Lancing college, Woldingham School, Queenswood, Mayfield and Queen Margaret's , any review or comments?

[matliz]

hi, we are from Hong Kong and my girl gets offer from Lancing College, Woldingham School, Queenswood School, Mayfield school and Queen Margaret’s. We would like to seek some advice here as we have visited to Lancing college only and we can’t make any visits before making decision. My DD likes the farm in Lancing but the academic results seems not be as good as others. She is a little bit sporty and plays drum and her academic is in average in my country.

Actually, I am not sure which school will fit her and would like to seek some advice or info or comments on any of those schools here. I am concerning the full boarding activities or usually it’s a weekly boarding school, pastoral care, university support, reputation etc .
Thank you very much.

You have another thread with even more schools named!

I can only tell you about Queenswood. It is largely day and weekly boarding but the girls who stay in have many weekend activities and mine did full boarding there. It’s a very busy school with lots going on. Music is strong and so is drama and sport. The school is much more than this though. There are house competitions and lots of clubs. Lots of things to do if you want to join in.

They would no doubt relish someone who plays the drums! There’s always lots of music groups. You don’t have to be sporty to fit in and girls there do have fun. High achieving girls are well catered for but so are more average achievers so there is a mix. Competition to be the best doesn’t spoil school life so girls are well rounded and get a broad education and, best of all, friends for life.

Sorry I missed two of your questions. Like many small boarding schools, boarding staff know the girls well. Not only that, the girls support each other. That’s invaluable. Pastoral care is prioritised and there is always someone to talk to.

University applications are talked through with each individual girl and plenty aim high. They go to a wide range of universities and girls are encouraged to think about this early due to subject choices. Girls tend to be self starters and some former pupils now offer careers advice to the girls which is beneficial. There is always someone to ask!

Bubblesbuddy,

Thank you for the fruitful information. As we haven't visited the school before we want to know how the boarding house is? Will it be a little bit packed and have separate for studying? Will it be pushy on academic ?

Woldingham normally includes a taster weekend stay as part of the assessment. It is in the greenbelt on the North Downs despite its proximity to London and airports. Check ratio of full boarders to weekly/day though.

Liz's,
Thank you. I will check with the school about full and weekly boarders.

Any comments on Mayfield School ?

Queen Margaret's near York?

What year of entry?

Physicskate

Yes, Queen Margaret's in York
Year 10

I have friends who work there. They get amazing results for the girls and that's how they see it.

In year 10 she would share a room and study space is not the best.

Huge opportunities for sporty girls. Loads of extra-curricular for such a small school.

They current head is leaving and I get the impression that the school is in a state of flux. There used to be LOADS of oversees girls, but this has decreased slightly over the past five or so years. Lots of change is to be expected, but I've always heard they eat amazing results for the ability of the girls who go there. Lots of support. Teachers (and the school) bend over backwards to help - they don't know the word 'no'.

Physicskate,

Many thanks. I knew that the headmistress will leave next year and did it announce who will be the headmaster/mistress or still under recruiting?
It is a school with great support and facilities with lower school fee. However, it is a little bit far from the airport

I haven't followed closely, but I don't recall anyone being announced.

It is far from the London airports, but close to York (where a coach picks up girls at the ends of half terms etc) and just over two hours by train to kings cross train station in London. Also about an hour to Manchester airport from York. York itself is an absolutely fantastic small city!!!

I think for such a small school, it affords the girls opportunities that are pretty incredible.

Obviously, there is a lot of uncertainty with new leadership, so please do your homework.

Mayfield is a lovely down to earth school, with a long standing and well respected headmistress, which caters for both academic (including maths/science) girls and those seeking a broader curriculum (pottery, riding and music are notably strong). A school that appeals to those looking for nuturing and a chance to grow up away from sophisticated London influences. Not too far from Gatwick.

Woldingham is also long established and well regarded, and not seen as a particularly posh school. However, unlike Mayfield whose day pupils tend to be local, a number will commute daily from South London. I would ask about this and the impact it has on school social life.

I would search previous Queenswood threads on this site, one of which created a certain amount of debate. It has a reputation for being a bit snooty. Great if your dd can hold their own with the monied home counties types, but otherwise perhaps a bit isolating.

I dont know much about the other two.

Needmoresleep,

Thank you for the information. Before reading your messages, we decide to choose from Queenswood, Malvern St James and Mayfield. We have limited information found in the mumsnet about Mayfield. So I am glad to get some info from you about Mayfield.

My DD practices track and field here so she intends to choose either Queenswood or Mayfield. However, I am looking for a all round school for her but seems that Queenswood is less academic

My understanding is that Mayfields Catholicism comes with a relatively light touch. At least compared to, say, St Mary's Ascot, who expect parents to be practicing. One advantage Catholicism brings is that overseas boarders come from a good mix of countries with Catholic communities: Latin America; Poland; West Africa; East Asia etc. A good mix, as oposed to most overseas students coming from a single country or language group, helps easy integration. I also understand that there is increasing demand from those who want a more nurturing alternative to London's scholastic arms race.

It is a nice school, that caters for a wide range of abilities and wider talents.

Queenswood has a couple of day schools fairly close that are considered more hot house academic. However Queenswood suits all rounders. If a girl is bright, she will do very well, and plenty do. It does seem slightly less academic than it was when my DDs were there, looking at results, but you don’t need a school full of genious children for your DD to get excellent results! You need enough children who are like minded and overseas DDs usually are!

Yes, we encountered some snooty types. I think that’s inevitable as it is an expensive school. More expensive for day pupils than many others. However, we met lots of lovely parents and parental input is encouraged. There are lots of events for parents (if you can make it) and just because people are well off, it doesn’t make them unfriendly. My DDs were not isolated! I was aware of a couple of bursary children who didn’t thrive but they were a small minority. Every year group builds strong bonds and they support each other. Parents and girls. I hope you enjoy your visit and it’s informative.

Queenswood is academic though, they’re the top value added in Herts, the academic scholar program isn’t great. The girls get excellent grades, and go on to top universities ...why do people think it’s not academically inclined?

From their website “The 2018 Year 11 cohort performed very well across all subject areas with top grades 9, 8, 7 and A/A achieved in 61.3% of entries, and 96.7 % at grades 9 - 4 or A-C. Results for History and Modern Languages were particularly strong this year, with 85.2% achieving grades A and A across six subjects. Three girls achieved marks that placed them in the top 1% of all results for Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics. 24 out of the 64 girls (37.5%) achieved top grades in eight or more subjects - grades 9, 8 and 7 or their equivalent grades in letters, A/A (in common with most independent schools, Queenswood has a mix of GCSEs graded in numbers as well as GCSEs and IGCSEs graded in letters).”

I love Queenswood because it is not a hot house but bright girls do exceptionally well there. Whilst there is an entrance exam it isn’t particularly tough and it selects from a broad range of abilities (not creaming off the very top). Their results reflect this IMO and their sales pitch includes the statement that on average their girls get one grade higher than they would elsewhere based on their value added scores.

Bright girls do exceptionally well there and my DD is hopefully joining them shortly!!

Looking at university destinations now, they are not as strong as a few years ago. The Chinese girls really boost results. It’s not as high up the tables as it used to be.

My DD held an academic 6th form scholarship there. I do know academic girls can do well but it’s not as highly academic as some schools. It’s not Wycombe Abbey or St Paul’s Girls School is it? There are plenty of bright girls every year though but not as many as some schools and, as zodlebud says, it doesn’t sell itself as an academic hot house. It’s not overly selective but it has happy girls who achieve well. That’s what we wanted. Girls are confident and really develop as people whilst they are there.

My DDs going in next term to help girls prepare for an advocacy competition. Lots of budding lawyers apparently!

Needmoresleep,

Thank you for your comments. I want my DD to integrate into school with different boarders instead of from a single country. That’s why she prefers Queenswood or Mayfield instead of MSJ.

BubblesBuddy,

Thank you for your comments. My DD is bright but not academic achievers. I want her to get all-rounded education. I wonder there will be many day students instead of full boarders as it is close to London. Hence, there will be full of international students in the weekend. I hope that the proportion of the snooty types is small. My DD will be there in year 10 so she may have difficulties to make friends very soon as Year 10 is not a common entry to school. I hope the school will help her to get well with the new environment.

It does not mention in details about support to University Admission or helping students to get work experience for university application. I know it’s hard to compare with other top schools which have great sources to support their students in university application. Will it be a reason that students with great GCSE results tend to attend other schools instead of staying Queenswood. So is that the school gets more Chinese students to boost up the academic results?

00100001

Thank you for your comments. The academic result of Queenswood is good in which it is a less selective school so teachers must put a lot of efforts to teach students in academic excellance. However, the choice of GCSE subjects are limited.

Zodlebud

Thank you for your comments. My DD is not bright. She does not know which one to choose from. In which year will your DD join Queenswood?

Queenswood are doggedly sticking to the iGCSEs at least for maths, despite most academic independent schools now choosing regular GCSEs. The maths teacher has been quoted as saying that it is needed at Queenswood, as regular GCSE maths isn't attainable for many.

I would have thought that was mis reported FanDabby. I don’t know what exams they do but the girls who were excellent at maths often took the exam early. They were usually adept at getting girls to Imperial and other top universities if they were good enough at maths and science but obviously competition is steep and Queenswood isn’t St Pauls or WA as I said earlier. The idea that most girls couldn’t get a level 4 in maths there is just ridiculous! Many independent schools are doing iGCSE.

Boarders increase as the girls go through the school. Y10 and 11 have quite a few but there are probably more day girls. There are so many things for girls to doand the
School makes a big effort to integrate all the girls for house suppers and house competitions. Day girls have long days and after school clubs are integrated. Day girls do most things except sleep at school. Weekends have activities organised but few girls schools in the uk are now full boarding. Heathfield was until recently.

Girls are given a lot of info about university and how to make choices. Some girls don’t always make the best decisions over courses, eg Criminology instead of Law. Not going to RG to do Law when they could have done. I am not sure staff push girls into the best universities - the impetus has to come from the girls. There do seem to be more girls going to less stellar universities than there used to be but this reflects their interests as well as their aptitude. If a girl wants to aim high, she can. Girls chat about where they are going with like minded pupils and most parents take a keen interest too.

Work experience can be a problem for boarders. You have to make the most of holidays!

I heard that they're sticking with iGCSE maths from a prospective parent who asked about it at an open day. I don't think the implication was that the children couldn't get a 4, rather that the 7-9 grades were harder to achieve.

Maths was the most popular A-level at Queenswood for the 2018 results with 83% of those getting A* to B.

Probably says more about the maths department than what GCSE format they use........

but 7-9s are supposed to be hard to achieve, that's why the GCSE grading was reformed?