Talking about Coeducation at home and at School
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week has been full of so much excitement behind the scenes. On Tuesday, we had the photo shoot for our new Pre – Year 6 uniform, including the coeducational uniforms for our Preschools St Michael’s and St Mark’s. I’d like to say a huge thank you to the students who modelled the new uniforms for us, and I am very sorry you couldn’t keep all the items!
It was a funny experience on Tuesday morning chatting to our St Michael’s students briefly about the new coeducational uniform, because for St Michael’s and St Mark’s, coeducation is all they know! While the photographers and half a dozen extra adults in the room was a bit of change for the students, the presence of the girls definitely was not. This made me think how normal coeducation is for most of us throughout our lives. Whether it was during Pre-school years, at home with siblings and parents, at a lot of the primary schools our students come from, in co-curricular activities on the weekend and, of course, life after school.
While it is very easy for anything new to be scary, we can often lean into being more scared than excited. This year, groups of staff across faculties and Heads of Houses have visited other coeducational schools to learn from their experiences. We learn so much from these observations, but more than that, staff learn how a co-ed setting in many ways is not that different. Teaching is teaching. Students are students. The overwhelming normality of it becomes clear. Many of the conversations we are having in House mentor time are around the culture of our Houses, and how to build and add to them, rather than take away. This has led to really fruitful discussion in which our students have been engaging wholeheartedly.
At home, it can be a great opportunity to talk to your children about how normal coeducation is. Whether you are speaking to them about your own experiences at school, university or at work, small conversations that normalise coeducational environments and interactions will help promote excitement rather than fear.
It can be great to ask questions around what your child knows or maybe doesn’t know – for example:
- How many girls do you think will be in each House group? (around 5 in each Year 7 mentor group and 3 – 4 in each Year 11 mentor group)
- What are you looking forward to in class?
- How will you feel if there are girls in your House but not in your year group yet?
- What do you think will change at School?
- What do you want to keep the same?
- What are some things you could do to help a new student (boy or girl) feel welcome in your House or class?
- What do you think it will mean for when you finish school?
- What is something you might be nervous to ask your teachers or friends about next year?
They may not know all the answers, but hopefully these conversation starters help at home to open up the dialogue about the excitement of next year.
Daisy Turnbull
Director of Coeducation
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