Students in Long Bay College's new single-gender classes say learning's easier now they're not distracted by the opposite sex. Kirsten Grant reports.
Year 9 students at Long Bay College appear happy with the new single-gender classes at their school. Classes for the three core subjects - English, maths and science -
are single gender. They have been running for two weeks, with classes for subjects such as art, music, languages and social science still co-ed.
``We get more work done when the room's quieter. It's easier to listen, you don't get as distracted,'' says 13-year-old Micha Madsen.
Another Year 9 student, Bronwyn Bruce-Brand, agrees. ``We all find it a lot quieter. It's easier to concentrate,'' she says. ``We both think the others are the ones who make the most noise.''
College principal Stephanie Norrie researched the idea for a number of years and surveyed parents in 2005 to gauge their reaction.
``They felt strongly it would be a good idea,'' she says. ``We are very interested to see how it goes. We are still shaking the timetable down.''
Mrs Norrie says the classes she's seen are very settled and if the year goes well, she wants to extend single-gender core subject classes to Year 10 next year.
Sandra Wilson teaches a maths class for girls at the school but hasn't yet noticed any major differences.
``I think it's actually too early in the year. I'm quite excited. I'm expecting the experiment to be successful and that we will continue for many years to come,'' she says. ``It's all very positive at the moment.''
Bronwyn says she would like to continue with the single-gender classes. ``I'm understanding things better and doing things I don't think we'd be up to yet if we were with the boys.''
Micha feels that, in the past, some teachers have been sexist towards him, giving more attention to girls. ``Now it feels more equal,'' he says.
Mrs Norrie says that, often, boys excel in maths or science, whereas girls may flourish in English, and this shouldn't be the case.
``If you look at senior classes, girls don't choose to do maths and science because somewhere at this level they missed out,'' she says.
``There are certain things that we can do for boys and girls of this age that help their learning.''
