NW London girls' schools - St Helen's, Habs, St Albans

[Dancergirl]

Does anyone have any experience of these schools? Dd is in Year 5 currently so will be looking at 11+ entry.

Dh and I saw St Helen's last week and we loved it - they made us v welcome and we met the Head, first impressions always count. From what I've seen, I think it will suit dd very well - fairly academic but doesn't seem as pushy as somewhere like NLCS.

We haven't seen St Albans yet - we're going later this term. I don't know much about it in terms of how academic, ethos etc....

We've also seen Habs which we liked but can't decide whether to apply or not. Dd is bright but not outstanding iyswim and not a particularly confident, outgoing child. I have heard v mixed reports about Habs and it's difficult to know who to believe. On the one hand you hear it's much more relaxed than NLCS, the girls are not all of a certain type...and on the other hand I've heard the exact opposite ie v similar to NLCS and the girls are under enormous pressure.

Are there any other schools I should be looking at? We saw St Margaret's in Bushey but didn't like it at all.

Well, I went to St Helen's, now have DD1 in St Helen's Year 4, DD2 joining St Helen's in Sept in Reception (and will be applying for DD3 for Nursery for 2012). So of course I'm glad that you loved it. The current Head is retiring end of year, but the new Head seems really nice, and definitely wants to continue with the same ethos etc. I was very happy there, DD1 is very happy there - the academic side is excellent without being pushy, there is a good mix of different types of girls and the individual is valued. It is everything we want for our girls and more.

For me, I'm not into Habs & NLCS, wouldn't ever consider applying to either, and I know nothing about St Alban's either - but all 3 of these are a bit far away anyway, so haven't even looked at them.

As for other schools, what about Royal Masonic? The Head there is amazing, she is a former teacher of mine :-) Have you considered Heathfield? I know a couple of people with DDs there who are extremely happy with it too. A smaller school but gets good results without being so pushy. Northwood College?

Yes, have heard good things about Royal Masonic although dh thinks it's too far. But once you're on the coach it doesn't really matter I suppose. The advantage of St Helen's is the coach stops at the top of our road so very convenient. But will still def have a look at the Masonic.

I have seen Heathfield too, not really sure, no strong feelings either way.

Do you know how easy or otherwise it is to get into St Helen's? What about the interview - my dd is v shy..?

St H isn't "easy" to get into, but not impossible by any means :-) DD1 got into Year 4 having been to various different international schools around the world, she'd never sat a timed test in her life, but had to do English, Maths and non-verbal reasoning, and she'd never seen a non-verbal reasoning paper before either. She hadn't done much multiplication, didn't know her times tables, and had never done division, oh and she mixed English and American spellings sometimes :-) Point is, you don't have to be a genius, perfect or tutored to get in.

If it were me, I would seriously consider trying for a place before 11+ if poss, because I just think that sometimes non-standard entry points can be less intimidating. A chat with the admissions staff would give you a picture of whether there might be places for a possible entry in Year 6, if your DD is at a state primary so you don't have to give notice, you could take up a place if offered at short notice. But don't know if current Year 5 is full and whether or not they've filled any spare places for September already.

But don't worry about the interview, they take a wide variety of girls all with different characters, so shyness is no problem, there are plenty of shy girls at St H.

Thanks stikmatix, that's good to hear.

I did actually think about moving her before Year 7. The only trouble with that is, we would have to forget about the state schools we are also looking at - Watford Grammar, Parmiters, possibly the Jewish schools. I wouldn't want to move her again after only a year at a school and I still want to keep our options open at this stage if that makes sense.