Girls do better than boys in almost all school subjects

Mar 12 2008 by Abbie Wightwick, Western Mail

GIRLS do better than boys in 85% of secondary schools in Wales, a new report from education watchdog Estyn shows.

At primary school level, girls’ results are significantly better than boys in more than three in 10 schools the report published yesterday, says.

Inspectors said schools should do more to improve boys’ reading and writing to help them across all subjects.

Inspection reports for 600 schools between 2005 and 2007 show that girls do better throughout school and that the difference widens with age.

“Improvements in the attainment of girls have outpaced those of boys in almost all subjects in the National Curriculum,” Dr Bill Maxwell, Chief Inspector for Schools, writes in the report.

Because more boys have trouble with literacy than girls, they also experience problems in accessing the wider curriculum, the report warns.

“This affects progress not only in subjects that are highly language-based, such as Welsh or English and history, but across the whole curriculum, because reading and recording skills are important in all subjects.”

Inspectors said the organisation of the secondary school day, with its frequent changes of teachers and subjects and numerous demands for homework and coursework, were also particularly difficult for boys who are already struggling with reading and writing.

Negative peer pressure can also hamper learning, the document adds.

“For some boys there is tension between being good at school and gaining status with their peer group.

“Boys are more prone to show off and less likely to follow instructions relating to what they do and how they might do it to best effect.”

The report recommends that schools need to make learning, teaching and assessment more appealing to boys.