Why some families
choose all-girls schools
A look at why Leicester girls opt for single-sex education at this ‘one of a kind’ school WORDS BY KERRY SMITH
F
ifty-five languages are spoken at Sir Jonathan North College on the outskirts of the city centre. The school’s catchment area has recently grown, naturally rather than intentionally, creating a culturally diverse environment ‘where girls learn without limits’. It would seem girls and their caregivers are seeking out all-girls schools and are willing to look further afield if they have to. We took a closer look at Leicester’s only non-fee paying, multi-faith, all-girls school to find out more about the appeal of single-sex education. Sir Jonathan North teaches students aged 11 to 16 and forms part of Leicestershire’s Lionheart Academies Trust in which students benefit from a central curriculum developed by subject specialists. The school has increasingly welcomed girls from further across the city and county while remaining a strong local choice, a key point Principal Rose Angus is keen to stress. “The catchment area has organically grown beyond its core traditional local area because of the very reason that Sir Jonathan North is the only multi-faith all-girls state school in Leicestershire. We’ve found that parents are choosing to travel beyond their local school choices to attend Sir Jonathan North,” Principal Angus suggested. “As a ‘one of a kind’ school in Leicester, Sir Jonathan North has attracted girls from across the county, making for a diverse community for our more immediately local students to benefit from, too. Some parents and students choose our school because it’s their preferred local choice, some because our exam results are high and we are 44 | NICHE
recognised as outstanding, and some because they are specifically seeking a same-sex education.” But why does a single-sex education appeal to local girls? Preparing students for the real world Single-sex education has been feared to deny students real-world experience; after all, boys are part of the world too. But at an age when girls and boys are delicately developing their self-esteem, values, and personalities, could one affect the other? Same-sex school environments allow girls to feel confident, according to Girls’ School Association. They are more likely to raise their hand in class and try out different sports. The organisation says stereotyped gender expectations are minimised when boys are not present. In all-girls schools: “There is no such thing as a girl’s subject or a boy’s subject and girls are free to follow their inclinations with little of the pressure they might otherwise feel,” claims Girls’ School Association. The Institute of Physics supported this idea, reporting that students who attended an all-girls school were significantly more likely to study physics to A-level than girls in co-educational schools. Research has also found that girls participate more in sport when they’re in a singlesex environment (‘The Effectiveness of Interventions to Increase Physical Activity Among Adolescent Girls: a Metaanalysis’ by Biddle, Braithwaite & Pearson). At Sir Jonathan North specifically, Principal Angus says students’ educations are enriched. “Our now wider
