Timothy Wright is retiring in December after 17 years running the Sydney Church of ­England Grammar School.

He said he welcomed discussion around what it meant to be a man in the 21st century but not in a manner that unfairly generalised against half the population.

"It's hard to have a conversation about this issue without people conjuring up issues of sexual harassment or domestic violence or ‘toxic masculinity'," Dr Wright said of the term popularised by the latest wave of feminism.

"Attach that description to any other group in society and people would be outraged."

With most of his 34-year ­career spent in boys schools, Wright believes there are benefits to educating boys in a single-sex environment.

He pointed to "compelling" research from New Zealand, conducted by Victoria University of Wellington.

The research found ­superior academic results and higher university entrance rates compared with those boys at mixed schools.

The independent study by Dr Michael Johnston, Faculty of Education at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), compares the performance of young men in Years 11 - 13 at New Zealand single-sex schools with those at co-educational schools.

The research shows that over the period from 2013 to 2016, young men from single-sex boys' schools have gained passes in higher proportions than their counterparts at co-educational schools in:

• NCEA qualifications,
• University Entrance
• New Zealand Scholarship

The VUW report follows on from the 2012 New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) report.

This report concluded that single-sex schools provided a significant advantage for boys in New Zealand.

The data illustrates there is a clear nationwide trend for young men in boys' single-sex schools to be:

• more engaged
• stay longer in school
• Achieve better academic results across all deciles and also significantly, across ethnicities including NZ European, Asian, Maori and Pasifika.

Both studies were completed for the Association of Boys' Schools of New Zealand.

Click here to see key findings of VUW study.

Source

• theaustralian.com.au
• educationcentral.co.nz
• archive.educationreview.co.nz
• Image: pnbhs.school.nz

Pat is going to the Solomon Islands to put into place the John McEvoy Scholarship for Girls with money she and her daughters have raised in England. It is hoped that the scholarships will allow seven or eight girls to go to secondary school.

This will be the first time Pat has visited the Solomons, a country where her husband lived and worked as a teacher and missionary for 18 years.

John McEvoy was an Irish priest and missionary with the Society of Mary. In 1952 he went to the Solomon Islands. He ran a school of 400 children at Buma, on the island of Malaita, where he remained for almost 18 years. John was a dedicated teacher who was particularly keen to promote girls' education. As the saying goes: "Educate a girl and you educate a nation".

In 1969, because of ill health exacerbated by the tropical climate, he returned to Europe, taking up a parish in Devon. In 1972 he married and had a family of four daughters. He continued teaching in England all his life.

John died in Sept 2009. In his memory, his family and friends have established the John McEvoy Scholarship for Girls to fund and support education for girls from Buma and the surrounding area.

Source

• The Dorset Echo
• JohnMcEvoy Scholarships
• Image Dorset Echo