BUCKHURST HILL: Girls-only teaching 'important for school's success' (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

BUCKHURST HILL: Girls-only teaching 'important for school's success'

8:00am Monday 13th February 2012 in News By Clare Hardy

A HEAD-teacher has hailed girls-only education and small classes as the key to her school’s success, after praise from an independent inspector.

The Independent Schools Inspectorate found that Braeside School in Buckhurst Hill was good or excellent in all eight categories it was judged in.

Head-teacher Gillian Haddon said: “I was delighted that the Inspection Team appreciated the engagement and enjoyment of learning experienced by all of our girls.

“I do think (single-sex teaching) is important. It’s blatantly clear to someone like myself who has a background in comprehensive teaching and has sons.

“Girls learn differently and most girls are completers, so if you ask them to do something to the best of their ability, they will do it, whereas sometimes with boys, you have to work to get them to sit on a chair for 15 seconds.

“Whatever the quality of your staff, it’s hard to nurture those differing needs.

“There are certain state schools where interesting research is being done – although they’re schools with mixed intakes, they’re teaching girls and boys separately for certain lessons.”

She said the fact that the school was so small and teachers got to know their pupils also helped, as well as the hours put in by staff.

Reporting inspector Jean Marsland said: “The pupils achieve success in a wide variety of activities.

“In the (class for three to five-year-olds), children’s achievement is outstanding.”

She added that children were pushed to succeed, especially in the Palmerston Road junior school, where levels of challenge were deemed ‘excellent’.

She also said pupils made good progress by GCSE stage compared with the nationwide average for those of a similar ability.

However, she said teachers sometimes needed to add more comments to pupils’ work to help them progress and that there was not always enough interaction between pupils and teachers in lessons.

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