Claires Court or Pipers Corner over GS??

Wycombe Abbey has Saturday morning school and whilst large numbers go home for 24 hours at the weekend, it is still very much full boarding. Being a day girl there would be kind of pointless as days are long and it is for that exact reason as to why we discounted it too. We did really like it though, didn’t feel at all hot-housey and their pastoral care was great. It is full of very bright, driven and motivated ladies though. Not sure I’d want to be bottom of the class there though.

It all goes back to the question, does a very bright child need to be taught with other very bright children in order to get the best out of them? I strongly believe not (well for my daughter anyway) as for her it’s the huge range of other stuff on offer that will give her balance to her life and give her skills that reach beyond the classroom.

Ultimately you know what makes your daughter tick. I believe choosing next schools is a bit like buying a house - your gut tells you what the right decision is.

The current year 10 is the last year at Borlase which offered all of catchment. Current years 7, 8 & 9 offered to just over 3 miles but the offers for the cohort starting in September 2019 are only to 1.79 miles - by my reckoning Marlow & Marlow Bottom only. They are moving to 5 classes in year 7 (as opposed to taking the 5th class in year 9) which will undoubtedly ease the pressure.

OP it’s quite a distance between Queen Anne’s and Pipers! If money is no object and you want single sex then WA is the obvious first choice.

John Hamden Grammar is for boys.

The problem with Borlases is that you have to live close to get in. It doesn’t take all who qualify from catchment. It’s very small. That of course is great for those who do get in, but for others the alternative schools will be bigger. I would prefer BH and SWB over WH but you need to be careful about where you live.

We wanted boarding so Queen Anne’s wasn’t for us. However we really liked it. Again it’s not top drawer academically for that area in terms of results. WA does take day girls. Lots went as day girls from Godstowe. If your DD is WA material, why look at Pipers and St Anne’s? Very different.

With one child in Borlase and another in WH - I definitely don't see Borlase as an exam factory - far from it. In my opinion Borlase has the transition from primary to high schools spot on. Although unfortunately with another child in Wycombe High I do see this school as a factory. While Borlase has 121 children in year 7 with classes of 30/31 - Wycombe High has 195 girls in year 7 with classes of 32/33. Wycombe High is known for an almost university style approach - teachers at the front of the class speaking and girls taking photos of the notes on the board as directed by the teacher so they can study things any home. There is a huge sense of urgency around learning - I am not sure if this is because it is physically a bigger school so class times end up shorter or something. Lots of supply teachers for some reason who don't teach and put videos on for girls.
Borlase with its co-ed classes do a lot more hands on learning. I don't have any experience of Beaconsfield but I know they don't have Ipads for children in each class so I am assuming the girls don't take photos of slides like their do at Wycombe High. Beaconsfield also teach girls computing which is not on offer at Wycombe High - they do Latin instead.
To be fair - I can visually see how Wycombe High is teaching their children - their are copious amounts of notes and testing and lots of guidance on how to improve grades. But there is less joy there. I think because they are girls they are greater expectations on them as girls tend to be more organised - plus also the girls themselves put greater expectations on themselves and things get competitive. I don't have a child at John Hampden but I have heard they are less of a factory than Wycombe High.

I agree that the other Grammars are not different. They are a good influence on DCs.

Nearly all my DDs friends have gone to Co Ed Grammars or single sex Grammars which can be accessed from our area. All have liked their school except, notably, the ones who joined at 13 who had failed at 11, 12 and then were forced, via prep school, to have another go at 13. I’m not sure if the Grammars will entertain that any more but it’s a recipe for disaster. Others were pushed beyond endurance with relentless tutoring and several of them really disliked school because they simply couldn’t keep up. All were from my very competitive village!

The children my DDs actually went to primary school with, and parents had a more balanced approach with largely no tutoring, were all happy and did well. Patents who force their children often find it was a mistake and blame the school instead of themselves. The Grammars can always spot the over tutored ones and, frankly, they don’t want them.

LAlady that’s really interesting I thought, from what I’d seen on their website/ in the press that it was all a done deal.

Part of me also felt relieved that our eldest narrowly missed out years ago, and she went on to do very well, free from the pressure of a grade factory

I think it’s wrong to describe the Bucks Grammars as Grade Factories. They pre select students and so not unsurprisingly they get good results- it would be a worry if they didn’t. I can only speak for Borlase and don’t want to disclose personal information but both my children- one in particular- have accessed pastoral care (on a regular basis) which has gone over and above anything I would expect from any school (state or private). The daily support they are given and the secure, positive environment the school has created for them has been amazing. My child is certainly not unique in these experiences.

In addition the enrichment provided by the school in music, drama, sport and many more areas is superb. The culture of the school is so inclusive and encouraging and students genuinely believe they can achieve anything.

It is very disengenuous to describe it as an exam factory unless you would also describe Pipers in the same way (they, after all preselect their students too!).

I can of course only speak for one grammar but I don’t think the others can be that different.

Just a note about Claire's Court - although planning permission has been sought with the council, there is a very large amount of opposition to the location of the redevelopment of the school. No decision from the council yet and this has been ongoing for sometime.

sorry can I just add - if your daughter has a long term health condition - Claire's Court would be much closer to you plus they are known for being fantastic with children with issues.

My daughter is now in year 7 and was offered a place a Pipers but we turned it down when she passed her grammar school exam. We sit in the middle of Borlase, Beaconsfield High and Wycombe High and she would have gotten into any of those but we choose Wycombe High due to transport options and she wanted to go to an all girls school. There are times I wished she had failed the 11 plus and she had gone to Pipers. There is much more pressure at Wycombe High - my son goes to Borlase and I think that's a fantastic school but in maidenhead you daughter would not get in.
I have heard mixed reports about Claire's court in terms of its academics but yet I am still thinking of moving my daughter there for year 9. To me a child's mental health is the most important part of their education.

As others have said Pipers is the back up school for those who don’t qualify- it was / is for all the girls who go there

Typing and cooking don’t mix - should read it was / is the back up school for all the girls I know who go there.

If I was choosing between Pipers and Claire’s Court Pipers would win hands down - tge enrichment / is extra curricular stuff is far superior (as are the academics from what I know). Claire’s Court is building the brand new sparkly school though so will be interesting to see how that changes things.

As others have said Pipers is the back up school for those who don’t qualify- it was / is for all the girls who go there. That said the 11+ is flawed in many ways and the girls I know there are bright and capable and those that have left have excellent results. It is, however viewed as considerably less academic then The Abbey or Queen Anne’s. That said we did consider it as a back up if dd hadn’t qualified but decided on balance that we would have chosen GMS. My children are at Borlase and they get a number of Pipers Girls who join for 6th form.

I know nothing about Becky High other then dance is strong as is their netball team. Do DCHS not offer GCSE / A level dance anymore? Does that only leave BHS and SWBGS that do?

Re earlier comment about The Beaconsfield School- it’s had a chequered past (as has Highcrest) and is only just out of Requires Improvement after some time.

Quite a few Grammars are a bit shabby round the edges in Bucks! However they are all extremely popular due to results and excellent teaching and the fact they are free!
Beac High fits this pattern and is certainly well supported by parents who definitely could pay but prefer not to.

As for Pipers, it has changed. I have lived in the area for 45 years and I do know it quite well and I know quite a few girls who have been there. It definitely was exclusively populated by the non grammar girls but a few people now actively choose it for their grammar girls. They see Wycombe High as too ethnically mixed (I completely dislike this attitude but it’s true) and Aylesbury High as too big. Some parents don’t want boarding so a decent girls’ day school fits the bill. My neighbour’s DDs went there and one went to Oxford to do Medicine and the other to UCL to do Medicine. Father is a Professor and is a Geriatric Specialist. You get the picture. These girls wouldn’t have coped in a Grammar apparently. Therefore they do have bright children but not in large numbers. Personally I do not think that matters but I would also suggest strong parental nurturing and opportunities which others don’t get can play a big part in success. I would also look at extra curricular and where DD would fit in.

I would not choose Pipers over a grammar but I did choose another independent boarding school over a grammar. They also now have their own prep which means they can be a lot more choosy over intake at 11 than they used to be. They screen out SEN and can ask prep girls to leave if they are not up to standard for the senior school. I think their destinations list gives you the best indication of ambition and achievement but you cannot assume all their girls did not get 121. Some certainly will have done. Also Bucks Grammars do have some excellent value added scores considering the intake. They are certainly not full of the brightest!

Yes a cut price private school ....

My personal opinion of Beaconsfield High is that it is a state school that offers a really decent and well supported programme of extra-curricular activities. I don’t agree with it, but with parental contributions to the school being, on average, £1,000 per year, the school is much better funded than most others. They continue to offer GCSEs in dance where other schools are cutting it (like Challoners), and they seem to not just concentrate entirely on the EBAC. I am only looking at girls schools though so not sure how co-Eds in the area compare.

It is still a state school though. Buildings are shabby and class sizes are large. It suffers from funding issues like all schools. It’s just when you compare everything it offers versus other schools, is a private school offering £20k a year of extra stuff above and beyond it? If money is tight then the honest answer is no. If money isn’t a problem then of course having small class sizes, nice buildings, a pool and endless extracurricular activities is probably where you’ll end up.

Ultimately though, only you and your daughter can work out where she will be most happy. It’s easy to get caught up in league tables, results, local reputation. We chose a local prep for our daughters which is non- selective and raised a few eyebrows amongst my friends as to why on earth we would choose it over the top rated prep on our doorstep. We made 100% the right choice. Our eldest is on track for GS and scholarships at independent schools but she is also deliriously happy and usually covered from head to toe in mud. I know what makes her tick and sending her somewhere like Habs Girls, Challoners or St Albans would really crush her confidence.

Pipers is actually our second choice school as we live more east than you, but don’t be put off by the “not academic” thing. 55% A/A and 99% A-C at a school which is only supposed to take girls who fail the 11+? Girls are certainly doing exceptionally well there.

In terms of the positive comments about Beaconsfield High, I am really intrigued as to why this school has such a great reputation?

Probably because Beaconsfield High has a FSM of 0.7% and no major social problems to deal with that evolve due to social exclusion or poverty.

I have two DDs there in year 10 and year 8 and it is a great school but the reality is when the cohort is respectively so middle class what do
you expect.

A borderline grammar school girl needs can easily be met by either the Beaconsfield School or The Highcrest Academy . The OP obviously views either of those schools as desperate .

Interesting. I think my GS capable daughter would thrive there. She’s very bright but motivated heavily by sport and the arts. I can’t imagine she would do as well in a grammar to be honest - the focus on academia and results would not be right for her.

I don’t expect her to be surrounded by girls who chat about molecular biology and particle physics for fun there, don’t get me wrong, but I think they can 100% meet her needs.

Zodlebud - I think the problem for very bright girls is that I don't know anyone who would send a very bright girl to Piper's if she could pass the 11 plus, so there is presumably a lack of a peer group of very able girls. I can recall one girl years ago who did go to a private such as Piper''s (it was St Mary's in GX I think) who did go on to read physics at a top uni and I remember being so surprised as she didn't fit the usual girl who went to a school like that, i.e. 11 plus "failures", it's a rotten system. I am sure if the teaching is good they should be able to help all girls reach their potential but please don't kid yourself that may very bright girls would go their over a grammar.

Underneath - this is rather interesting as it’s a very different message to the one I have been getting from the admissions department.

I acknowledge it’s not like St Paul’s in London, but even if I ignore the sales pitch, I struggle to see how a bright girl would not be catered for there. I don’t expect my children to be taking A-levels at age 14, but through setting and the gifted and talented programme I think my girls would get exactly what they need. I would be interested in hearing why you think otherwise.

I love the fact that sport is inclusive - shouldn’t every teenage girl have a positive experience of fitness? So many girls don’t do any exercise at all these days.

They consistently have girls getting a full set of A* and A at GCSE. I would agree that perhaps the sixth form is weaker for the non-arty subjects but many girls go elsewhere for sixth form.

It’s a refreshing breath of fresh air in a highly competitive grammar area. With possibly the exception of Beaconsfield High I would chose it over any other girls school in the area.

I don't know OP - my daughter is at Pipers and they (by their own admission) do not cater for super bright children. Does your daughter have any physical issues? It's also very sporty (inclusively so - which again I love, but the girls are expected to join in).

I love the school, but if my other two children were girls, I wouldn't have considered Pipers for them as they are very academically able.