perspectives of the Heads from St George's and Merchiston. To read the full article, please click here.

Carol Chandler-Thompson, the Head at St George's, says: 

"For some families, a single-sex education is really the defining feature of what they want. Sometimes I think this debate can be framed as co-ed versus single-sex, but actually for me, it's more about parents having the choice of what is right for their children. Even within one family, they might choose co-education for one child and single-sex for another. I would hate for the sector to all look and feel the same, so for me, it makes it even more important that we are offering what we are offering to families. 

"I've been 27 years in girls-only education now, and the role modelling is incredibly powerful for them. So, children just absorb so much from what they see, more than what you say. If they can be in an environment where absolutely everybody who is a role model kind of looks and feels like them - you know, the person directing the play, the head student, they are all of the same sex - that is quite a powerful message for those students to say, 'yes, this is something I can do'. There are no implicit messages they are absorbing there about boys' subjects, girls' subjects, roles and otherwise. It is all there for them. So I think that could be incredibly powerful, even for the very youngest student. 

"Having been in 3-to-18 schools all my career, you can see some of these really quieter characters grow in confidence and self-knowledge as they go through the system and learning in that support from role models."

The discussion emphasises how St George's and Merchiston believe passionately in the benefits of single-sex environments, especially when cultivating academic excellence and supporting emotional well-being.

You can read the full article on The Scotsman by following this link.

You can also read 'Why do we still need Girls' schools in the twenty-first century' written by Carol Chandler-Thompson