Habs school for Girls

[youlookalotlikeme]

Hi,

Does anyone have a view on this school - positive or negative?

Considering for my DD (yes, yes, PFB before anyone asks). Have tried asking in Education, but not getting any replies.

TIA

[MordionAgenos]

Actually, those who feel they have to pay for places at Habs and NLCS in order for their daughters to get As and earn a lot can carry on doing so and good luck to them. Maybe their kids really do need that extra push to do ok. Those of us who can send our children (girls and boys) to equally good schools with equally good outcomes for free will carry on doing that. I'm sure the people spending all their money on school fees only to get the same or slightly less good outcomes won't feel too dejected primarily because apparently they lack the wit to see that there is a better way. I on the other hand would feel pretty silly if I was always banging on about how great private education is and then I met individuals with better educational and professional outcomes to me who had gone to state schools.

[Xenia]

The 8% getting the 50% good places etc seem to think spending the money is worthwhile. Interesting that private schooling has been very resilient even in the recession. I suspect those of us who choose to pay are not lacking in understanding of the benefits. There are a whole load of soft benefits too which flow on a daily basis too which of course some people find in the state system but is harder to find - more likely to get lakes and fields in the private sector, more likely to be good parents' choirs and may be parents with whom you have things in common. None of it matters - parents in both sectors are happy therefore all is well and as in most things choice is good to see.

[CecilyP]

But it isn't 8% getting 50% of the good places. According to the link you kindly provided yesterday, it s 50% at Oxbridge and at another small number of handpicked higher education providers, some of which themselves are very small. There are plenty of other good places where the proportions are nothing like that.

[mirry2]

Well Mordian I really couldn't care less about the school choices other people make and whether their dd achieved better or equivalent results for free. I know Habs was the right school for my dd and I was very happy that I was able to pay the fees. I didn't send her to the school for her to get as; rather it was that I liked the whole ethos of female empowerment.
Of course an able child will achieve excellent results and a professional career, if that's what they want, whether educated in the state or private school sector.

[Xenia]

I think if you added in good universities like Durham and Bristol that 50% is pretty constant. Anyway those who think the 8% are not hugely advantaged can use the comprehensive system - I am not proposing that if you can afford a private school place you be forced to buy one to save tax payers money although that is certainly something the state might consider.

[APMF]

A friend of mine had his DD privately educated. She took her GCSEs this summer and came away with two As. The rest was Bs and Cs. His sister sent her kid to St Olaves and ended up with better grades for free.

The usual suspects will probably go 'case proven' but what they miss is that the state schools where he lives are nowhere as good as St Olaves. His DD isn't very academic so if she had gone to the local state school she would probably have got mostly Bs and Cs.

My friend gets it that his money only got him a set of ok grades that is lower than his state educated niece. But he is happy that his not very academic DD got a slate of ok grades.

To listen to the usual suspects talk, you would think that the private schools were running a big con and only they are clever enough to see pass this con [rolls eyes] :)

[dinkybinky]

How do you think the teaching standards compare at super selective`s V not so selective private schools?

[slipshodsibyl]

It is' free', not 'for free'. What is going on in these state and private super-selectives!

[Xenia]

Yes, I cringed too. We never say "for free" in our house as it is a superfluous preposition. However as Mord is in the state school camp and I'm polite I didn't say so.

The other one that jumped out from the post was "If I was" rather than "If I were". We love our subjunctives in this house and I hope Habs does.

Another one - with better educational outcomes to me. I think it is always "better than"...

You get what you pay for I suppose.

[slipshodsibyl]

Well it seems to me all the contributors are getting stuff (or not) for free, regardless of sector.

[LaVolcan]

'I was always banging on'

Pardon me, isn't this the past continuous here, because the action is interrupted (when individuals educated in a state school come along)?

If you want a subjunctive you could replace 'then I met individuals' with 'then I were to meet' which would go with the 'I would feel pretty silly'.

[happymumof2kids]

A school that is highly selective would of course achieve the superior results, so even if school/teachers/education are mediocre, pupils will still do well as they have already been pre selected at entry.

[MordionAgenos]

@Xenia people who went to Cambridge say 'for free'. so now you know

[MordionAgenos]

Incidentaly, since Xenia often makes the most ridiculous grammatical and spelling mistakes in her posts - quite likely because she is posting in a rush and doesn't bother to proof her posts (and probably, like me, is accustomed to having staff proof her writing anyway) I find her comments a little bit pot kettle. Especially since I have never (till now) commented on her many mistakes.

However notwithstanding the future possibilities for nitpicking that I am now entitled to exploit, that will teach me to post on MN from my phone when I'm supposed to be sorting out network permissions though (I messed them up too.)

[Xenia]

I didn't raise those things. They did genuinely make me cringe and I did not mention them because it just spoils threads but as it was about good educations and someone else raised it I just added my comments. I am sure I make lots of typos.

Perhaps we could all on the thread make it our mission this week to work on ensuring the nation as a whole never says this is for free and always says "this if free"

[Xenia]

is... laughing as I type.
Our second lesson of the day is I were you never if I was...
forgotten the other one now.

[LaVolcan]

Second lesson:that the subjunctive be taught correctly?

[dinkybinky]

A school that is highly selective would of course achieve the superior results, so even if school/teachers/education are mediocre, pupils will still do well as they have already been pre selected at entry.


So that would suggest that intelligent children at state or non selective schools will also do well because its down to the child to do well not the institution.

[mirry2]

Dinkybinky I think it stands to reason that schools with children who have been selected on academic merit or potential are likely to get better results overall than schools that don't select.

However we chose Habs at 5 because of the stimulating environment and ethos rather than the academic results at 18. Our dd had spent a reception year at a local school so it was very easy to compare the sort of primary education she was getting at our local school with the one she would get at Habs.

[CecilyP]

I think if you added in good universities like Durham and Bristol that 50% is pretty constant. Anyway those who think the 8% are not hugely advantaged can use the comprehensive system - I am not proposing that if you can afford a private school place you be forced to buy one to save tax payers money although that is certainly something the state might consider.

No Xenia, your link had the 10 universities and other HE providers which took the lowest percentage of state school pupils. Amongst them were both Durham and Bristol at about 60%, and bottom of the ten was Imperial College at 63%. Each extra university to be added, from number 11 onwards, would take the average percentage of state school pupils higher.

[Xenia]

Someone posted this table on another thread showing which universities people go to which is very good or at least I would say that as NLCS is best in the country, Habs girls about 5th and my son's school in the top 10 I think.

public.tableausoftware.com/views/TopEnglishSchoolsST30UniDestinations2007-2009/SchoolUniTrends2007-2009

[dinkybinky]

Xenia, what makes NLCS or Habs better than other schools, apart from selection at entry? Is the work they do at an advanced level are the teachers outstanding, what is it?

[Xenia]

It's very interesting because it's not as if they are the only good schools in the same area. St Paul's is there too and a good few schools a level down so there is huge competition for the brightest girls and the less well paid parents will also be considering some of the best state schools in the country like Henrietta Barnet and yet still Habs./NLCS are there in the top 5 of all schools in the country getting the most girls into the best universities.

Obviously the main reason selective schools do well is that they select. I suspect they are fairly good at selecting and some schools are not so good. They also are lucky enough to draw from a huge mix of potential pupils from all kinds of races and backgrounds and immigrants always work very very hard. You don't get that benefit in schools in some other parts of the country.

We had a few threads comparing which types of univesrities teachers went to in different types of schools and it did seem private schools had teachers who had been to the best universities more than some state schools although that isn't always what makes a good teacher of course. I certainly felt all my children have been well taught.

I think the guidance on where to apply is wise at some schools. I suspect my daughter wul not be in the job she now is had she read a different subject as the employers want the university, not the subject so if you pick a subject easier to get into at a good university you do better than a subject which is very hard to get into at anywhere decent so you end up at an ex poly. Mind you anyone with half a brain can go on line and work out which subjects are easier to get into at different places than others.

[HeartsTrumpDiamonds]

dinky I think a big part of it is resources. Better and more abundant resources translate directly to better opportunities for the girls. Teachers are actively encouraged to spend money on classroom innovations - money that unfortunately just isn't there in the state sector.

So here is my list of what makes a Top Ten (or whatever) school, off the top of my head...

Selection
Better resources
Smaller classes
Parental involvement and support*
Being surrounded by other bright hardworking pupils**

*Please note I am not saying that parents in state schools are not involved or supportive, just that in independent (fee-paying) schools, parents might pay more attention precisely because they are paying quite a lot of money.
**Ditto: state schools also obviously have bright and hardworking pupils, I just suspect there may be more of them in independent schools.

[dinkybinky]

Hearts, I meant comparing private v private the only difference I can see is selection on entry.