In The Press
Turn Up The Heat For Girls To Learn More
From Daily Telegraph Mon 31 Jan, 2011
Girls learn better in warmer classrooms, with three degrees in temperature separating a good learning environment from one that is ideal for boys. The Girls' Day School Trust, which runs independent schools, is offering a series of tips to help teachers tailor lessons so that pupils learn more. Research for the Trust found that girls learnt best if their classroom is warmed to 75F (24C) compared with the 70F (21C) deemed ideal for boys to learn most effectively. Because of differences in how temperature affects the nervous system, the warmth that makes a girl ready to learn can make boys more sleepy. In other advice, The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), a chain of 26 independent schools in England and Wales, said that the ideal lesson for girls is one hour long, rather than 30 minutes for boys. The Trust said that buildings should have nooks and crannies with soft surfaces and outdoor mini-amphitheatres rather than big atriums, because girls thrive when they have small spaces for initimate groups to talk. The GDST is incorporating these features into new buildings in Nottingham, Sheffield and London. In mixed classes, teachers should avoid asking pupils to put up their hands because boys take 75 per cent of the attention, which demoralises girls. Kevin Stannard, the director of learning at GDST, said: "Merely separating girls from boys has little effect. Benefits flow only if this goes in step with sustained attention to girls' Learning needs."
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