Headington Girls School

Heathcliffswife - dd is in year 5 so we haven't made a final decision yet - but I'm tending towards trying for OHS. Both schools have new heads so it'll be worth watching to see how they develop in the next few months.

Where did you end up sending dd Alice and did you look at many others? Im hoping Headington suits both twins. They arent at the top of the class but neither are they at the bottom.They are both quite humanities led.What Im really looking for is somwhere that looks at the whole child if that makes sense. ie their sport, academia, dancing, drama, music, hobbies, personality etc etc. It will be interesting to see how the new Head pans out. i think perhaps if I had a really academic child I would be considering Oxford High :)

I was slightly put off Headington for my non-sporty, academic and bookish child by the emphasis on how good the school was at rowing and the wonderful theatre but when it came to maths they just waved vaguely at a set of temporary classrooms, and the library seemed much smaller than OHS and further down the priority list. There was also the insistence of the girl taking me round that it wasn?t a particularly academic school. Also the other prospective parents I met were more of the ?looking for a private school? variety than the ?looking for an academic school? variety and I didn?t feel as comfortable. However, I do know parents who are very happy with it, and children who are very happy there though, and there is nothing wrong with their results.

Headington is on the park and ride route from Thornhill, OHS on the park and ride route from Water Eaton.

YMMV - your mileage may vary.

Park and Ride - where's that from, Water Eaton?

Whats YMMV ?? (confused) !

Their reaction to "what happens if your students are under pressure" was "our students are not put under pressure."

Now maybe they really don't have a problem in general. Maybe their system just is that good and supportive and prevents all problems before they happen. I'd rather a school which acknowledged up front that sometimes things don't go as smoothly as you'd wish.

YMMV. I know people whose kids are very happy there.

Does Headington have a problem with being a 'Hothouse' I didnt think it did?

My daughter's at OHS. No regrets - she loves it.

My impression, which strongly influenced our choice, was that OHS's attitude was "we know we have a reputation as a hothouse and we consider this to be a problem, therefore we do this, and this, and this..."

Headington's attitude was "we do not have a problem."

Never felt mine was being hothoused at OHS. She seems to get less homework than her friends at the local comp, to be honest :) And they have been great about her having time off for sport and highly supportive (she is competitive in non-school sports).

What's wrong with using the park and ride? It goes right past the door!

I have twins and not convinced the local Grammar would suit twin 1. Ideally it would be great to choose a place that would 'fit' both of them. They are at a lovely Prep school at the moment but its tiny! So if they do get into H next year it will seem huge :)

She'll be catching the bus in whichever school she opts for. Everyone else in her class is going to the local comp.

Why Oxford Indies when you have Grammer schools in Bucks?

last open day I think we parked in a supermarket car park not far from Costa! Im anticipating mine will get school bus from nearby village, so wont have that problem too ofetn! Stanhouse, where are her friend going?? Again congrats!

Mum72: That's about the only downside I see to Headington: parking. However, they have made arrangements for a drop-off zone, where you are allowed to park for 5 minutes. Take a look here:

www.headington.org/travelling-by-car-and-carsharing/

HCW: We got the offer from OHS a week ago so she's thoguht about nothing else since then. The big difference in facilities doesn't seem to had had much effect.

Your understanding, matches ours, although in the league tables they're pretty close to each other, despite their differing reputations. It's a great choice to have, she's done us proud.

Had a card through for their open day recently!

I read as far as "there is no onsite parking" and ...... and..... so we recommed you use the park and ride .

The vision of horrendous school runs went through my head. How on earth do boarders get dropped off at the start of term with all their bags and duvets etc????

Live too far from Oxford now to seriously consider it now even as a boarding school but that really did put me off tbh.

Loved the junior school when we considerd that about 5 years ago.

Hmm thats a tricky one, but hey she's obviously abright girl so alls good. From what I understand OHS is very very academic, whereas headington is more about the all round person whilst also achieving good results. Out of interest did she have any preference?

She's delighted, but we now have a tough decision to make as she was also offered a place at OHS.

She thought she did well in the tests (less so science), working through past papers helped a great deal.

As far as I know, even with this economy, they still had many more applications than places available (I didn't go to the parents' talk at the taster day)

Stanhouse Thats great, well done your dd. Is she thrilled?When she went for the Common Entrance how did she find it? Were there many going for it this year? Just wondered cos of the economy etc.... Mine are at a Prep School in Bucks so we are just beginning our selection process. Was thinking of taking a peak at Rye and also Pipers Corner. Definitely going to next Open morning in March. Well done yr daughter tho :)

heathcliffswife:

The interview takes place during a taster day in November and lasts about 10-15 minutes. My daughter gave the impression that it was general questions about what subjects they liked, books, hobbies etc and a couple of questions where they had to look something up.

The exams took place on Jan 17/18th and are Common Entrance tests: Maths, English (comprehension), English (composition) and Science. They recognise that state school pupils may not be as knowledgeable in science as their prep school peers.

My daughter currently attends a state school and we just ran through a couple of past papers to get her used to the format (She was achieving level 5s in y5). We just received an offer of a place this morning.

Maybe start a new thread this one is ancient.

Hi there. Am considering Headington for my twin daughters next Sept (2012)I just really wondered what to expect at the interview and then the subsequent exams. Do people do much prepping beforehand.... also wondering what the new Head will be like.... Any advice gratefully received!

Is anyone else waiting for the offer letters from Headington? As far as I know, these will be sent out tomorrow.

If you want very good academic results def. Oxford High - they do sports as well though plus music and drama good too.

My daughter is currently at a state school, y6, and we've thus far looked at Headington and Oxford High. It's doubtful we'd look at any Abindon School due to travelling time.

The impression I get is that Headington is less academic and place more emphasis on spots/clubs.

What age are you looking at and what sex? Dragon School totally amazing for both up to 13 - really couldnt do better - inspirational teaching - but they have to be down for it v. young generally - although spaces do come up. Summerfields an Eton feed and boys a bit posher/wimpier. Oxford High mega academic - v. good head just left and gone to Abingdon - MCS school for boys VERY academic and hard to get into. St Edward's pretty sporty but also very 'looksist' and they worship at the altar of Jack Wills.

Which school did you finally decide on?

Is anyone else currently looking at Oxford Schools for 2011 entry?