Independent secondaries In Herts.

@Milly717 Just wondering what your experience of Queenswood has been like over the past year? Currently have an offer for 2024 entry and cannot decide.

Congratulations @Milly717 . It's a cracking school. Unfortunately the last people I know who went there all left just this yr but they all did really well.

Did you finally go to haileybury? Will like to hear your opinions thus far if you did

I’m delighted their art has improved. The whole time my DDs were there the art displays were never changed. It was demoralizing. Teaching was abysmal. Thank God the current head has changed it. They really needed to hang on to the arty girls. They tended to be the ones who left.

It’s difficult to assert it’s the dream school for North London girls when parents don’t choose if for all their girls. Obviously London day schools will appeal after 16 on cost but my DD1 especially would never have gone elsewhere. She was totally invested in the school and her friends. I obviously spent vast amounts of money with them and don’t regret it but they do somehow need to aim higher.

I know for a fact, Queenswood does offer Art scholarships If that's of any help.

"Not sure if offers art scholarships either."
It does "Art [...] Scholarships are available at all entry points." www.queenswood.org/admissions/scholarships-and-bursaries/

"No art shows I believe."
There are - www.queenswood.org/subjects/arts/art/

a bit hit and miss*

Queenswood has an art scholarship and has (to my knowledge) hugely invested in their art offering in recent years. My daughter applied but didn't get an art scholarship there.

I don't know about smart girls leaving Queenswood. What I do know is that it has become increasingly more popular in North London and is many girls'/parents' dream school rather than just a backup. I suspect people leave for 6th form partly because of the extortionate fees 😂 I must say it's one of the few schools in North London/Herts that I never hear anything bad about. Some of those famous academic schools are a but of hit and miss depending on the type of child you have.

Queenswood has never been known for it’s art. It’s known for sport and drama. Not sure if offers art scholarships either. It just doesn’t have an arty vibe. No art shows I believe.

If you look at destinations from 6th form, they are not RG heavy either. They used to be. This all depends if you have a B grade child who would have got a C elsewhere so a B is a triumph. For A grade students it’s a bit underwhelming. It was the same as our local
girls grammar in terms of results snd now it’s way off their results. If you look at the results overall, Q has plummeted down the league tables. There’s no escaping that and it depends if DDs are better off at a school with more high achieving Dc. Some parents clearly think so and parents, even with girls at Q, send their bright DDs elsewhere. They need to try and get the bright siblings into the school.

Also when DD1 was there very few left for 6th form. Around 6 each year. The bond was strong and, although Q was seen as a purple bubble, girls stayed with their friends. So although I think it’s a great school, it has changed but remains ultra sporty snd very good at drama.

I also dislike posters who cheer lead without understanding history and context.

"One word of warning about Queenswood though, they apparently send A LOT of emails to parents about absolutely countless events/activities/anything on a daily basis. 😂"

LOL - can confirm, as a parent you will have already received ~30+ separate emails since September

I do hate it when users comment on a school with out of date knowledge. It brings nothing to the thread and actually makes users question things where there isn’t actually a problem. Art, for example, saw just shy of 70% of the girls getting grades 9-7 at GCSE this year. I’m not sure how that equates to “poor” art? It may well have been in the past but things change.

The numbers in the sixth form do, admittedly, shrink. This is for a whole raft of reasons but mainly the girls extending a preference for coed or the London day schools and sixth form colleges closer to home. This trend can be seen across all girls schools including Wycombe Abbey where nobody is going to ever suggest there is a problem.

In my personal opinion if a school can take a grade C student and get them a B or even low A at GCSE then that school is far more effective than a school that takes only the very brightest children to start with. The support for those children with issues like dyslexia is also top notch and they will take girls who are bright but have barriers to accessing education and wouldn’t ever get a place at the competitive north London schools. That doesn’t mean they are not high achieving.

The new head at STAHS is very up front about this sort of thing and states that parents shouldn’t choose them simply BECAUSE of their results because they are a given based on their intake. She encourages parents to look at everything else they offer.

However, until parents stop their obsession with league tables and look beyond pure results, schools like Aldenham and Queenswood will continue to be subjected to comments that they are somehow second rate. Our current experience couldn’t be further from the truth.

There is good progress but not great results. So the brightest are no longer going to Queenswood. It’s attracting DDs who are not high achievers. Very much lower results than they used to get.

Also they didn’t have flexible boarding 10 years ago. Weekly yes. Flexible no. So it’s relatively new. One DD liked it there. Other not so keen as art was poor so changed schools for 6th form. As did 30 others that year. Latest Principal has steadied the ship but my DD1 got 140 in the Bucks 11 plus. Yes, she walked into Q but she also had an offer from a more academic school. But only slightly. Now there is a gulf between the schools with Q 100 places lower in the tables than when DDs went. Q have not maintained their academic position. Which is a great shame. However it’s still great for many but academic girls are avoiding it in greater numbers.

Ohhh yes! She's there the whole weekend and every day after school at the complete detriment of her academics 😬🤦‍♀️

I know some Queenswood girls have ponies at Trent Park and they (at least used to last year) ride there once or twice a week. I know they are into polo at Queenswood.

My daughter had her heart absolutely set on Mount House from day 1 🤷‍♀️ She already had friends there from her primary and from her livery yard and she didn't really want to go anywhere else. I convinced her that MHS wasn't anything special and that it was much more convenient travel-wise if she went elsewhere. So she started Year 7 at a different independent school (not the ones mentioned here) but by the end of Year 7 she had drilled a hole in my head that she wanted to change to Mount House, so that's where she is now and is super happy there as it's a very friendly school. She didn't really care about having beautiful grounds because her main hobby/obsession is show jumping and no (London) school offers that at the level she wants anyway, so she's not interested in how great the schools are for other sports because she does hers outside of school. Queenswood girls ride at Trent Park and her previous school also fid riding at Trent Park, but at very much beginner level.

We didn't choose Queenswood because we preferred co-ed, but as I say, my daughter's best friend from primary is there and loves it. It's absolutely ace for some sports (especially tennis I believe) and has elite athletes. Also, drama, art and all kinds of extra-curricular activities are at a super high level. I didn't want all-girls because I was worried about the atmosphere being quite intense and bitchy, but from what I hear Queenswood is very hot on pastoral care and I haven't heard anything bad about it at all.

I was very tempted by Aldenham, but since my daughter wasn't that bothered (about any school except MHS) and it was more expensive and further from us, we decided against it. She has three friends who go there though (two girls and one boy) and are super happy. It's also a fantastic school.

One word of warning about Queenswood though, they apparently send A LOT of emails to parents about absolutely countless events/activities/anything on a daily basis. 😂If you're like me and prefer minimal communication from school, be warned.

Queenswood's results are not as impressive as some of the more academic schools only because its entrance exam is easier to pass than some of the other schools. My daughter got into both Queenswood and Aldenham, but didn't get into some of the more academic schools. It's easy for Henrietta Barnett to have great results for example because it only accepts the most academic girls to begin with.

Don't look at just results. Look at value added. Q will be ton average a grade higher at GCSE for your daughter.

They've had Flexi boarding for years anything from 1-7 nights.

Regarding exam results. Check their value added for GCSE.