King Edward VI High School for Girls (B’ham)

[QueenMabby]

We thought that we had sussed the secondary options for our dd(10) but I’m having second thoughts. Ish.
Had never even considered KEHS but....now I am!
Can anyone give me a steer on the school and whether it would suit a very academically able, musically inclined but not sporty (enjoys games but not very good!!) dd?? Thanks.

Yes it sounds perfect for the DD you are describing.

Yes I should think it would. Sport is good there but my dd isn’t particularly able sports-wise and has generally really enjoyed PE. Music is also really good. It’s a great school for a joiner-inner as there’s lots to do. Maybe not such good value if your dd is unlikely to join clubs, go on trips etc.

Where else are you considering?

My daughter is a joiner! She does so many clubs already. Solihull and King’s High Warwick also on the list. Am I missing any?

You’re only considering independent schools? Otherwise the obvious ones to try for are the grammars but only if you’re in catchment now. Where do you live? Do you want single sex or co-ed ideally?

Not in catchment unfortunately and missed the registration date anyway....

Depending on where you live you could consider Bromsgrove School? Have you done any open days yet?

What year is your DD? As you've missed the registration date for the grammars are you sure you are on time for any entrance at the independents? KEHS is a competitive school to get into and some girls will have been preparing for months, even years. To suddenly jump in at this stage, fees are not cheap, to think that this can suddenly be an option, seems a bit disorganised OP. To say you have sussed the secondary options in Birmingham for an academically able musically inclined kid without registering for the grammars doesn't ring true.

Change, if she lives Solihull way (just a guess) the Birmingham grammars aren’t really an option with the new catchment rules. Warwickshire grammars would be but I’m guessing she’s missed that deadline too.

KEHS is competitive but I don’t think much preparation is necessary. It’s not like the grammar test where you need to practise exam technique. We didn’t do any prep at all for KEHS - we were in two minds whether she should take it - and dd got offered an assisted place. I think the cut off for applications is Sept but I may be wrong.

Definitely not interested in the grammars (and not in catchment anyway). We have time on the indies.
I genuinely don’t believe she needs any additional preparation for entrance exams. We had a specific school in mind (where her DBrother goes) but something a friend said (she’s a teacher) made me wonder if we weren’t doing dd a disservice by not keeping our options open. I appreciate this is disorganised (I’m not usually - honest!) but we’re not too late yet!
I’m not sure about Bromsgrove crazy it’s very large and I think dd might get lost (personality wise!) there.

You have nothing to lose (well £25!) by entering her. What does she think? What’s travel like?

It’s a good school, I have no idea how it compares to other independents like Solihull, but I tend to think a bright child will do equally well at most decent schools. However it’s possible your daughter would be happier in one environment over another. You will get a feel for that by visiting the options.

You definitely haven’t left it too late. The exams consist of typical key stage 2 type work - Maths, comprehension, creative writing. Nothing that needs specific prep!

If you are considering Solihull, you may also want to consider St Martin’s. It’s a small girls school, very nurturing and there are loads of opportunities to join in and shine because of its size. Academically the DDs do very well (albeit that they take a wider academic intake than other schools) and actually get similar GCSE results to Solihull despite being less selective.

Personally, I think DCs are more likely to get lost at Solihull than at Bromsgrove. It is a large school but the house system means there are high levels of pastoral care and lots of staff to give personal attention to DCs. Inter-House competitions also mean that DCs are expected to join in with anything from house singing to poetry reading and sport. Solihull notices the kids who have something special to offer or those that are failing but tend to overlook the DCs in the middle. But at Bromsgrove you have to sign up to long days and lots of Saturday sport. All DC are expected to be in a team even if it’s 5th team! Bromsgrove because of its size also takes a wider intake but academically does as well as Solihull or St Martin’s. Most schools around Birmingham suffer from the KEHS and grammar school effect as the brightest kids often choose these schools.

Kings Warwick is hard to join in seniors. Most DDs come from the junior school and I know several DDs who just couldn’t break into the established groups, never settled and ended up leaving. However, the new school site on the boys’ grounds does look amazing and gives the best of both all girls and co-ed especially at 6th form.

From my experience based on my own DD and experience of friends there seems to be more friendship issues and falling out between girls in the co-ed schools than single sex. I know a lot depends on the personalities in a year group but the competition for male attention seems more pronounced and creates more bad behaviour in the co-ed schools.

What about Edgbaston High? I suspect that would also suit and its more academic than St Martin's!

There seems to be some fallacy that St Martin’s is weak academically. If you look at the results for last year v Edgbaston High, St Martin’s had 68% A* or A equivalent and Edgbaston was lower at 58%. Interestingly I can’t find Solihull’s results or at least they are not boasting about them as they are deeply hidden in their website. However, in the past St Martin’s often outperforms Solihull at GCSE. As a small girls school they do lose girls in 6th form and unlike some schools eg Solihull they don’t ask pupils to leave at 6th form if they aren’t performing.

Solihull’s results aren’t as transparent. They list percentage of 7-9 per subject but not the number of entries nor the overall percentage. Figures range from in the 40s for some subjects up to 70s for others so I suspect they wouldn’t be as good as St Martin’s.

Bromsgrove has a full breakdown of results but only for 2017! From a quick scan they look good though.

Doing a quick calculation from the results list on the website, Bromsgrove’s has around 54% A*/A at GCSE. They do have an intake of about 200 DCs which is double the size of Solihull and dwarfs a tiny school like St Martin’s. There were around 950 top grades awarded to their students so the actual numbers getting top grades is high but they have a larger tail of students getting lower grades than say Solihull which only needs to fill 100 places.

Obviously none of these schools are in the same academic league as KEHS or the Birmingham grammar schools. And all these schools traditionally have suffered from the best DCs being creamed off to these schools. King’s also competes with Stratford Girls grammar school but KEHS is probably too far for most DC in Warwickshire.

I should have added these were the 2018 results for Bromsgrove.

The real question is whether a particular child will do any better in a school where 92% of results are 9-7 compared to 52%. It’s obviously impossible to know.

I think if your daughter is likely to be nearer the bottom of KEHS it might not be the best place for her. Or if she’s one-sided rather than an all-rounder. Otherwise, it’s a pretty supportive place and actually very non-competitive.

Thank you for all the very helpful responses. She is (I think) really very academically capable. Her school does annual verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests and the last two years she got 100% in both. Her reading age was the highest they could give.
She is however a perfectionist and sometimes doesn't challenge herself enough out of fear of getting something wrong.
I think as a pp said, she would probably achieve really well wherever she was. She is however quite sensitive (overly so sometimes 🙄) so ideally she needs somewhere nurturing and gentle but with v high academics. A unicorn of a school then! 😂😂

crazycrofter - I have no clue where she’s be at KEHS in terms of placing. I suspect she’d be in the top third but I can’t say for sure. For school reports/results she seems to be equally good at English Maths and Science although always states that she hates Maths!

As a I said before KEHS sounds like a perfect school from your description of your D.D. The teachers care for and support their girls well. It is however a competitive environment and some are stimulated by that and others not. if you want a very nurturing school that will definitely get the best academics out of your DD, I would say St Martin’s. It is gentle and they do an amazing job building the confidence of their girls.

I suppose it depends what you mean by competitive. I haven’t found KEHS competitive - they don’t do the things my ds’ grammar do to fuel competition eg read out everyone’s marks in order/ only allow top students to enter the Maths Challenge/ set the students for core subjects etc. It feels very egalitarian to me.

Obviously girls know how their friends have done so if you’re lagging behind it could be demoralising. It sounds like the OP’s daughter would be near the top though.

Crazy - I agree.

In my experience the competition comes not from the school but from from the pressure the girls and their families put on themselves. It is a school that attracts a certain type because of its high academic reputation. There is a real drive for perfect marks and the desire be top tier academically. The sheer number of girls with that pressure on them creates a subtle competition between the girls. As I said some thrive in that environment but for others it can be soul destroying and can impact on mental health. I do think the school is very good at managing the girls and it definitely does not try to exacerbate that in any way.

i went there mumble mumble years ago, as di my mum and my sisters - al enjoyed it, all bright enough and muscial but would do anything to get out of sports (4 week fake period to avoid swimming anyone?). Go for it.

Sorry to hijack this thread but can anyone advise me on how difficult it is to gain entry to ehs please? My dd is in a state primary and were considering ehs. Many thanks

I think if your daughter is at the top of her class, or maybe in the top handful she has a good chance. We found there wasn’t much need to prepare for the exam as it was very similar to Key Stage 2 work.

A lot of girls who get into KEHS also get scholarships to EHS (although they generally choose KEHS!). They can be very generous, up to 50%.