Is Farnborough Hill school any good?

[Crazyx4]

I am going to an open morning there next week and was wondering if anyone has any first hand experience of the school. Any advice on what questions I should be asking? DD is in state junior so I have no experience of the private sector and am a bit unsure what to expect.

I went to Farnborough Hill many years ago. Looking back now I would say that the academic environment was very impressive and really, really motivated me. I went on to get a first class degree, MA and PhD. I'm now a university lecturer and thoroughly enjoy every second of my job.

Thought I might as well offer my opinion for what it's worth! Our daughter started at Farnborough Hill last year and despite our initial misgivings we feel we definitely made the right choice. Myself and my husband looked at several options within reasonable travelling distance for us and looking at the list of potential contenders Farnborugh Hill seemed to be ahead of the rest. The only snag we could see was that we are both atheists and were a bit put off a first by the fact that it's a catholic school, worrying that our daughter would be feel under pressure in such an environment. Fortunately we have friends who also send their daughters there - one family like us who don't have a religion, and one family who are Muslim - and were reassured that there was no forcing of religion on pupils if they have a differing or indeed no particular belief. So we took the plunge and are so glad for our daughter's sake that we did. There's no pressure at all over religion with a refreshingly liberal live and let live attitude pervading the issue, and the education provided is proving to be second to none. Daughter had a tendency to coast along at her previous school, being bright enough to have worked out the minimum amount of work she could get away with doing(!), but Farnborough Hill has succeeded in engaging her interest so that she has a chance of achieving her potential whilst also encouraging her to enjoy her time there, so no danger of 'hot housing' thank goodness. She's also made some good friends and is involved in the many extra-curricular activities there, such as the various sports and dance clubs.
That's our take on it anyway. Hope that it's of assistance to anybody else who's trying to pick their way through the thorny issue of secondary schools :-)

Does anyone know how many questions there are on Farnborough Hill's Verbal Reasoning entrance exam? I have heard that the questions on all the papers are 'easier' than those on the GL Assessment Papers. Could anyone shed any light on this?

Not sure I'm afraid, asked DD about the number of questions on the verbal reasoning but got an inconclusive reply - I guess a year ago is an eternity to somebody her age! As for how 'easy' the papers are I can't judge - sorry. Open days are good for an informal chat with the teachers if that's any use, the staff at Farnborough are very approachable.

Is Farnborough Sixth form good for a student that needs structure? my son is either going to FS or Edgbarrow. He thinks Edgbarrow will structure his work and push him more, he is worried that FS will give him too much freedom and not enough support. Does anyone have any experience?

Hi Berkshire. You might be best starting your own thread about this as Farnborough Hill is a private girls school (subject of the original thread) and it's a very old thread! However, Farnborough Sixth Form looks to have an impressive support process but there certainly seem to be a lot of free, sorry, study periods. I don't know about Edgbarrow, but the sixth form centre looked impressive and seemed to have a good ethos when we visited (a while ago now). So, I don't know in short. I have some of the same concerns for my dc who will be starting soon.

My daughter is very happy at Farnborough Hill and is doing very well academically there. The learning environment is focussed and calm. There are wonderful sporting opportunities too. The girls are also getting a good social and moral education. Would definitely recommend this school.