While young men and boys can and do excel in many types of educational institutions, schools for boys focus with intention on learning that addresses not only how to excel in academics, but also how to grow into a young man of integrity and empathy.

Blackfriars is a member of The International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC), a non-profit organisation of single-sex schools dedicated to the education of boys, to the professional development of their educators, and to the advancement of educational institutions that serve boys. The Coalition comprises more than 300 member schools across 20 countries and five continents worldwide.

In engaging and supportive single-sex environments, students explore their values and establish a foundation for making responsible decisions; they explore their own definitions of self, who they are and who they want to become; they learn to forge healthy relationships; they step out of their comfort zone to explore their full potential.

They are preparing for their roles in a globally connected world. Here’s how that happens…

Schools for boys understand and celebrate boys

Schools that make the intentional choice to focus on the intellectual, physical, social, and emotional lives of boys and young men share an appreciation for the intensity and complexity of boyhood. Educators at boys’ schools celebrate and value all that it means to be a boy.

Schools for boys seek first to build good men

In addition to pursuing high academic achievement, schools for boys share many broad goals: to promote wellbeing, to develop resilience and empathy, and to see that each student achieves his potential. But none is more important than the essential goal of building good character and, by extension, of helping each boy and young man make responsible choices and live an honourable life.

Schools for boys know that boys develop and learn in different ways

Boys and girls grow at a different pace. Boys’ strengths are often different from those of girls. While girls generally develop earlier physically and socially, refining their reading and writing skills sooner, boys are often more spatial and visual by nature, and they demonstrate a natural affinity for areas, such as abstract mathematics. They enjoy learning through action rather than words.

Schools for boys teach in ways that boys learn best

Each staff member in an all-boys school has made a conscious choice to work with boys. They enjoy boys’ irreverent humour and draw energy from their exuberance. Their passion to teach boys requires a commitment to build relationships, craft a curriculum and lead a classroom that engages each student in the way he learns best.

Schools for boys help students discover and explore their full potential

Without the social pressures of a co-ed environment, students in an all-boys school can explore the full range of their personalities and potential. Eschewing stereotypes, they discover they have many roles to play, both within the school and in the community more generally.