School plans single-sex classes

Year 7 and 8 boys will be separated from girls in classes at Alexandra Primary School this year, in what is a first for Central Otago.

The co-educational school has implemented single-sex classes for its mainly 11- and 12-year-old pupils for the first time in its more than 140-year history.

Teachers Tiffany Kemp and Simon Bell will head the girls and boys classes respectively, and are excited about the change.

Central Otago Principals Association chairman Doug White said it was the first time a school in the district (where all schools are co-educational) had separated gender classes.

Mr White said such separations had been successfully implemented at other schools throughout New Zealand, including Motueka High School and primary schools in the North Island.

"Within our education system schools are self-managing, so there's the flexibility to cater for different learning needs," he said.

Alexandra Primary School principal Adele Gott said the single-sex classes provided greater opportunities for pupils, of which there were about 200.

"The exciting thing is it will tie in with the Ministry of Education's new school-based curriculum, which enables us to look at localised needs and address them within the school.

There was a group of pupils who were not as hooked in to learning as they should have been, and we saw this as an innovative way to engage them," she said.

The school had about 40 year 7 and 8 pupils, equally divided through gender, which would make two classes of about 20.

Teachers and school staff had been toying with the idea for the past two years, and decided to implement it after analysing the performance of pupils heading into year 7 and 8 this year.

"It appeared to us that the boys and girls worked and learned differently, and this was a way in which we could address those different needs," Mr Bell said.

Board of trustee members were consulted, as well as parents, and the majority were supportive of single-sex classes for core subjects, including numeracy, literacy, and topical studies.

Mr Bell and Mrs Kemp said their teaching styles would differ for the girls and boys, but still fall within the curriculum.

It was hoped by catering to the different learning styles and needs of each sex, pupils' engagement and subsequent achievement would be maximised.

"I don't think it will make any difference in terms of their socialising.

"The kids are looking forward to it," Mrs Kemp said.

Core subjects would be taught in single-sex classes in the morning, with afternoon lessons comprising choices for pupils within a general subject.

"If the afternoon is about art, for example, a pupil may have the choice of four different lessons depending on their interests and skills, like electives offered at an intermediate level.

Those lessons will be gender-mixed and each incorporate the curriculum requirements, while giving pupils a choice," Mrs Kemp said.

Single-sex classes were not intended as a permanent fixture at the school, but rather an option which could be used if seen to benefit individual class groups from year to year.

- rosie.manins@odt.co.nz