Opinions on Henrietta Barnett School Vs Woodford county vs chelmsford Grammar School for Girls

[rekha80]

hey,my daughter has secured a place at woodford county and is in the top 500 at hbs we are awaiting chelmsford results. Now i am in real confusion in choosing between these. woodford is near to us when compared to hbs and chelmsford but behind in league tables. any suggestions, pros and cons abt these schools pls? also i heard that recently quite a few teachers have resigned from woodford county is this true?

Go to the nearest one! Ridiculous to think of your child travelling that kind of distance. Very little difference in quality of teaching between good schools; if your dd is bright she can do well at any of them.

Also, do you want a mixed or single-sex school? Bigger difference than academic attainment to consider.

By the way, HBS should have told you if your dd is in top 250 by now - if not, she is v unlikely to get a place anyway.

Those are all single sex school BTW.

I am surprised that you live somewhere where you have a hope of getting into all three schools, as both Woodford and Chelmsford have distance criteria/catchments.

thanks for responses,well she is sure of a place at woodford with 21st rank awaiting chelmsford results, hopefully she will get a place. hbs have informed that she isin top 500 will know if she in intop 250 by 23rd. HBS is ahead of chelms and woodford, hence the dilemma :( weprefer single sex school.
other question is, does it make a difference insecuring a university plc or is it entirely dependend on the A levels?

The only thing that might give you a preference at University is some deprived school, which rarely sends students to University.
Those schools could just give your DD good teaching, opportunities and an ability to present herself well.

Would you seriously consider commuting to HBS from Essex??

You must be mad...no school is worth that. (Was at HBS - it's quite nice but really not that unique.)

. It strikes me that the opportunity to access one good grammar is enough rather than considering three that are by no means close to each other. It's not all about the league tables - let your DD have a life and spare time...

Well said - the obsession with league tables is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of statistics. Or logic. Or both.

People read that 99% of children at school X get 10 As. Ah! they exclaim - if only I could get my (rather average) child into school X, then s/he too would get 10 As!

But of course, school X gets these great results precisely because it selects on exam only those children virtually guaranteed already (based on innate ability) to get 10 As. The school adds very little, if any, value. Those individual children would also be just as capable of getting 10 As if they were at school Y or Z (or A or B or C etc).

If your child is capable of getting into school X, then they will be capable of getting 10 A*s (or 11, or 9 or whatever) at any good school. If you choose to send your child to school X, then fine, but don't imagine that doing this alone 'guarantees' anything. All it does is prove that the school believes your child has sufficient innate ability not to muck up its league table position. (And the top schools often chuck out those who look like they're going to muck up the league table position, by the way.)

A bright child at any one of the 3 schools mentioned should do well - a bright child forced to commute for hours every day will almost certainly be a miserable, tired one, though, with no local friends or time for extra-curricular activities (or rest).

And yes, some schools have particular strength at A Level and/or university entrance in particular subjects - but this is irrelevant at this stage, as you can have no idea what your dd will want to study at A Level as she has just turned 11 at most! Plus any good teachers teaching now may have left/retired by the time your dd is in the sixth form - past performance is no guarantee at all of future performance, let alone 8 years' down the line (ie last year's results compared to your daughter's in 7 years' time).

Breadandbutterfly - the voice of reason......

It is gross opportunism hedging bets and putting DCs in for 11+ exams here, there and everywhere - where's the sense of local community....?

It is this type of attitude that makes these schools into exam factories....at DS's grammar and several others in the area, the teachers actually berate the fact that there are increasing numbers of DCs who are just there for the results rather than the wider positive aspects that such a school can offer.....