Heathfield School Ascot

[twinsmum2007]

I am considering sending my daughter to Heathfield School in Ascot. I love many things about the school and am very impressed with the Head. I wonder though how academic it is and if they get the best exam results out of each individual girl. My daughter is very bright and has a place at our local grammar school if we want it. It is impossible to compare the results of one school to another as the grammar is highly selective and therefore results are very high (it is in the top 5% of the country). Heathfield is non selective and therefore it is natural that their overall results will not be as high. However, I am hoping that it can still get very high GCSE and A level results from it's brighter students. I have also read that traditionally Heathfield was considered a school for non-academic girls, but I get the feeling that this has changed,changing and now it has excellent teaching and results. Can anyone with experience of the school please share their views on this please? Many thanks!

To get some of the information you are looking for ask the School for their Value Added scores, which will tell you how much they get out of each pupil. Also ask for information on their programme for More Able and Talented and their enrichment programme. This should tell you what they provide to stretch your DD over and above the general curriculum. Also ask how many students are involved in these activities which will give you an idea whether academic excellent is something all the pupil there strive for. Hope this helps and bumps your post for someone with actual experience of the school to see.

Thank you SpikeStoker for your response. Some good points and I'll follow up with the school :)

Good evening, I used to work at the school (not a teacher) but left about five years ago so my experience is not recent. However, when I was there the school was lovely - it's small, nurturing, the pastoral care is excellent and the school equips every girl to fulfil her potential. I know it's not academically selective but the school achieves very good results and the environment encourages girls to do their best, but without the stress of an academic hothouse. The facilities are very good and the school is particularly strong at arts and drama, less so at sports (although this does give the opportunity for every girl to participate and play in teams etc if they choose to). I don't know the new Head, and I do know what a difference a strong/weak head can make so it's worth trying to find out more but my experience of the school was positive.

My DD was there with the old Head, and they were improving the academics a lot with her. I believe the new Head is a better leader and I have no doubt that the quality of teaching will continue to improve. Girls are getting to the best universities and certainly very bright girls are doing well. I do agree that art and photography are exceptional but other subjects are well taught too.

The girls are known as individuals and can flourish as such. I can certainly recommend the school.

I have attended a couple of Heathfield's most recent open mornings and I can tell you that I was extremely impressed with everything, including the Head, the staff and most importantly, the pupils who were articulate, happy and ambitious. Reading more about the school I learnt that they are in the top 17% for added value and whilst the majority of girls go on to Russell Group universities (including Oxbridge) leavers also went on to other top destinations such as RADA and Central St Martins. I came away feeling that it is a far more academic school than people think. And a very happy one - a rare thing these days! I loved it. Hope this helps.

Hi My daughter started at Heathfield last September and loves it! The school has just been inspected too and has achieved Excellence in all areas. My daughter is bright but not quite Talented & Gifted criteria. She is thriving and increasing in confidence as she was a rather shy bookworm. I feel the staff know her inside out and definitely want all the girls to achieve well academically. There is an entrance exam and apparently for this September a waiting list for places. We are so happy we made this choice, I know how stressful it is. The school is thriving under Mrs Gardiner Legge. We thought the facilities were fab before our daughter started with the pool, science block, photography, recording studio etc. My daughter tells me that they have just got a new dance studio, gym, new catering and the boarding areas are being refurbished. My advice is to go to an Open Day and see for yourself. I want my daughter to go to a good university and definately feel Heathfield will facilitate that. They also get girls into RADA, St Martins and music schools. We have been to school to music concerts & their production of Oliver! was unbelievable. Have a look at the Facebook site to get a feel of what goes on. Good Luck!