Altrincham girls?

Preps prep them. That’s what people are paying for.. the rest tutor heavily for at least a year. It’s a huge industry in Trafford

I lived in altrincham for 20 years. I hated it with a passion and never want to see it again in my life. It’s smug and superficial and has a lot of over entitled idiots in range rovers. It does have a good cinema though!

My daughter went there, the girls, sorry, ”students”, are indoctrinated with lgbtq++++++ and feminism trends at a very extent level. All the other subjects are done at a mediocre level.

Our primary offered nothing in terms of 11plus prep. In particular the non verbal reasoning papers would be almost impossible if you had barely worked on these types of questions before getting them in an exam paper. Non verbal reasoning is about a third of the mark I think

That was in the good old days! These days most families get a private tutor or send their kids to prep school...or both. My daughters went to AGGS from a local state primary which did some preparation in the form of an after-school club.

What is this about preparing for the exams??
The whole point is that you take the grammar school entrance exams with NO preparation and that is exactly why the state schools provide none.

I would NOT recommend AGGS as the pupils make it, not the school. They actually teach themselves!!
The standard of teaching when I was was there was horrible.
If your child has half a brain they would be as much good at a secondary modern in Trafford.

I would say if your daughter is in the top few kids in her class at primary when they do tests etc then she would fit right in at AGGS. At Key Stage tests the score would usually be 115 to 120 to be expected to get into grammar school. If not the above then it could be a struggle.

Primary schools can be quite evasive when asked directly about 11 plus, ours never mentioned it unless asked, had no 11 plus clubs etc and to be honest even the brightest kid in that situation would need a tutor for a few months just to get exposure to the tests/questions. It may be different at other Primaries. I hear Park Road Primary in Timperley is a bit more 11plus focused but tiny catchment. Of course prep schools have 11 plus club every day.

I live locally and have heard the same from local health workers. It’s a great school but not for everyone. TBH there aren’t really any bad schools in Sale or Altrincham, the bar is set very high by the grammars but the comps are really decent I believe.

My dd went to Alty girls along with a large cohort from her local state primary school. She and her peers all did well academically and she has definitely made friends for life there. (She’s now in her 20’s)

As for Altrincham being an affluent area, we lived in a terrace house on one of the “tree roads”, paid £82k 27 years ago and those houses now go for between £600-800k. That’s the Grammar school effect. We were comfortable but definitely not wealthy.

@WahWahWahs Altrincham is an affluent area and a nice place to live. It often appears in 'nicest places to live' lists. There are some multi million pound houses but also much cheaper ones. There are plenty of 'normal' people.

@WahWahWahs please dont be discouraged by this - yes there are some affluent people living locally, but equally quite alot of nornal people. Yes to over-invested / competitive / helicopter parenting in lots of cases, but you're going to get that in alot of other places. The area has masses going on, Altrincham Market has rejuvinated it and it really is a thriving place to live. The vast majority of girls do exceptionally well, there is perhaps a "type" and a particular culture, but if that fits for your daughter, then its a great school. The pastoral care is much better, you just have to go and see for yourself and more importantly, try to get to know the area and speak to parents. Good luck.

Hi I have a fair bit of experience of the grammars especially the girls

Ranked in order of difficulty to get into

Aggs
Sale grammar
Loreto
Also Stretford and urmston but I don't know anything about them

None of them are easy.

First dd sat for all of them and passed for all of them. She went to loreto and I can't sing its praises enough. It is religious though and I wouldn't recommend it if you're not on board with that. The girls spend a fair bit of time in chapel and do regular retreats.

Second dd was able but not as much as dd1 she sat for loreto and passed. Didn't bother with the consortium as I wouldn't have sent her to any of them even if by some miracle she passed. She in Y8 and absolutely loving it.

Obviously everyone looks for different things in a school but my own personal view on the school is I would never send my daughters there,
I have around 10 friends with daughters there and none of them have had a positive experience. One left as her mental health was in tatters a lot of girls do have eating disorders and there are quite a few cases of self harm.
Unfortunately you could argue that this could just be the case for teenagers at any school but the academic pressure definitely doesn't help.

I went to the open day for dd1 (granted was a few years ago) the girls were lovely and obviously very able but the head teacher put me off the school as soon as she started to speak.
I found her incredibly arrogant. She basically said our school is the best if your daughter likes homework and is clever enough great, if not there are plenty of other good schools.

I see her a lot now through something outside of schools and my opinion hasn't changed.

If you are determined for your daughter to go there I would suggest trying to get her into either Bowdon or Hale Prep as they seem to prepare them best for the exams. State primaries do nothing (or at least ours didn't).

While I really like living in Altrincham another thing to think about is so do a lot other people with kids. Trying to get them into any extra curriculum things can be a nightmare as everyone has massive waiting lists. This is also the case with tutors so book early if you are thinking of going down this route.

@AndThatWasNY that is true. It made headlines in the Daily Mail.

One of the art teachers was trans from what I remember. It was at a time when being trans seemed to be fashionable. I think there was a girl named Dave in the year below DD and a couple of others. They were very nicey-nicey about it.

I think they switched 'good morning girls' to 'good morning everyone' in morning assembly and that was all.

DS and DD are at University now and apparently it's a bloody minefield there.

@WahWahWahs as an aside, I've lived in the area all my life so if you have any questions I might be able to help. It's a great place to be.

I know a couple of years ago the teachers were told not to use the word "girl" anymore but pupil as so many trans boys there. If that is something that would bother you.
I know 2 kids there it is highly academic and high pressured to achieve. Not great if they have any mental health issues.
Lots of well off kids which can be difficult if not well off (but sounds like you are given where you are looking to move to!).

Are you Catholic by any chance. There is Loreto all girls grammar as well. Good school. Plus BTH is the Catholic comp which personally I'm not keen and will be looking at private first if ds2 doesn't get into grammar. The all boys Catholic grammar is my first choice.

@whiteroseredrose my DH has direct contact with healthcare professionals who says the worst presentation of self harming comes from Alti Girls students so there is some truth in it.

The OP needs to visit the school along with alternatives to see if it’s a fit for her daughter. Both Alti Girls and Boys are so high achieving now, but that also comes with some negatives. It’s not a school that would appeal to us and we’re looking at the alternative grammar schools in the area.

@whiteroseredrose my DC aren't in Trafford but tbh there's zero stigma re stem and girls at their large comp. I think that's over played. The more obvious one is boys not doing 'girls' extra curricular like choirs

@yoshiblue I don't recognise your description of lots of girls self harming at all. That seems to be a popular myth.

My daughter went to Alti Girls and had a great experience. I would definitely recommend it. She is currently a 3rd Year at University so left a few years ago, but the culture had improved massively under the new head.

She made a great group of friends, all successful academically. They are still close. The pupils are from a diverse range of backgrounds, more so than the local area. DD's friends liken themselves to United Nations. They are lovely girls.

The plus of the Grammar is that there is no disruption. The plus of all girls, for my DD, was that there are a lot more girls to be friends with.

All of my DD's friends are studying STEM subjects. The support is excellent. With no boys around there is no stigma about being a girl in science.

Both of my DC sat the Sale exams and went to the Open Days but preferred Altrincham. They just preferred the feel of the Altrincham schools.

@deeprealisation in all honesty we were disappointed too. Every other child on our road every other year got Wellington so we just presumed. My DD is year 8 and last year it was the same....our road was allocated AC so the catchment for Wellington has just got so small.
Although a bit disappointed I was relieved she had got a decent school as there was the usual horror stories about allocations that year.

It's been a good school for us and I expect my second daughter will attend there too. In fact I'll be disappointed if the catchment changes and she doesn't get in!

@hby9628 I have friends who were initially very disappointed to get AC 4 years ago but are massive fans now. They'd say the same as you. Both their DC thriving there

Some great advice on this thread. I'm an ex AGGS girl and I personally wouldn't send my daughter there but I would more towards Sale Grammar as it feels a bit more well rounded.
My DD attends Altrincham College which is 2 miles from our house. We presumed we would get in to Wellington as it is 0.8 miles from our house so that just shows the competition to get in to Wellington! AC is seen as a bit of a poor relation to Wellington and to be fair, it does need a cash injection which Wellington seems to have got but AC is being expanded from Sept so hopefully that will help with the facilities. In terms of our experience at the school, I couldn't fault it. They've been great and the pastoral care has been second to none. Good luck with whatever you choose.