Anyone at BHHS?

[preciousbeing]

Hello, wondered if anyone had girls at BHHS and what they thought of it? Thinking of applying there in year 7 for my DD who is currently Yr 4 at state school. Any advice about managing the transition, or doing well in the entrance test would be appreciated!

I was considering it for my daughter as she is is Year 6 but due a multitude of reasons we discounted it. One of the main reasons is that all the girls who I know who went from primary don't seem to like it and there are quite a few who are leaving or are looking to leave the senior school.

why don't they like it there, out of interest?

My DD went there and she liked it, but:

Many of the teachers seemed really cynical and fed-up and I think the girls picked up on that. There was a high turnover of teachers during DD's time there and morale was clearly low.

There were far fewer opportunities for sport, music, trips etc than local state schools - it's very small and the site is cramped, with woeful sports facilities.

There was unfortunately some bitchiness amongst the girls, though I think her year group was particularly bad for that.

DD was underperforming for ages and being very lazy, and school never mentioned it at parents' evenings etc, so I thought all was well until she got a clutch of D grades in mock GCSEs. I sent her to maths tutors etc for the last few months and she easily got 10 A* in the real thing, but this wouldn't have happened if left in the hands of the school.

A couple of truly awful things happened, eg DD and couple of friends got involved with a paedophile teacher (later convicted), and the only support we had about it was from police, not a single word from the school throughout. Also, she had an accident in PE and broke some ribs, and the school didn't even bother to contact me. I'd say their communication was dire!

DD left a couple of years ago, and there's a new Head now, so things might be different. She did make lovely friends, that's about all that was good about it.

Have probably outed myself here but oh well! Am off to NC..........

Big class sizes, no learning support if needed, general bitchiness, new head who does not seem very hands on, pastoral care lacking, etc

My Dd hated it. The atmosphere is downbeat, teachers fed-up and lacking any enthusiasm for their subject, bitchiness and low achievement amongst the girls. I have a son in a nearby state senior school and another daughter in Brighton College. Parents evenings at either of these are great, bubbly teachers, bouncy kids. At BHHS it felt so lacklustre and uninspired... I would look elsewhere.

Thank you lovingthisseasidylife for telling me your experience - what a horrible thing to have gone through and I'm glad that it seems to have turned out ok in the end. Thanks to everyone else for their feedback too

Apologies for not having thanked you for the responses..thought I would get an email alert. Oh that is not very encouraging! Quite different to the impression I had from everyone I know who goes there and from when I looked around..almost the opposite.

I too have heard negative things about the Brighton and Hove High Senior School but I have no first hand experience as my children are young. Friends, whose opinions I value, I have told me of very low staff morale and bullying amongst the staff at BHHS. That can only impact their pupils in a very negative way. However, I have heard loads of positive things about Lewes Old Grammar, Roedean and The Towers Convent School. They might be worth a look.

Just to say our DD went into bhhs at y10 when we moved down and we have been very happy. She settled well and staff communicated well with us. She chose to stay for sixth form and has got good AS results and receives great pastoral care towards university etc. lots of independence and girls are expected to be responsible and self motivated but we have been impressed and were unhappy to be moving away from a big well regarded state school. It is fine for sport and the opportunity to use the gym is encouraged and the Dance is outstanding. There are so many opportunities in Brighton for sport anyhow. My other daughter hopes to do sixth form there in due course because of teaching. I haven't seen any evidence of demotivated staff but early days with new head. Crucially the girls like her.

I have had two girls at BHHS. The junior school is wonderful, teachers are enthusiastic and the head is excellent, very nurturing and inspiring! Unfortunately a different experience at the senior school - there have been a number of girls leave in the last couple of years due to cynical teachers that would rather hand out sheets during lessons than teach and lack of leadership and involvement from the head. Hopefully the trust will make some changes as should be one of their highest achieving schools.

My daughter has just been offered a place at BHHS to start in Year 7 in September (she's currently at a lovely state junior school). Having read the string above, I now feel slightly depressed! There doesn't seem to be many positives about the senior school.... is there anyone out there who has had a really good experience at the school?

I am probably posting a bit late now, but my daughter is in BHHS junior school. She will be leaving, as after several meetings they are still not giving her challenging work. The head does nothing but say what you want to hear but never follows through. My daughter loves her friends there but is getting bored.

A friend of mine is taking her child out of Year 7 BHHS high school.