Beechwood Park/Westbrook Hay/Abbots Hill/STAHS

[LB500]

I'd be grateful for any thoughts you guys have on the following schools;

Beechwood Park
Westbrook Hay Prep
Manor Lodge
Abbots Hill
St Albans High School (Wheathampstead House)

Looking at private options for my dd, who would be starting reception Sept 2012.

It would be interesting to hear other peoples experiences of the schools.

Many thanks.

My DN is in Manor Lodge, Y1, and my SIL is very happy with the school. More or less they have to read everyday from Reception, as they have a book to read at home per day and she had to do "homework" like do a collage of Africa, during the holidays. My 2 DDs go to a state school, so I am not sure if the homework and reading is common in private schools or not.
I have a friend whose DDs (Y7 and Y5) started in Abbots Hill last September and so far they are very happy with the school.
Of course, Manor Lodge is just primary schools and Abbots Holl goes up till 16, so may be this would be more a decisive point. My niece goes to Manor Lodge but they hoping to pass the 11+ and get into Grammar School.
Good luck with your decission.

Thanks CeciC, that's useful.

Which grammar school are they intending for your niece to go to?

I have two dcs at Beechwood (one junior, one middle school), they love it. We moved from another single sex prep when we moved house. The academic standards are good, but it still seems a relaxed and friendly environment. The grounds and facilities are great, and I'm especially impressed with the level of communication from the staff. Any questions ask away.

Lots of BP girls go to AH at 11 (some at 13), it seems a lovely school. I only know two AH families but the girls are very happy there. We visited WH and it seemed nice too but we preferred BP.

Only know one family with a daughter at ML, their son goes to a single sex prep - not sure of the reason so I can't comment.

STAHS - I don't know the junior section at all, but have lots of friends who went through many years ago. Only girl I personally know who went there recently changed to AH at 11 as she is a very sensitive girl and found STA too much academically and socially. Not much help I know, sorry!

Where do you live (broadly speaking) - just bear in mind St Albans and around can be very busy so it's worth bearing in mind that the journey times can be extensive. We're in St Albans 12 miles from BP and I'm afraid I spend a long time in the car.

Thanks eatmyfood. I'm really torn between single sex and co-ed. She has 2 older half sisters and a younger 'full' sister. I have 2 sisters and all my close friends with children of thensame age have daughters so there really is v little chance interaction with boys unless she goes down the co-ed route. Her friends at nursery are all boys so it seems to me that then putting her in an all girls school until she's 18 may not be the wisest choice!

That said I loved STAHS when I visited. I'm going to the open morning at BP on Friday so hopefully I'll get some kind of hunch as to whether or not the school is right for her??

Are there lots of sports? I ask only because she darts around like someone possessed most of the time!

And how are the assessments? STAHS/WH are supposed to be fairly horrific so I am told!

And are there lots of St A families? I don't particularly want to spend my weekends driving all over the place if I can avoid it! We are near STAGS, so the Harpenden end of St A if that makes sense?

I can only really answer the co-ed thing on personal experience - having come from single sex boys we found BP much calmer. They genuinely seem to get along nicely together, although of course the girls tend to play and party with the girls etc. We may well end up with our boys going single sex again at 11 or 13, but I think by then I'll know if they're more suited to that environment. Certainly at this stage it's nice socially for them to mix IMO, even if many of the girls will then go on to Queenswood or AH or HABS Girls.

Not sure about sport as mine are not super-sporty but they seem to enjoy it - the Juniors have games 2 x pw and the Middle 3 x pw. Ds1 was thrilled to be put in a team recently despite really not being good at football, so I think everyone gets a turn. I think the girls do a ballet class too?

Lots of St. A families at BP - maybe half of each class are St. A with the rest varying between Harpenden and the villages so Redbourn, Edlesborough, Caddington, Studham etc. If you're up near STAGS then you'll miss the worst of the traffic - we're Sandpit Lane area so we get snarled up along near the King William/the Harvester. Maybe a 20 minute journey each way for you? There's a bus from St A. but the timings don't suit us.

I think the assessment at BP was fairly relaxed, although my boys passed fine we had to wait nearly a year for the places - I don't know about WH as we never got that far, but yes certainly STAHS would be pretty rigorous due to the sheer numbers applying, and I think it's fair to say they have very high standards. If you post on the local board I'm sure someone can give you the heads up on what STAHS expects.

I may see you on Friday then - we'll have to sort out a special mumsnet signal .

Thanks so much for all that info! Its so hard to know at this stage what your child will and will not be suited to. My dd is a summer baby, so only 2 1/2 yrs which seems too early to think about these things but I know it's not at all!

That's sweet about your ds1 being in the footie team-think I'll get emotional about stuff like that!

V encouraging about local families too, hoorah! I sometimes get caught in the traffic near you, worse since the arrival of Tesco!

STAHS scares me a bit! Nice to hear that the BP assessment is relaxed.

How funny if I see you! I'll be the one walking around gleefully without dd1 and 2 and taking full advantage of the fact my mum is looking after them!!

If you are likely

Meant to say, if you are likely to be there then let me know where and when!

Hi LB500, My SIL are hoping for Henrietta Barnet, as it is the closest.

Will pm you LB500!

I have just put my 2 through Manor Lodge.. It really depends on what your child is like-my dd was not academic and unfortunately years 5 & 6 took away most of the little confidence she had- but my ds was and thrived

Really sorry to hear that natty67. Do you think that problem was specific to Manor Lodge? Or do you think it was the overall pressure of preparing for the 11+? Where are your dd and ds now?

My dd is at STAHS and started in Reception. Although it is selective I would say that they are very good and choosing the girls who do well at the school.

My dd is very happy at the school and does not feel under any pressure whatsoever. At Reception she just had to do reading. I would say that reading is quite full on in Reception but as a result she is streets ahead of her peers and loves books.

My dd is a summer baby too and it was noticeable that the majority of girls are Autumn or Winter babies. I guess it's because they come across better at the assessment. Having said that my dd had not been pushed in her nursery school and didn't know her numbers or letters or even how to write. She is articulate and a confident child and I assume that is what carried her through.

Sports wise, they do PE and games 3 x a week. They also go swimming one term per year. I think that when they are in Y3 they start netball and later on they can even learn fencing which sounds great fun.

We are very happy with the school. The girls in her class are really friendly and we don't have any cliques. The mums are also great fun too and I've made a whole new group of friends.

Personally I would put your dd forward for the assessment. If she gets in then she will be fine, if she doesn't then she wouldn't be happy at the school so it's a win-win situation.

LB500 My daughter is at St Margaret's and my son in year 6 ML. My only critisism is that the standard in year 6 is aimed for the top schools which is fine if your child can handle it, but my dd couldn't. In defence this may be true of several other schools. All in all it is a lovely school though

I think follygirl that is a useful point, to the OP I would say your DD is only going to be offered a place at STAHS if the staff at the assessment see that she is able to cope academically and socially. So no reason IMO to be concerned about the test, give it a go and if it's not right for her you'll be told. They're always oversubscribed so they're not under pressure to fill the places!

So pleased to hear that follygirl. I keep hearing horror stories about girls being kicked out because they are not cutting it there. I absolutely loved the school when looking round and it seemed to me to be a very supportive environment. As you say, all we can do is see how she gets on in the assessment. Can I just check-I assume the children don't find it a traumatic experience? My understanding is it's a playgroup type session with possible follow on 1:1s. It's the latter that makes me nervous because I've been told that they can last up to 1.5 hrs which seems a v long time for a 3 1/2 yr old!!

Re girls being kicked out of STAHS- you are advised in year 5 if your DD will not cope with the academic expectations of the senior school. My DD is currently in year 7 and there are 4 STAHS girls who did make the grade.

LB500. Not sure what the assessment is like as my dd did it later and did have a 1:1. She was fine as I told her that they just wanted to have a chat. I didn't prep her in anyway as at the time we didn't know anything about the school really.

wed99. Do you mean that only 4 in your dd's class were at WH? That sounds pretty terrible really! It is the same across all the classes?

Oops really sorry missed out a vital word- NOT . She is in year 7 at a girls school and has 4 girls from WH in her year who did not make the grade to go onto the senior school.

Oh thank goodness for that! Nearly had a heart attack.

Out of interest which school is your dd at? You can give initials if you don't want to say the actual name.

Too early to tell if my dd will be one of those girls who don't make the grade, or even if we want her to continue to the senior school so I'm open to other ideas.

I'm not from this area so don't really know what is out there.

Sorry Follygirl not been about much to reply to your message. I will be back when I have time to reply properly .

We have had lots of experience in our family of Abbott's Hill, Beechwood Park and St Albans High. I would say ultimately it depends on how academic your child is and whether your daughter needs much pastoral care. AH is very good at pastoral care and helping children that have special educational needs. Its weakness is dealing with the academically able. Beechwood was also good but has a very long school day and quite a lot of homework. When it came down to it no more children went on to a selective senior school than did from our local (but very good) state primary school. St Albans High is much more academically challenging and can be quite pressured.. but that is just right for some children.