Girls on top

THOSE Spice Girls were on to something. The era of girl power is with us. Yesterday's A-level results confirmed a clean sweep for girls over boys in every school examination. It is not unexpected. Girls have won a greater proportion of passes at A-level for the last eight years. But the 2000 results showed them gaining more A grades for the first time.

A study by the London University Institute for Education showed that boys' results have been static for years. The rise in the pass rate over the last ten years is entirely down to girls.

This has left educators and parents to ask the same thing - why? And is it something to worry about. After all, boys earned better exam grades for years without it causing a fuss.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, believes there is cause for concern. "The growing gap between girls and boys is a very worrying trend which has to be narrowed," he said.

"A laddish culture, that despises academic achievement and is tolerated by far too many parents, must be changed."

Brian Harrison-Jennings, of the association of educational psychologists, went so far as to advocate single-sex schooling. Otherwise, he said, "boys feel the need to lark and fool about and show off in front of girls, to the detriment of their academic studies".

Two years ago, twins Alice and Jenny Tomlinson, of South Bank, York, hit the headlines after scoring nine A grade A-levels between them at York Sixth Form College. Both are now at Cambridge.

Jenny, who is reading natural sciences, does believe that some teenagers feel it is 'uncool' to do well at school. "But it wasn't particularly a male thing. Some girls were like that as well," she said.

She hasn't noticed a difference between men and women's approach to work at university. And the one academic area where men still do better than women is in the number of first class degrees awarded.

Chris Edwards, deputy education director at City of York Council, confirmed that girls were doing better than boys throughout their time at the city's schools and colleges. "Look at the GCSEs. Last year there was eight per cent between the boys and the girls," he said.

"It's important to say that we are testing children at four, at seven, at 11, at 14, at 16 and at 18. And at every one of those stages, girls do better than boys."

This gap is set to widen. "It's not going to disappear. In fact, it's going to get worse for a time."

Mr Edwards feels the answer lies not so much in the laddish culture of the teenager, but far earlier in a boy's educational career - back to the formative pre-school years, in fact.

"It's obviously significant what we do with boys in the early years. All the research suggests we don't do enough in terms of teaching, reading, talking and listening to boys when they are really little."

The approach to boys and girls at this age is fundamentally different, he said. "We wrestle, we play football, we have the great outdoors with our boys. There's a strong emphasis on active play.

"With our girls, we put them in an environment we would describe as 'office-style'. They play in a structured way, games of post office or shop."

That improves girls' social and language skills, Mr Edwards said. To get the balance right, young boys needed more help in these areas while girls needed to be more active.

"We must work with parents. They have got to understand their key role, considering children are only at school for 15 per cent of the time.

"Most dads don't read to their kids. We are awful role models. We have got to find time to talk and read with them.

"Giving them a TV isn't a good idea. All the research shows young children shouldn't watch a lot of TV. Basically the brain's response when you're watching TV is like you're asleep."

Mr Edwards is hopeful that the measures his department is putting in place for early years education will pay dividends in ten to 15 years' time.

York is one of four pilot areas in the country to run a radical new approach to primary education, known in the city as Option 5.

Under the scheme, no child will start formal schooling until the term after their fifth birthday. Instead, they will have access from the age of three to six to early years education, a less structured environment where they learn through play.

Other countries in Europe, America and Australia delay formal schooling until much later and the results can be seen as the children grow older, he said.

"You look at the difference between teenage boys and teenage girls in terms of their sociability, in terms of their ability to communicate - why is it that other countries don't have these problems?"

Heather Marsland, manager of early years and child care service at the council, is in charge of the new scheme. It will begin in selected areas in the autumn, and should be introduced city-wide by 2003.

Primary schools, nurseries and play schemes will work together to ensure that children get the most out of educational play. She gave an example of how it might work. "Outside you would have all the climbing frames and tents for them to play in.

"You would expand it by putting paper and pencils inside. The kids might say let's draw the tent, let's write the word tent. They're doing educational things in a way that means something to them."

Forcing children into school too early can cause problems. Physically, the bones in the hands are not fully formed, making it difficult for four-year-olds "to do pages and pages of sums". And young boys find schooling at this age particularly challenging.

"If we have got a play-oriented environment it's going to affect boys more. Traditionally boys like charging about.

"They get very ratty very easily if you confine them to a desk. They don't learn very well like that. They get disaffected with school. Little girls are more compliant and sit quietly."

She is convinced the new approach will pay dividends for the children later in life - and not just in exam results. Research suggests they are less likely to be arrested, the rate of teenage pregnancies would be lower and the rate of employment higher. "For every £1 you spend, it saves £7," she said.

Chris Edwards admits that this scheme does nothing to help older boys already at secondary school. But the education authority is working with the bottom 25 per cent of 11-14 year olds to raise their literacy and numeracy.

In the meantime, he is sure that the new approach to early learning will pay off, with boys scoring significantly better grades at A-level in 2015. Watch this space.

PICTURE: former Tadcaster Grammar School Pupil Fran Mills shares her joy at passing 5 A Levels (Stephen Bradshaw)