A private girls’ school welcomed boys across the school for the first time earlier this month.
Boys have joined Ipswich High School (previously Ipswich High School for Girls) throughout the Prep School and Sixth Form, as the establishment moves towards becoming coeducational via the ‘diamond’ model of education.
This approach is unique in Suffolk and offered at a small number of schools throughout the UK. Girls and boys are taught together in early years education, separately taught throughout their teenage years, and brought back together again in sixth form. Appreciating that girls and boys learn differently, the model provides the opportunity to combine the academic benefits of single-sex education with the social advantages of coeducation.
Oona Carlin, Head at Ipswich High School, said: “We are delighted to have our first cohort of boys join the school this morning. Since we announced that we are becoming co-ed, there has been huge interest from parents of boys, particularly those who see value in our best of both worlds diamond model approach. We truly believe the school’s ethos, teaching and enrichment programme will benefit boys as much as it benefits girls.”
The school has enrolled 16 boys – four into the sixth form, 12 into the prep school – with more joining Year 7 in the Senior School from September 2019.
