Heatherton Primary school-Amersham-Reviews

[Sucharita]

Hello mums (and dads), Any of you here send your girl to Heatherton or has sent in past. Please share your views and how did you find the school overall. Thanks in advance:)

Isn’t it now attached to Berko? It’s not a patch on Godstowe in High Wycombe!

Yes they are part of the berkhamstead group of school

So if you want Berko, why not? There are better schools available though.

I am not particular about berko. Look so much will be dependent on what she enjoys and is inclined to. In terms of better schools what do you suggest?

Any decent primary will teach dc well in Bucks. Not many poor primaries. There's the grammars at 11, so are you thinking this might be the destination at 11? What about Pipers Corner? They have an all through prep to senior. Not guaranteed but it can be a smooth transition.

Godstowe is the best prep for girls and mostly the best destination schools. If you are ambitious, it has to be Godstowe. It offers a lot more. If you want 11 plus - the Gateway is popular. Looking at facilities and destinations tells you all you need to know in order to choose.

Past Heatherton parent here. It is a small school so the younger years in particular has a family feel. It can become too small for some girls in later years, there isn’t much space to avoid others if you aren’t getting along! The fees are lower than other nearby preps, this reflects the restrictions it has and what it provides. The more expensive local options offer more space and opportunities.

Sorry I don't know anyone who has kids at Heatherton, but I would avoid Godstowe - very odd school - with falling numbers.

@jetlag92 It’s quite expensive. Why is it odd? Never heard that description before.

@OhDear111 Hey thanks for your feedback. I would like to try for grammar provided she is academic but do not know yet her inclinations and interest. Looking for school that provides her opportunities and support so that she can be her best self. Pipers is about 20 minute drive from where I live and I know pipers is a very good school, but would want something closer.

@goldendragonbiscuit Agree. I was going through the ISI reports of some of the schools across bucks, each of them have their strengths. Thanks for your feedback

@Sucharita Are you anywhere near GX for Maltmans? If Amersham - you have got great primaries there. 20 mins isn’t that far! Berko prep or Chesham Prep? I’ve known neighbours use these ant they were happy.

Heatherton is a lovely school but is very small and with that comes some downsides. Lack of space (although they do use some of Berkhamsted’s facilities) and a small pool to be able to “find your tribe” being the main ones. About half the girls go on to Challoners at 11, a significant proportion to Berkhamsted, a few to RMS and other schools.

If you want grammar at 11 then I wouldn’t go to Pipers. They don’t help prep as they want you to stay. Godstowe largely sends girls to boarding schools these days, some to grammars.

Depending on your location, Chesham prep, York House and Beechwood Park are probably your best bets although all are coed. Chesham probably sends the most to grammars in the area. Maltmans if you want single sex and are close to Gerrards Cross.

@OhDear111 I really liked Chesham prep. I loved the attitude and confidence of the 3 girls m Impressed! Another reason that ticks my box for Chesham prep is that it’s co-ed. Do you think there are any particular advantages of co-ed, except for more interaction with the other gender ( not sure if that’s even an advantage) I hear some funny reasons of sending to same gender schools like girls are more likely to choose science and maths subjects later or not affected by gender stereotypes or “less distraction”!

@Sucharita The single sex benefits are far more prevalent at secondary level when girls are choosing which GCSE and A-level subjects to take and their hormones are also raging 😂😂😂

A lot of people choose coed to 11 then single sex for secondary for this reason. I honestly don’t think it matters as much when they are younger.

@RatherBeOnVacation Hey thanks:) Small size of the facilities is something I have heard from others also. Till that was pointed out that did not even feature in my list:D As long as the school provides right guidance, I think I am fine. I was also considering St Mary’s Gerard’s for an all through school. But like you said for pipers i have doubt if they will be as committed to prepare for grammar. Though the inspection reports are great even for st marys’s but I have not heard much encouraging words. Mums are saying it’s only good for girls who are not academic but then some parents were happy because their girl was very happy because of the homely culture. Let me know your thoughts. Except that pipers is very competitive and I instill that in their girls which sometimes might not be right for some girls, I have heard great review and the school inspection reports are also good. My neighbours girls go to pipers and they are very happy. When I went to piper open day, felt very corporate ( understandably because of the size of the establishment)

@RatherBeOnVacation thank you:) that makes sense.

Do not choose an all through school if you definitely want grammar at 11+. They won’t help you prep in any way - they want you to stay on. I personally think RMS is a much stronger option for an all through school these days.

St Mary’s is known for great pastoral care. I know a girl there who is incredibly happy and doing well but does have some additional learning needs. Again, it’s very small which some might find stifling being in such a small peer group for their entire school career. For others that stability and special attention may be exactly what they need.

Friends I have with a child at Godstowe told me that more and more going to grammars these days due to the vat, with a pretty even split of girls going to grammar, local independents or boarding at 11 and some staying to 13

@goldendragonbiscuit Godstowe definitely have lost a lot of day pupils. Not boarding. I think it’s cost. If you want a grammar there’s cheaper crammer preps available. For my money, I wanted everything!

@Sucharita One issue with the area you are looking at, (south of Great Missenden) it has a much higher 11 plus pass rate than Aylesbury vale. So local private secondaries (excluding WA!) are not full of extremely bright dc. These dc are mostly in the grammars and a few at Pipers who don’t want the bustling larger grammars.

I would not worry about co Ed at primary but at secondary there are advantages but no-one would turn their noses up at Chesham Grammar because it’s co Ed. You might if your dd got into WA. Obviously a girls’ prep can tailor the education to girls. By 10, my DD1 found some boys at school annoying. However I would choose Chesham prep over Heatherton.

DD2 went to Godstowe. Back then only a handful left for the grammars. Money availability and now vat has altered what people want I think.

Also be careful about the nurturing ethos - if you pay you want academics and nurturing! Being around similar DDs in terms of academics is good. You don’t want loads of Sen dc unless your dc has needs of course. Godstowe never did have selection tests though.

@OhDear111 Hey thanks very much. I agree given the kind of resources deployed in an independent school, I would like to see her academically shine as well. As I mentioned before, she is only 2 and her development journey in day care so far has been as expected in this age group. I am also very happy with her growth. It’s quite natural to compare and compete but as much as I would like her to reach her potential, i want her to have a happy childhood at the end. I would love to see that she is excelling in academics however. I want her to enjoy the process of learning and have the right exposure. Be conceptually strong rather than cramming. I am sure by the time she is an adult and ready to be on her own so much would have changed in terms of expected skills from workforce or needs of the society.

@Sucharita I actually think resilience in dc is key. Dc may not get everything going their way and I don’t think navigating life will get easier.

We don’t know how dc will turn out but in Bucks you will see very overbearing parents leaving no stone unturned to get dc into a grammar school. I could tell you stories about dc in my village. They didn’t get a great childhood after y4 and beyond. My DDs had no 11 plus tutoring at all. They did lots of music and dance and enjoyed art, swimming and brownies. Busy enjoying themselves. We didn’t want to have dc pushed beyond endurance as we witnessed all around us. It wasn’t the schools, it was the awful parents who lived, ate and slept 11 plus! If you step back from that, you will have a happy dd regardless of the school.

@OhDear111 Thank you for sharing your experience and how you raised yours. You did the right thing.

Have relatives at Heatherton, both happy though school is small and facilities fairly limited as far as independents go. No specific 11+ preparation at the school, so tutoring for at least a year in advance of the Bucks test seems to be the norm.

@gldd hey thanks for chipping into the conversation. I specifically asked for preparation for 11 plus and was told the same by the staff I met. But she added that the the 11+ is inbuilt in the curriculum. What do you think about 11+ prep in Chesham prep? Do you know anything about that?

The line that teachers often take here (a different grammar school area, though I suspect similar in Bucks, and other places) is that the children are taught the subjects, content and level they need for the 11+, but are not taught (or practice) exam technique / speed. Some do it at home, some employ tutors. I've been told by parents at Heatherton that dedicated tutoring is essential. No idea about Chesham prep, I'm afraid, but I expect it would be similar.