11+ girls school choices in the Herts/Harrow area

[wonderingmind]

We are considering options for DD1 who is in year 5 at present, her current school is St Helens but we are not sure if this is the right choice for her going on into senior school. She has been there since reception and is happy and has done well, but we feel maybe a change of environment might be good for. We are thinking of Habs & NLCS or St Pauls. Does anyone have experience of senior school in any of these schools & also St Helens?

I am ex-Habs. I hated it HOWEVER the headmistress has now changed (I left 2004). You need to be very clever, witty, good at sport, art or music (preferably all three) and willing to turn your hand to anything. It was very cliquey, competitive and more than a little bitchy. There are massive divides between forms, A vs Alpha vs Aleph vs Aesc (vs Aske if you're a 5 form intake) and forms used to be chosen using your geographical area so you never really made friends outside your own form. In addition to that heaven forbid you don't do what the school want you to, especially regarding university in sixth form...

Having said that you were forced to have a very well rounded education and learn to cope in social situations where you'd rather be a million miles away. If I have any daughters they won't be going there although the teaching was excellent and the facilities are superb. I also think a lot of ex-Habs girls have a bit of a superiority complex.

NCLS apparently suits one kind of girl (confident and academic, destined for Oxbridge) whereas St Helens is supposed to be more inclusive and supportive, although I guess if your DD1 is there already then you know more about it than my sweeping generalisations!

Have you considered any of the GDST schools? My sister was at Northwood college and thrived.

St Pauls I have three good friends who went there, one from primary school and 2 from uni. They loved it but agree you had to be very clever to get on there.

Where's Xenia when you need her?

Another ex Habs girl here and would agree with everything the previous poster said. However, if my DD is of the right disposition I will sit her for there at 11. One of my other personal issues was the journey from N'wood to habs, It wasn't that long but there weren't that many girls from the area who went there so most of my friends were a good bus ride away and I rarely had friends popping in where as the pinner / stanmore girls were more "en route". We now live very close to both HABS and NLCS so I am happier with them in terms of location. Again I don't know where you live but St Pauls could be a hell of a journey and friends could be in all parts of london. I think that I would also consider City Girls and South Hampstead and certainly wouldn't dismiss Watford Grammar without having a VERY close look at it. If you are Jewish then I would also most definately have a look at JFS. If you are, and you could get your DD into their accelerated stream then I think you'd be giving her as good an education as you would at any of the private schools. The facilities there are extraordinary and certainly exceptional in a state school.

I got into St Helens but my parents kept me at Habs, as we lived locally I wish that they had moved me. I think it's less pressured than Habs. Given the kinds of schools you are mentioning I am guessing that places like the Royal Masonic are not going to be academic enough for you and likewise N'wood College.

Thanks for the comments, there really is plenty to think about, not least where we think dd1 will be the happiest. Have read the thread on St Pauls and was . Not so sure dd1 would thrive there, or maybe it's because I feel she is still too innocent.

wonderingmind - is there any particular reason you want to move your dd from St Helen's? I was thinking of sending dd1(at 7 or 11+) and dd2 at reception. It would be good to have an insiders view of the school.

I'm an ex-HABS girl but I loved it there, and wasn't sporty/arty/musical/in with any clique, I just seemed to have a great year group who were really nice. I thought the facilities and teaching were brilliant, and I never felt under any kind of pressure. Most schools seem to go through different things with each year group, and that can happen anywhere.

i do, i went to st helens from age 4-11 when i moved to habs (and i am currently in the sixth form there)
st helens junior school is really good and i enjoyed it very much but i didn't learn much at all
i got an academic and art scholarship to st helens and i got into habs and nlcs but, together with my parents, we chose for me to go to habs
it was definitely the right choice! i really enjoy habs...the teachers are (mainly) brilliant, the students are really friendly and helpful
just to compare to st helens - habs out-performed them by far in our year for gcse and also i know of lots of cases of bullying at st helens

there are always going to be some stuck-up girls at private schools (you will get that anywhere you go)

sorry i was late to reply, i hope this helps anyone making the choice in the future

I'm thinking of sending my dd to St Paul's can anyone advise on the travelling from pinner?

Use the metropolitan line and change at Rayners Lane to Piccadilly line. Quite a few spgs students from the Pinner area, it's no big deal. they put girls into form groups with others from there postcode so you may find a trip buddy

I'm watching this thread with interest. My dd is also in Year 5 at a good local state primary and we are thinking about secondary schools. Love Watford Grammar and that's our first choice but because we're in Stanmore there are only a few places.

Still confused about the girls private schools round here. We were going to look at Habs but some things on this thread have put me off! My dd is fairly bright (but not a genius) and not particularly sporty although she's a strong swimmer and good at art too. Not sure if Habs will suit her - how on earth do I tell? She's not a particularly confident child either. Maybe St Helen's is a better bet for her...?

I have heard Habs is an excellent school with many opportunities - including plenty of opportunities to DTD with the neighbouring habs boys!

I had a daughter at NLCS and one at Habs and they both loved the schools. I would say there was more in common between them than different although NLCS is a bit more N Londonish in terms of where girls come from and is always slightly ahead in exam results but only just.

They are both good schools and tend to take girls a bit brighter than St H which is one stage down but still very good.

St Paul's I know girls at and that's very good too and they like it. You could try for all 3 at 11+ and see which she gets into and then decide.

There are a lot of generalisations on the thread. There are quiet and noisy girls at Habs and NLCS. There are girls who are brilliant and hard working and girls who are quite clever but not brilliant

Heathfield is well below even St helen's academically or normally is. You tend to go there if you're not bright enough for the others. That means it isn't good for some girls of course. The FT tables are the best. Of all schools of all types in the country these are the A level rankings and I would go by those not GCSE to get the best assessment if you are bothered by academic results:

2011

1. NLCS 88% A grade

24 Habs girls 87% A grade 83 St helen's 73% A grade

heathfield does not seem to gvie its % A* and A grades at A levels.

My dd is at Watford Grammar and loving it, so I'd go for your first choice if you can. Is Stanmore not outside the catchment though? I don't know of any girls from there and there are zero out of catchment places - it's too popular.

Watford grammar which despite its name is a comprehensive school gets 61% A* and A a lA level which is quite good compared to the 88 and 87% of the privates which are not comprehensive.

How about St Albans High School for Girls? 80.8% of their A levels are at A*/A grade.

I've just noticed we are all answering a thread from 1066.

if you have to make a choice from habs and st albans h school for girls,with one to go for?