Aylesbury High School vs Sir Henry Floyd

80 replies

SchoolLemon · 14/10/2023 10:59

We are in the happy position of being able to choose between AHS and SHF for DD. We live more or less equidistant. I was hoping to get some input from current parents on either school.

My observations are: on paper, AHS seems the better school - slightly higher results and a wider range of GCSEs offered. Trips seem better too.

But wandering around the school, children seemed a little more socially adept at SHF and the atmosphere seemed a bit less hot-housed. It also seemed more ethnically diverse, whereas AHS seemed predominately Asian (no problem with this - other than it means it could lack diversity. For reference, approximately 15% of our local population is Asian, whereas the school appeared 60%+ Asian)

AHS seemed to go BIG on trans visibility, which is a concern from a social contagion point of view, and I could see several individuals presenting as non-binary. Again, no huge problem with this, but wonder if it's more prevalent at girls' schools. And as far as I know, SHF may be the same and I just missed it.

DD's strengths are English, Art, History, Music. She enjoys sport but has limited aptitude (takes after me!). She likes performing arts but is probably a behind-the-scenes person rather than a star performer.

I would be keen to hear from any parents with any views on either school.

OP posts:

monpetitlapin · 15/10/2023 19:55

The Floyd every time.
It's high achieving but not up itself.

Original poster

SchoolLemon · 15/10/2023 19:52

Interesting. I was wondering with the imbalance of South Asian pupils if it was academic rigour that attracted ambitious parents, or cultural aversion to their daughters mixing with boys (less keen on this as a reason - the idea that girls must be kept modest).

Either way, the ethnic mix is of minor significance. Totally aware AHS is more academically rigorous based on results. I wondered if it might be a pressure cooker.

OP posts:

Pythag · 15/10/2023 17:25

There has been an interesting trend - which the OP observed - of single sex education being preferred by ethnic minorities (particularly South Asians) as it is perceived to be more traditional/academic - and coed being preferred by white people (particularly middle classes) as it is perceived to be more progressive. This is why in places with real choices like Aylesbury - where the grammar schools are all close to each other and in the town centre - the single sex grammars do now feel less white than the coed Grammar, by quite a margin.

I personally prefer AHS over SHF, I don’t think that there is more transgenderism at either (though there is in my view too much at both). I think AHS has significantly higher academic expectations (shown in results).

Original poster

SchoolLemon · 14/10/2023 12:39

Thank you, that's helpful.

OP posts:

MillicentMargaretAmanda · 14/10/2023 11:49

Second hand, but via my volunteering I've probably known about 15 girls who've been through the two schools over the past 10 years. In general the HF girls seemed happier, wound less tightly, more confident in their abilities (In the days of old grades I had one AHS girl tell me 'I got a B in a test and the teacher said I'd failed'. Of course, kids have their own interpretations but she was 16 at the time, not 11...)

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