The move to co-education is supported by some high-profile parents,such as Atlassian founder Scott Farquhar and his wife,Kim Jackson,but opposed by others,such as columnist and former Labor senator Graham Richardson.
Parents were this week sent a survey asking them to rate their level of concern about objections raised in community forums,such as “boys may be distracted in class”,“girls will take boys’ places in academic rankings”,boys will miss out on leadership roles,or girls would receive more pastoral care and attention.
The online survey asked what level of concern parents had that “co-ed will result in the loss of an environment that offers rites of passage for boys and provides a space where boys can be boys”,or that “boys may feel intimidated and lack confidence to engage in class”.
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The group of 22 recent head and second prefects,dating back to 2009,decided to write to the school to ensure the views of the younger alumni were heard during the consultation. They argued that co-education reflected the real world,would better prepare students for their futures,and provided an opportunity to normalise cross-gender relations before adulthood.
“The current single-sex independent school structures in Sydney create one-dimensional interactions between the genders … some of the attitudes and norms of behaviour that develop in these communities are,rightly,no longer acceptable in broader Australian society,” the letter said.
“This contributes to adverse outcomes for these young people;most importantly,for the young women directly affected by behaviour that should not be tolerated,but also for the young men who find themselves inadequately equipped for adult life outside of school.”