During my time at school the only 'females' we encountered were either medical staff, or those outside the college grounds.
All this changed in 1970 when, after a thousand years of having been an all boys school, The Queen appeared and announced to the world that girls would finally be admitted.
Almost at once the girls began to out-perform the boys, and female Oxbridge admissions heavily outweighed those of the boys.
Female scholars abounded; even my own Latin Scholarship would no doubt have gone to a girl (had there been any in my day).
I believe things have now settled down, and these days achievements are pretty much 50/50.
I never had the advantage of co-ed schooling, and I'm not sure how I'd have coped. All I can say is that when I see photos (such as the above) of my alma mater's end of year Ball, I'm rather envious.
You would have spent far too much time thinking about the opposite sex just like all of us that went to coed schools. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I imagined. How they cope; I don't know.
DeleteTo have a gaggle of girls suddenly dumped into the school must have been a shock to those teenage boys! Definitely something else to think about Besides exams!
ReplyDeleteBut when you are co-ed from the beginning it can't be quite so distracting......though distraction it is in those last few years when hormones are raging and grades should be outstanding.
Great times
Yes it must have been very difficult at first, but I imagine the initial intake must have been quite young.
DeleteMy two were educated at single sex schools but the schools are next door to each other and divided by what is known as 'the passion gate'. I would certainly have welcomed being educated at an all girls school as I (and other girls) was sexually bullied by the boys. This was laughed off by the teachers as 'boys will be boys'. Not nice.
ReplyDeleteMy 6 year old daughter was once bullied by a boy at school; she followed my advice and gave him a sharp right to his nose. I was the proudest parent around.
DeleteI went to one of the 5 girls only grammar schools in Leicester.I consider my secondary education to have been excellent. There were 5 boys only schools too and we only encountered them on the walk home. Most of the schools are long gone! I did Latin for 4 years and loved it!
ReplyDeleteI still keep a very large Latin dictionary by my side.
DeleteSeeing the boys and girls of the Cathedral School in Norwich, which was boys only until very recently, looks very natural and as it should be to me.
ReplyDeleteBTW I've added that Hockney painting for you.
DeleteYup, that's the one; thanks. I didn't think much of it when he was working on it, I still don't think much of it. I remember he had a big photograph taped to the canvas that he was 'copying'. Interesting to see it again after nearly 50 years.
DeleteIt was very hard to look at the girls playing hockey across the invisible barrier as we took the field for rugby. No one dared cross the line. A good thrashing or maybe expulsion ... it was vertainly different then
ReplyDeletevertainly is good word innit? I wonder what it means!
ReplyDeleteAs older boys we always found a way of meeting local girls. One senior boy was expelled after having a fling with the headmaster's secretary.
DeleteNowadays the secretary would have clear her desk.
DeleteHalf way through my secondary school times, they split the playground down the middle with a white line - boys on one side and girls on the other. One girl had become pregnant you see, and sent to a convent. This was not a good school.
ReplyDeleteNever the twain shall meet, unless it's behind the bike sheds.
DeleteIt's not as if I ever noticed anyone having sex in the playground.
DeleteAnother pregnant schoolgirl would blend in nicely at the convent.
DeleteI went to an all girls school and loved it. Great education and no distractions (in the classroom anyway !). Sent both my kids to similar schools and have never regretted the huge cost involved.
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of time for meeting the opposite sex. The less distractions at school the better.
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