Southend High or Westcliff High for girls?

[Namechangeforthisquestionagain]

My DD is sitting the 11+ tomorrow, hopefully she will pass 🤞. I'd love to hear from mums with experience of the two girls Grammar schools.

Both are great school from what I hear, traveling to Southend High would be more straightforward (we live in Thorpe Bay). Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hello @Namechangeforthisquestionagain ,
I have a DD in year 11 at SHSG and it was definitely the right choice for us.She has come on leaps and bounds. I had my reservations about Grammar schools but SHSG has exceeded my expectations. She will stay on for the 6th form . The pastoral care is fantastic and the teachers are inspirational. I'm sure Westcliff mum's will say the same about their school. Good luck to your DS today !

DD not DS ☺️

If you live in Thorpe Bay, SHSG is the obvious choice.

It’s more popular amongst local people with ‘out of towners’ tending to go to WHSG. Many girls from Leigh who could walk to WHSG choose to take the train to Southend instead.

It does depend what’s important to you though. Westcliff does get slightly higher results and is thought to be more pushy.

SHSG had the highest % at 7/9 his year as far I know, I'm happy to stand corrected if I have got that wrong. There is very little in it though , I think most parents decide on one over the other because of the feel they get for the school. We loved SHSG and knew it was the right fit for DD.

We live in Leigh so Westcliff is closer but my DD finds the journey easy.

Good luck with your decision.

Thank you @Namechangeforthisquestionagain and @Chewbecca ,she sat it at SHSG and we were very impressed. We're home now , it's going to feel like long wait. DD thinks it went well 🤞.

WHSG is the favourite from me. 1) I went there and 2) it is outstanding in every way from pastoral to teachers

Thank you @delilahhey , it's going be a difficult decision. I hope she passes now.

I have 2 DD"s , one went to WHSG and one to SHSG. Both are great schools, with fantastic teachers and pastoral care..One went on to Oxford and the other to Cambridge.Neither my DH or I have been to university, I can't sing each school's praise highly enough.

Good luck to your DD .

They both accept boys into the 6th form , which I think is a good thing @Namechangeforthisquestionagain

Thank you for your response @WhileyouweresleepingagainWe are not a wealthy family but my DD's primary school think she has a good chance of passing. We were not able to go down the tutoring route as I know others have, DD was happy with how the exam went. She loved SHSG yesterday and so did I, probably would have felt the same about WHSG. I also think it's good that they mixed at 6th form. Congratulations to your DD's,that is a fantastic achievement.

I have experience of WHSG as a parent ant think very highly of it but have experience of both schools as a visiting specialist and think they are also both very good in all areas. I visited lots of schools in Southend and have to say the girls grammars were outstanding on the pastoral side and also with students who have certain needs

@KnottyKnitting thank you, this is very helpful.

I went to SHSG over 20 years ago and no longer live in Southend.

However one of my school friends pulled her daughter out of westcliff last year because she was getting so badly bullied by a girl in her year and school couldn't much about it. Was mainly happening on social media our of school but she wasn't happy how they handled it.

I'm sorry to hear that @Essexgirlupnorth . I hope she is settled in a new school now.
How was your experience at SHSG ? Although obviously a school will change over time.

I was pretty strong academically so did well and enjoyed it however there was one girl who I had also been at primary school with who made my life miserable. Despite being ask not to put us in same form for year 10 and 11. She left at the end of year 11 and I loved sixth form.
Someone of my friends hated it though one because she in lower sets and was made to feel stupid by some of the teachers. One doesn't want her daughters to take the 11 plus because of how much she hated it though seemed fine at the time we were there.

Hi @Namechangeforthisquestionagain SHSG is a great school, I have no experience of WHSG but know friends who are very happy with their choice. My DD went there for 6th form, she left a couple of years ago. We were very impressed with the school. It's without a doubt the best school any of my DC's attended , I have experience of both state and independent. Pastoral care is second to none in my opinion and they really care about the students. Teaching is excellent, my DD's outcome surpassed our expectations . She is now studying very competitive degree in a RG university. DD loved the fact the 6th is mixed.

Good luck to your DD! ! Do come back to let us know how she gets on.

@Askmelateron thank you very much for your reply.We have definitely decided it will be SHSG .
I just hope DD passes now!

Does anyone know what grades at GCSE would give DD a realistic chance at Southend high for 6th form? She is currently in year 10 so we are looking ahead.Is the bar much higher than those required to stay?

Can anyone offer advice ?

Is it not in their website. DD's school is very clear over entry requirements. Minimum points required and grades for each A level subject.

The minimum requirement is on the website but I believe that actually gaining a place for 6th form in reality is much more difficult. My DD didn't pass the 11+ so she couldn't go there in year 7, her GCSES are on track to be very good so she would love to go for 6th form. I know it's a very sought after grammar school and many will be hoping to do the same.

Hi - we got offered a place at Southend high school for girls -we were on the waiting list which incidentally we were not aware of & didn’t get the offer until late June. We have already been offered a place at her local comprehensive & were settled on that until we received the unexpected email about a place at Southend High School for girls.
so we haven’t really prepared for this & now my daughter is saying she does not want to go -expected wobbles concerning a whole host of things including commute(will have to get a bus from Chelmsford), friendships(has been at school with same friends since Reception & none of them are going to grammar school). Also worried about not keeping up academically (we were on the waiting list as OOA & they take 50% local & the rest OOA so I have roughly calculated she will be middle of class which she is not used to). We are having sleepless nights (both of us) about doing the right thing, I am trying to encourage her to see the bigger picture about opportunities. She is someone who needs to be pushed as is not naturally self motivated!Does anyone have any words of wisdom about making the right choice (I don’t want to be too pushy but equally she is only 11 so it’s not fair that I let her decide either) to alleviate hers & my concerns (not sure I could cope with the guilt if she tells me she is unhappy). We won’t be able to get back into the local comp where her friends are as we are OOA & got a place with music scholarship ??

If she has a place at a local school with music, is that Moulsham by any chance? If so then I'm not sure I'd be inclined to give it up, that's a fantastic school in it's own right. (I'm making an assumption here of course.)
What's the commute to Southend from Chelmsford like? We refused to consider the Southend schools on commute alone, but we are not in Chelmsford. For comparison DD has an OOC place at CCHS and we live in the sticks. Her daily commute takes a bit over an hour. She was extremely tired for the 1st half term but is thoroughly in the swing of the early mornings now and we don't regret a thing.

Is it possible to ring the school maybe and see if you can take her in for another quick look around?

Yes it is moulsham & that’s why I have my reservations as it’s such a good school !if I got any of the others it would have been an easier decision to make!
The pick up time is 7.30 & she is not good at getting up something else to worry about!
we are going to look at the school again on Thursday evening & she has a transition day on the following Friday but now sure that will help us make a decision unless she sees anyone she knows as I know that would make a big difference if she had a friend making the same mive

Best of luck with your decision making @Wends72 , it's a real tough one. My DD knew no one at CCHS or who would be taking buses etc, she's made good friends and bus buddies so quickly. Early starts (leaving at 7 for us) took a bit of aclimatisation but it's surprising how quickly she got used to it. If you did take the place have they had their transition day yet? (Sorry, wasn't sure from your post if it's Southend or Moulsham with the day next Friday?)