Boys’ education in focus

Trinity Grammar School is unambiguous and confident about the fact that we are a school for boys. This is clear in our mission statement, which is: To provide boys with a thoroughly Christian education in mind, body and spirit. 

Humans are a sexually-dimorphic species, which is just a way of saying that, on average, there are differences between men and women. These differences ought not be overstated; the commonality between men and women is deeper and more profound than the differences, but the differences are real.

The differences are easily recognisable on basic physical grounds. For example, on average, men are taller and heavier than women. It is not the case that every man is taller than every woman but it is valid to recognise the difference.

Of course, physiological differences in size and proportion alone are not an adequate basis to argue for separate schools for boys and girls. However, the differences between male and female humans are not just physiological.

Without attempting to untangle what might be a matter of nurture rather than nature, and without expressing any value judgement, and without suggesting that a generalisation applies to any specific boy or girl, we can make a few observations about some differences between school-aged boys and girls.

On average, rates of maturation – physical, neurological and social – differ between boys and girls. Generally speaking, boys mature later than girls. The gaps can be significant, particularly in early adolescence. This ought not be a matter for judgement, as though less-mature boys are simply ‘broken girls’ who would be fine if they would just be more like their sisters.

On average, boys are more active than girls. They move more, they are louder, and they are more boisterous. Boys’ schools at lunchtime are far more rowdy than girls’ schools. Again, I make no judgment about the difference, nor do I propose to unpack its causation.

On average, boys do not do as well at school as girls. Boys leave school earlier, boys receive lower mean and median ATARs, boys are more likely to be suspended, boys are less likely to proceed to tertiary study, boys are more likely to be disengaged with school. These facts are not contested – although causation of these facts is by no means agreed.

On average, girls and boys express distress in different ways. According to Dr Lisa Damour, “distressed girls tend to internalise – to collapse in on themselves and suffer from anxiety and depression, while distressed boys tend to externalise – to act out or get into trouble.” (Damour notes that this difference is the result of socialisation, and the different norms that are imposed on boys and girls.) She goes on to observe that it is easier to feel compassion for those who suffer from anxiety or depression than to summon sympathy for irritable, sullen or obnoxious young people who are compulsively drawn to gaming, online gambling and toxic dimensions of the manosphere. This observation does not justify poor behaviour, but it suggests that sensitivity to the differences between boys and girls in distress and under pressure is of great value.

Of course, single-sex education is not the only way for good education to take place or even the best way for education to take place. However, there are valid reasons for specialising in the education of boys – and that is what Trinity does. 

Each member of our staff team is here at Trinity because they are dedicated to educating boys, committed to guiding, supporting and challenging them through the successes and frustrations of their academic career.

At Trinity, we educate boys. We became a school for boys by historical chance, but we remain a school for boys by choice. 

We are honoured that families choose to partner with us in the education of their boys.
 

Further reading:

‘Why do boys lag behind girls at all ages of education?’, UK Parliament. 

Tell Them From Me: Gender and Engagement, NSW Education 

‘Of Boys and Men’ by Richard Reeves, Swift Press, 2023