At Carlingford High School we believe coeducation is a very positive way to prepare students for modern contemporary society. The world of work, the world of education, the world of employment and the world of leadership are diverse and inclusive communities. Coeducation is fundamental to our vision which includes developing considerate and responsible individuals.
A coeducational classroom has many benefits for learning for both genders. Sending your child to a school with boys and girls can help build their self-esteem and social skills and better prepare them for a diverse world where both genders play important roles. Coeducational environments help teach students to have respect for their opposite-sex peers, expose them to different viewpoints, and some say help to break down sometimes limiting gender stereotypes.
Carlingford High School has always placed a great emphasis on meeting the welfare and learning needs of all of our students. Students are supported through proactive Wellbeing and Learning Support Teams. The development of positive self-esteem, the ability to set meaningful goals and to build resilience can be enhanced through a well organised and delivered pastoral system within an environment of mutual respect nurtured between both boys and girls.
Advocates of single-sex schooling sometimes make strong claims about the academic advantages of such schools, pointing to statistically significant disparities in examination results. In truth, these differences may be due more to the background of the pupils at the school or the selectivity of the intake. Carlingford High School has continually demonstrated that all students can achieve at a high academic level in a co-educational setting. This is evidenced in our consistent excellence at HSC level. Both boys and girls have consistently attained Band 6 results across a variety of subjects with a number of students being recognised as a top achiever in their courses across the state. Both boys and girls have achieved perfect ATAR scores at our school.
'A strong reason for co-education is that separating children for a number of years means they will not be mixing and learning about each other.' - Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge 2003.
‘There are no overriding advantages for single-sex schools on educational grounds. Studies all over the world have failed to detect any major differences.' - Professor Alan Smithers, director of education and employment research at the University of Buckingham 2006.
‘After graduation, virtually everyone will work for and with females and males - students need to learn mutual respect and the social skills of interacting. They need to learn how to interact co-operatively and competitively and these are important things that are learned in school - school is the only place where certain kinds of interactions occur.’ - Professor Dianne F. Halpbern, Dean of Social Science Minerva Schools at KGI 2016.
Further reading:
- Asthana, A, (2006), Why single-sex education is not the route to better results, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jun/25/schools.gender2
- Bagshaw, E., (2016), No benefit to single-sex education, Australian Psychological Society Congress to be told, Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/no-benefit-to-singlesex-education-australian-psychological-society-congress-to-be-told-20160913-greydj.html
- Bennett, S, (2015), Gender relations in elite coeducational schools (No. PhD). Deakin University. http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30081641/bennett-genderrelations-2016A.pdf
- Bracey, G, (2006), Separate but Superior? A Review Of Issues And Data Bearing On Single-Sex Education, The Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice, East Lansing, Michigan. http://greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Bracey_Gender.pdf
- Gill, J, (2004), Beyond the Great Divide, UNSW Press, Sydney. http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/153084054?q&versionId=217748731
- Hunt, E., (2016) Single-sex schools offer no advantages and feed stereotypes, The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/sep/14/single-sex-schools-offer-no-advantages-and-feed-stereotypes-psychologists-told
- Mansfield, K. C. (2013), The growth of single-sex schools: Federal policy meets local needs and interests, Education policy analysis archives, 21, 87. http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1181
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2009), Equally prepared for life? How 15 year old boys and girls perform in school. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/42843625.pdf
- Pahlke, E., Hyde, J. S., & Allison, C. M. (2014), The effects of single-sex compared with coeducational schooling on students’ performance and attitudes: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 10 42. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-a0035740.pdf
- Park, H., Behrmann J., & Choi, J., (2012) Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools, University of Pennsylvania, http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=psc_working_papers
- Robinson, P., & Smithers, A. (2006), The paradox of single-sex and co-educational schooling, Centre for Education and Employment Research: University of Buckingham. http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/hmcsscd.pdf
- Woodward, L. J., Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (1999), Effects of single-sex and coeducational secondary schooling on children’s academic achievement. Australian Journal of Education, 43(2), 142-156. http://aed.sagepub.com/content/52/3/301.abstract