Single sex education for girls at Chilton

At Chilton Saint James School, the value of an all girls education is enhanced by our Preschool to Year 13 learning continuum.
At Chilton Saint James School,

• Girls are always at centre stage. They lead, participate and get involved.
• The teachers are all tuned in to the benefits of an all girls' environment. They know the advantages for girls in a single gender school.
• The freedom to learn at Chilton Saint James School yields lifelong rewards. Chilton students are encouraged to become confident learners, risk-takers, critical thinkers and self-starters.
• Chilton students have the opportunity to be enthusiastic participants in all subject areas where they all are acknowledged as able learners and contributing team players.
• There are fewer social pressures and distractions in a single sex girls' school setting. This helps to make learning the priority at Chilton.
• Students at Chilton Saint James School become confident and articulate young women with a confirmed sense of self and self-direction. In a single sex setting, students do not have to compare themselves with boys. They make the pace because they are encouraged to be the tall poppies.
• It is good to have a variety of educational settings available for girls. This diversity gives more choice and some girls may prefer a co-educational environment. However, research strongly suggests that an all-girls environment during the important formative years leads to stronger educational outcomes and develops articulate young women who are more likely to have the confidence to interact positively with both men and women in the adult world.

Research clearly shows that girls

• have different learning styles from boys.
• Because boys and girls learn differently and make different social demands on their fellow students, co-educational settings must allow for the range of types of learning provision the whole class requires. This tends to reduce the quality of learning opportunities the girls can receive.
• There is evidence suggesting that co-educational settings are limited in their ability to accommodate the large differences in cognitive, social and developmental growth rates of girls and boys between the ages of 12 and 16. Rowe, 2000 [ACER media release, 17/04/2000]. 
• can become invisible in the classroom because boys demand greater time and attention from the class teacher.
• ... many girls did not report sexual harassment by male classmates and were likely to internalise and come to expect this experience. Orenstein (1994)
• are able to produce better academic results than boys especially in Science and Maths. In fact, they regularly outperform girls and boys with comparable ability in co-educational classes. Crombie et al (2002).
• show stronger self-esteem and self-confidence. Single sex girls' school "settings seem to provide girls with a certain comfort level that helps them develop greater self-confidence and broader interests, especially as they approach adolescence. Salomone, R.C. (2003).
  
  

For more information see Tips for Girls