Anyone with experience of Henrietta Barnett after an underwhelming open day?

I agree that the selection process is the main reason these schools get such great results. But I would not go that far as saying HBS's reputation is just a 'myth'.
Yes, it’s not necessarily that the teachers in grammar schools are 'better' on paper; they’ve often got the same degrees and training as anyone in a local comprehensive. The difference is how they actually spend their day.
In a grammar school, the teachers are experts at handling a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. They know exactly how to handle kids aiming for Grade 9s or looking at Oxbridge. On the flip side, in a typical state school, teachers are often just trying to keep the classroom from descending into chaos or spending half their time helping kids catch up. It’s a different skillset. That systemic difference is precisely why the school has its reputation.

But the reputation is based on the perpetual myth: best best. And the best kida get in. Ans the kids do the work. The teachers are just as in any state school. Nothing speci

Your main concern should be whether your daughter can get in. It’s a massively high-level entrance and high-achieving school. It’s not for dullards.

But the sport’s shit and the music’s rubbish. So if you want a doctor or a lawyer with no sports skills and just grade 3 on the clarinet, go for it.

whether its hard joining in y7 or do lots of girls join at that time.

What do you even mean by that? 🤔

That’s genuinely not been my experience of the school. They actively aim to reduce pressure and competition - e.g. not giving grades in reports, but focusing on areas to work on - and they ask parents not to focus on test results. The tutors have small groups of girls so they really are ‘known’ as people.

Of course the girls are clever and many of them may be perfectionists (after all they worked hard enough to get a place!) but there is an abundance of pastoral support in place.

When the deputy head of my daughter’s primary school found out we were applying to Hbs she sucked her teeth and said “oh noooo, I wouldn’t! The girls there are just so… sad!” which worried me a lot, but I’m glad I ignored her as my daughter could not be happier - and she isn’t one that would be happy anywhere as some of the girls seem to be. They work hard in lessons, but play harder and the lessons are paced to motivate them.

As they get older I’m sure exam pressure of GCSEs etc does kick in more, but in a way isn’t it better if there are more girls of the same ‘type’ together so the school can better support them? I went to a large bog standard comprehensive and it didn’t make me less of a perfectionist, it just meant I didn’t have much of a cohort.

HBS has a relatively small cohort (PAN 120) and it is a truly super-selective school. Even with a 3-mile radius priority, only about 30 girls in the second stage actually live within that area. If you look at the top 150 girls in stage two (who are almost guaranteed a spot sooner or later), about half live 10 miles away or more when they submit their CAF, and a third are traveling from as far as 15 miles out. (You can find all the above info from WhatDoTheyKnow website.) They are coming from all over Greater London and beyond. It is super-super selective! It makes me wonder how many of these families actually end up moving closer to the school after they get in. You could argue that this extreme selectivity, rather than the teaching quality or pastoral care, is the real reason their academic results are so good in the first place.

It’s a highly pressured environment. Having known lots of girls who go, I personally wouldn’t consider it for my own child because of the levels of anxiety amongst these high performing groups and the pressure. But teen mental health is a work area for me so I am particularly cautious about these types of schools.

The school starts in y7, so it’s a totally new cohort. If girls come from the same school then they are put in different forms, so they have a fresh start. They are taught within their forms for everything in y7, so they really bond, although they’re obv free to mix in breaks/lunch/clubs.

This year the girls have two full sessions of sport - lots of running along with football/netball etc. My dd feels her fitness has improved through it and she’s found she’s good at some athletic skills she hasn’t tried before. There are sports clubs at different levels at lunchtime - some you do a trial for and some anyone can attend.

I know that some girls are taken to compete in matches/races etc, but that hasn’t involved my dd so I can’t comment.

Homework - there was one week early on where my dd had let it stack up and panicked, but overall it’s very manageable (less than in primary!) and almost everything is due for the same day the following week, so if you have evening activities it makes it easy to work around. The girls are expected to manage homework themselves and I believe my dd has risen to the challenge of that. I know recently lots hadn’t done a Latin homework, my dd had so she and the ones who had did extension work, while the rest did the homework in class. I love that it’s more ‘natural consequences’ and ‘you’ve let yourself down a little’ rather than punishments.

Instruments - again there’s a huge range and at all levels. From grade 8/diploma to fun ensembles for beginners. There are lots of choirs etc too.

Bullying - I haven’t heard of any, but again the girls are spoken to respectfully and asked to discuss what’s happening and why. Counselling is freely available in school and there is a wellness hub that lots of the girls go to in their free time or if they need support.

I think that’s all your questions and I hope it helps.

When we looked round this time last year there weren’t teachers available to talk to tbh. This is very different from Latymer - but they close the school for a few days per year so all the focus is on the open day visitors. HBS stays open and it’s just the y7s and 8s who are guides, so classes are going on and teachers are working. The head is very protective of the teachers’ time, which is a good thing really, but it means that they aren’t available for chatting to really as there are just so many applicants for so few places that the reality is most people they talk to won’t get in.

Once your dd has a place though it’s a very different story and teachers respond really quickly (often within minutes) to any concerns.

Oh gosh, I didn’t realise parents weren’t allowed to ask questions, my y7 dd was one of the tour guides yesterday and said the families were quite quiet, so maybe that’s why!

She is really happy at the school. Today they spent the day rehearsing with their forms and then performing music and dance pieces they’ve been working on during the year for a year group competition. Last week they were in Normandy for a week. The school is non pressured and happy and this year the homework has been minimal. The school
reports system is well thought out to minimise them being overly competitive and there are no detentions - though conversely no house points etc either.

I hope that helps, but any questions then do ask.

It's really normal to ask questions of the kids during open day. But I had a similar experience visiting another grammar, which felt deeply underwhelming and like they were trying to discourage applications, compared with various comps that were trying desperately to woo.

i don’t think it’s that strange that random people weren’t allowed to quiz school girls about their school experience. Surely questions should be addressed to the teachers.

They really don’t need to make an effort to wow you. Think what the competition is for places. They have their reputation. I remember other parents telling me they didn’t like the building and I replied that the school was the staff not the bricks. Either you want a highly academic girls grammar school or you don’t.