Schools in High Wycombe

[Aqua20]

Hello,

I'm looking to transfer my daughter from state school to private for year 2. We are interested in Pipers Corner in High Wycombe. Can anyone give the pros and cons of this school? It's a big decision for us to make, so I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you

Lots of my neighbours Dc went there. When they opened the prep other schools lost their non grammar school girls. It’s great if you don’t want the Bucks 11 plus. They get very good results but it’s not Wycombe Abbey and the prep isn’t Godstowe. It’s well liked though. Plenty do well there.,

Thank you for your comments. I'm struggling to decide. I've been told my daughter is working way ahead of where she should be, but her school has done nothing to challenge her. Financially, we will be sacrificing our very comfortable lifestyle. I'll take a look at Godstowe again, but their fees are quite a bit more.
Thanks again

The fees are more at Godstowe because it’s a top prep. Girls from there go to local grammars or top schools at 13. So do you want 11 plus? Few Godstowe pupils go to Pipers Corner after Godstowe. I do think it’s a difficult decision. What about The Gateway at Great Missenden? Or High March in Beaconsfield?

I think it's a good school:
Pros -
teaching is good and ability based. They set from year 5 and take the least able children out for extra lessons before that.

Grounds are amazing and so are the facilities. The curriculum is diverse they do forest school, cooking, DT from an early age. The drama is amazing and they do lots of shows.
Kids are happy.

Cons - the road to the school is awful.
Classes are very small lower down the school. I think they have 11 at the moment in year 2. Year 3 is usually 16. (that may or may not be a con).
It's not considered a very academic school, however, their GCSE's were as good as Becky High's results.
They do not prep at all for 11+, although the girls can sit it at school if they want to.
There is one weak teacher in prep.

@TizerorFizz It's very unusual for girls to go to grammar from Godstowe. I don't think they have any going this year - from a cohort of about 50. The head is leaving and they are losing an awful lot of teachers at the end of the year.

OP - I also would steer clear of HM unless you live in Beaconsfield. Two of the year 2 teachers are dreadful, facilities aren't great either.

Girls did go to the grammars from Godstowe when DD was there. Around 4-6 a year. They asked if we wanted that route. They also did mock 11 plus and talked through the results with parents. It changes with the parent body I guess.

The head has not been there long. That must be a disappointment.

What’s the attainment 8 score at Pipers? How can schools be compared when not all the data is available in the same format? They do also ask prep DC to leave if their needs cannot be met in the senior school.

Thank you both for your responses. I have a tour booked at Pipers this week, so I will see how we get on.

@underneaththeash
Where’s the Godstowe head going?

Interesting update on High March. I worked with parents who loved it. Teachers! However a few iffy appointments and it goes downhill!

@TizerorFizz double checked and definitely no girls going to grammar this year - Godstowe. No idea where head going.

Pipers - No they never ask girls to leave if their attainment is not high enough..but they have historically asked some to leave due to behaviour. It’s such a good school academically - they get great results from a mixed cohort.
They do start GCSE in year 9 though which is less good for overall breadth of knowledge.

They definitely used to ask girls to leave. It was made clear to parents that a senior place was conditional. Not go to the prep and you are in. Same head.

Godstowe have always had girls going at 11 to local grammars. It was perfectly ok with the school. I’m very surprised they don’t have any. In DDs year, half the girls left at 11. But at that time there was some turmoil at the school and trust had waned.

No you've confused it with another school, it's not conditional at Pipers - maybe you're thinking of Berkhamsted.

Godstowe have quite a few girls leaving at 11 this year, but not to grammars. (they will also have a few joining who won't board until 13).

There are definitely girls leaving to go to grammars this year and last from Godstowe. I know some of these girls, and it’s definitely more than 4-6. There is a 11+ cohort who have specific study sessions if that’s the route they are aiming for. However, Godstowe is more focused on boarding and a larger proportion do go on to board

I’m not. Mrs Ness-Gifford changed the policy of automatic transfer when she arrived to up the exam result profile of the senior school. If was common for DDs to transfer into the prep whose parents thought they wouldn’t get the 11 plus. Some were not very academic. To up the academic profile of the school, automatic progression was stopped. There was a lot of talk about it at the time. As you can see from the results, the school is selective. Can you point me to the document which says all girls will transfer to the senior school no matter what? They have become much more selective at prep level I think. They used to take anyone with the money. So I suspect they don’t need to decline progression to the senior school but they used to.

@Aqua20 I would also think about what school you are aiming for secondary. If it’s private and you’d prefer a through school, then I can see why Pipers is appealing. If it’s grammar than I would consider other options like Maltmans or High March

@Fretfulmum - which girls? They do not prep for grammar.

@TizerorFizz My daughter is in Year 6 and it's not their policy. They are all moving up to Year 7 apart from the 3 (out of 40) who are moving schools.

She used to be in HM, has moved to Pipers I know a lot of the parents who also moved to Godstowe at the same time as HM was awful.

I don't understand why people post when they are not sure what they're posting about - it's really not helpful at all.

@underneaththeash
“she used to be in HM” - what does this mean?

Do you mean I don’t know what I’m posting about?

[quote TizerorFizz]@underneaththeash
“she used to be in HM” - what does this mean?

Do you mean I don’t know what I’m posting about?[/quote]
Exactly my point.
This board is supposed to be helping people to chose the right school and you clearly know nothing about it.

It's a life point too - if you don't have something important to say - say nothing.

@underneaththeash my next door neighbour is at Godstowe and is leaving for a grammar this year. Yes Godstowe do not prep for grammar, but they have a small study session after school for those who are sitting the exam, in the run up to the exam. I wouldn’t call it grammar prep though

@Fretfulmum
Yes. I understood they did this.

@underneaththeash
I think I do know what I’m talking about. Mrs Ness-Gifford taught my DD before she went to Pipers. I know exactly where she came from.