Secondary in Buckinghamshire

[weevilswobble]

So..........IF one was to be moving to Buckinghamshire with a DD aged 11, which Girls Grammar would you recommend? Gerrards Cross, Amersham kinda area. I know Challoners is full, what other options?

Beaconsfield High.

I really like the look of Borlase and have heard lots of good things about it. We live too far away though.

I've heard from a variety of different sources (well 4) that Borlase actively encourages parents to employ tutors if pupils can't keep up. We are in catchment but I doubt I will send ds there unless things change.

I wouldn't recommend Borlase based on what staff and pupils I know have said. Becky high is very good, Wycombe high is going through a couple of changes but has a very strong SMT so should do fine.

Why, what have people said Fraktal?

Maybe I should stop wishing for it for ds2 then!

Actively encourages tutors? Puke! Totally grrrrrrr!
Becky high and wycombe i have heard of.....
Thanks for replies so far. Gotta love MN for these anxious times.
Location, location, location had 2 families looking in Bucks this evening! Spooky!

Problems with discipline, poor SEN provision, extensive tutoring (so much so that a former teacher makes a mint from his tutoring business), extensive creaming at the end of y11, staff routinely teaching out of their subject specialism. 90% hearsay which I'm sure is exaggerated but my best friend from childhood teaches there and would love to move because she doesn't feel supported by the leadership and my mother gets a lot of Borlase pupils for tutoring of an evening.

Fraktal I'd heard the same plus a lack of pastoral care. The head is too obsessed with league tables.

Beaconsfield High also relies extensively on parents paying for tutors to get the girls through exams. I now think that's the way all the grammar schools work. Even the most academic seem to be tutored.

The school hasn't had a full-time head for four years and it shows ! Wycombe High seems to have a better culture and better pastoral care than Becky High.

Chesham Grammar is excellent

Thank you sooooo much for your input guys, the 11+ in our area isnt recognised in Bucks, so its all a bit of a nightmare! I'm liking the sound of Wycombe and Chesham. Does anyone know if there is any chance of getting a place for yr8 in sept???

Ah! No need now! Wont be moving! Yay!

Unlikely to get a place for Borlase in Year 8 as the school is nearly always oversubscribed due to popularity. I have one child at the school and one in a Bucks primary due to start in Sept. I have NEVER heard or been encouraged to tutor my child for Borlase. Tutoring for the 11+ is now endemic across the whole of Bucks if not the South East. Why would a grammar school want over-tutored kids who cannot keep up with the curriculum? My son who is Year 10 has had loads of support from the school in areas he has struggled in - never once have they suggested I get in outside help - they have always done their best to offer him extra lessons and/or sixth form mentoring. Borlase is so popular for sixth form that they have had to raise the grades you need for admission (302 applications for 138 places last year). Only 5 Borlase Year 11 students would not have made the cut and they were given intense help or were given counselling on where the next step should be for that child in Year 12. Show me a head that isn't obsessed with league tables...I think it is fair to say you should only comment directly on a school if you have had experience of it as a teacher or pupil otherwise it's just hearsay.

Where is Borlase?

Marlow.

Ta

Hmm, ds is at Borlase and I would say the pastoral care is pretty non existent compared to friends of his who are at JH and RGS.

He's being tutored in one subject for AS because frankly the teacher is pretty disinterested.

I don't have anyone at the school but I know people who do. And I have friends who know people (different from those I know). The common theme is need for external tutoring and lack of pastoral care. Having said that I do know someone who is planning to send their dc there this year. Their dc is G&T academically so I assume that they won't need any extra tutoring!

My preference is for JH but that's not useful for someone looking for a place for their dd. If ds was going to change schoosl at 11 that would be top of my list.

Chesham Grammar usually put on an extra class in Year 8 to accommodate children who've passed the 12+. You'd stand a good chance there. It has a reputation for being less academic than eg Challoners, which you may or may not prefer.

The school transport funding arrangements are changing from September 2012 as well. You will only get funded transport to your nearest school - tough luck if you are eligible for a grammar school and your nearest school is a secondary modern.

When would one sit the 12+? and if i live miles and miles away and not moving til August how would i get a place for Sept?

You need to contact Buckinghamshire County Council. I was assuming your DD was in year 6, but if she's in year 7 it might be too late.

Several of the grammars are changing their late entry policies including at Y8 instead of the 12+, check the websites.

I know that both Challoners schools and Chesham Grammar are setting their own tests from September this year.