Female Supremacy Articles - Page 24 "Women's town" to put men in their place

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At such schools, you're doing well if you manage to drum in a few basic literary terms, such as simile. Not only do girls know exactly what similes and metaphors are, but they understand alliteration, assonance and sibilance as well. And no time is wasted in class. Even a 10-minute slot at the end of a form period, when you've finished discussing the day's business, can turn into a debate on topical or moral issues, with all the class keen to contribute.

Girls as young as 12 and 13 regularly speak at school debating societies, growing in intellectual confidence. I was amazed at the levels of interest at North London Collegiate's literary and dramatic society, where around 20 girls meet each week after school to discuss writers such as Sylvia Plath, TS Eliot and Thomas Hardy over tea and biscuits. It's civilised, and the standard of debate is very high.

Girls seem so much more creative. Every teacher at a co-ed school will know the sense of tedium when school shows or satirical sketches are staged for charity. The material is tired and weak, and the same jokes about the same pupils and teachers crop up each year. At North London Collegiate, not only do girls regularly take assemblies themselves, they even manage to turn them into amusing events, full of wit and originality. And the highlight at the end of the autumn term is a special version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", wittily rewritten, with the whole school singing along.