Bromley High School

[Shalom23]

Has anyone experience of the secondary school? DD is very creative regarding drama and writing. I've heard some worrying things about the English teaching and as this is DDs passion I would love to hear of some personal experiences. Their results look good but any idea on Oxbridge tuition? Thank you in advance.

Bump. Anyone?

Yes, my DD is there and loves it. Feel free to pm me with questions. So far it seems great - the girls are relaxed and happy. They have a "Pastoral puppy" who lives with a senior teacher and comes to school every day. Loads of music and drama and sport. Good food. One of the teachers was telling DD's class how much he enjoyed being there as he could relax and be himself and have a joke with the kids. DD says head is very approachable and friendly and girls chat with her in the corridors. Lots of inspiring outside speakers. Good focus on women's issues. I don't have a bad word to say about it.

Nb lots of girls go elsewhere for sixth form because they want somewhere mixed, so from that point of view I wouldn't let Oxbridge prep dictate your preferences at this stage. Tbh if your DD wants to maximise chances of getting into Oxbridge then grammar school would probably be preferable.

Thank you both. Sounds very positive though I didn't realise there was an exodus for sixth form. Is there a reason for this? Thank you.

Have you thought about Newstead Woods grammar for Girls or the Bexley Grammar schools? Just as the pp has mentioned you would likely get a better shot at oxbridge due to the % of state educated children they are required to have on intake.
If independent is where you want to go however Bromlry High would not be my first choice of school. Have you considered Babingtion House School which Is not far away or Farringtons?

Exodus at sixth form is largely because few people want to attend a single - sex school at 16-18. I think they go to the grammar schools, to Eltham College, or to more distant independents at that stage. BHS is generally considered the most academic independent school for girls or co-ed in the immediate area, which is why we went there. However, that depends on where you are and what else is reachable. As PP says, Farringdons is nice - has a good rep for pastoral care and we know kids there who like it, but it depends what you want and where you are. What I like about it is that it seems to be no-nonsense, girls are expected to be capable of everything, everybody is expected to do sport, lots of extracurricular stuff. There hasn't been much pressure but we've only done Y7. However, other parents I know who've had girls go right through have all been pleased.

Bromley High has a reputation as a caring school and it does well considering it has a wider academic intake. I wouldn't say it has an established Oxbridge presence - you'd need to transfer to St Olaves for 6th form for that or a more competitive independent I think.

Maybe put a shout out to PettsWoodParadise as she had a daughter who attended this school who moved to a Grammar school.

My knowledge of the secondary school is via DD’s friends who stayed on so not first hand. Yes she went to a Grammar and is far happier there than she ever was a BH. Friends who stayed at BH are happy too - the respective schools are the right fit for the respective DDs. Very small sixth form as others have said. It just wouldn’t have been the right school for DD even taking out the fees from the equation.

Has anyone got any feedback on the Junior School? We are looking at it for DD from y3 & hopefully she will carry on to seniors.

We did this for DD, Y3 to Y6. It may be the right move depending on current options and fit. It only didn’t turn out right for DD due to a small number of particular girls who made her miserable and the focus at the time on sport over academic achievement. Maths teaching was also patchy and at one point downright terrible.

It is also a hard school to be in if the fees are a struggle.

DD is the resilient type but she didn’t want to stay on and is so much happier at Newstead.

Thank you Petts. That’s a bit worrying re the unkindness & maths !!

Our daughter went to the junior school and is now near the end of the senior school. I agree completely about the maths teaching in the junior school. They also did some streaming in maths in my daughters year (which I think they have now stopped) which really didn’t work. We were told she couldn’t cope with maths at top speed and didn’t have maths confidence with little support in terms of how to improve things. So We ended up having tutoring for our daughter (on top of the fees so we weren’t happy) who noticed a lot of gaps. When we addressed with school all very complacent. Having been told that she couldn’t cope with the pace of maths in the top set in year 6, once she had the tutor just over the summer at the end of year 6, she flew and got into the top set in maths at senior school. If I had had to decide about senior schools at end of year 6, rather than the beginning of year 6 knowing more we would have definitely tried out for the grammar schools. Having said that we have definitely found senior school much better than the junior school for my daughter, although there can be friendship issues etc we have found it much more proactive in dealing with stuff and issues and the expectations of all girls are much higher. We also found it fairer, in terms of getting into school sports teams, parts in plays etc. Hope that helps

Our daughter is at Bromley High School and she is very happy. It is a good school. In fact deemed outstanding if you read the last ISI report. Drama and English are of a high standard comparable to the competition locally. In terms of Oxbridge, your child will stand a good chance of getting in depending on her ability and intellect. This is irrespective of the school. Oxbridge recruits a certain type of individual, and it is not necessarily suited to all young adults. I went there so I say this with a degree of confidence. It is far better that you send your daughter to a school [Grammar, Co-Ed, Single Sex, Independents] where she will be happy, form friendships that will last, and one which will allow her to realise her potential. Peer pressure to do well is good in many ways. However, it can also be detrimental from an unwritten perspective - pressure and psychological- but only you as a parent will know how resilient your child is or will be.

My daughter is at Bromley High School and is very happy there. She’s still only in Y1,
very bright (We’ve been told) and the sensitive type, so I feel the school suits her well. She says she finds the work (especially maths) too easy sometimes, but at this stage, I’m not too worried. It is a lovely school with kind teachers and lots of space. We live just a 5 minute walk from Babington House, but decided to send her to BHS instead, because of the space and facilities. But for secondary school, I’d definitely consider a more academic school, if she wants to go down the Oxbridge path.