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:)

@gldd I see

Agree with @OhDear111 re the parents in south Bucks - the obsession with the grammar schools has become ridiculous. At the end of the day, they are just schools, their pupils don't somehow magically take different exams from those at the Secondary Moderns - DD2 was at Amersham School and did exactly the same GCSEs as her brother at Challoner's. and did 3 academic STEM subjects for A level. People said things to us like 'our child's life will be over if she doesn't get into a grammar'. I mean, really, get a fucking grip.

Overall data does show that girls do better academically in a single-sex environment, but of course it does depend on the child. As to whether they do better socially, its harder to say. When threads about the subject come up on MN there's often quite an even balance between those who loved their all-girls' school and those who hated it.

Any prep school that is a “partner school” for the Bucks 11+ is not allowed to explicitly tutor children for the exam in exactly the same way as the state primaries aren’t. A partner school is one that acts as its own exam centre - so head teacher recommendations submitted prior to the exam and then the exam is sat within the school. Both Chesham Prep and Heatherton are partner schools - full list linked below

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-index/school-admissions/school-admissions-guides-policies-and-statistics/guide-to-grammar-schools-and-the-secondary-school-transfer-test-11-plus/partner-schools/

What they do though is ensure the Y6 maths curriculum has been completed ahead of time and they will introduce verbal and non verbal reasoning in the context of having to sit ISEB and CAT tests. So slightly different format but along the same lines.

My children went to a partner school and we didn’t do formal extra tuition, just some CGP books at home. I didn’t want my children to go to a school not suitable for them academically but where they just scraped a place. They both aced it but we stayed in the private sector for several reasons.

@thing47 I think every girl I know who has been to a single sex school is happy about that decision. In this day and age DDs have access to boys! In Aylesbury the schools are next door to each other! As two are in HW. Dc have social media, and meet up if they wish at weekends or after school. School doesn’t define their lives and most parents allow dc to mix (some don’t of course). As usual the actual school will be what matters.

I know quite a few who didn't love Challoner's. Did well, sure, but didn't love it. RMS has been quite popular with my friends.and their daughters, St Helen's a bit more of a mixed bag. I don't know anyone who didn't rate Wycombe High to be fair, but the relatively recent tragedy there would seem to indicate that may not be a universal experience. I don't.know anyone who went to the same schools that your girls did. Actual.school matters, certainly, and so does actual girl.

@thing47 Hey thanks for participating in this conversation. There definitely is an element of “unhealthy” competition I think. Do not want to say anything which would not sound very nice here. Some of the vibes I get is definitely not nice. It stresses me. I hope it’s not passed on to my girl and like I said earlier want her to enjoy her school and the learning journey. Let’s see what kind of community is finds and also the personality she develops. I will admit I do not know at this point what is best for my girl.

@RatherBeOnVacation Good reminder the staff at Heatherton I spoke did mention that 11+ are held in Heatherton

A lot of parents use the very good infants schools if they are in catchment and transfer in y3. Village schools are popular and then a move to a bigger school. Is this a possibility? DD1 didn’t go private until y7. DD2 in y3.

My daughter is at RMS and loves it. She was at a co-ed primary but prefers the all girls environment. Parents are not pushy and down to earth. It has a lot on offer and a diverse student body which is great.

@amum123 Hey thanks for sharing your experience

Hello - my daughter is currently at Heatherton and we have been very happy with it so far. My daughter loves going there every day. The staff are great and they all know who my daughter is. As the school is small, it has a lovely family atmosphere and my daughter loves the fact that she interacts with the bigger girls. The school does not have extensive facilities on site but they use Berkhamsted's facilities and younger girls swim at The Beacon. They get very good results in the 11+ and girls go on to a variety of destination schools. We did have some reservations about the size of school and lack of facilities, but so far have not found those things to be an issue and, as I said, the smaller size does help to give it a special atmosphere.

@Tenlittlemonkeys thank you very much for sharing your experience. I am more and more inclined to send my daughter to Heatherton now