Henrietta Barnett 11+ exam prep

[ZenaTBL]

My daughter will be sitting the 11+ entrance exams for Henrietta Barnett in September next year (2020). She has been preparing for verbal and non-verbal reasoning, maths and English. I know HB now use GL assessments for the first round, but it says on the GL website: ‘ Please note, however, 11+ tests vary from area to area. If you don’t know what type of tests your admissions authority uses, you may find it helpful to check their website or contact them directly.’ I have seen posts on forums where people talk about CEM and CPG and other terms, and I’m also aware that HB changed the first round format a couple of years ago.
But I am quite confused about what the different types are, and what specific books/past papers I should get that would be the most useful preparation for her.
If anyone could help me, it would be much appreciated.

Yes HBS have moved to GL. I think what GL means by the statement you quote is that the exact format will differ: number of questions, format, long/short format etc. Very schools reveal the exact details and like to vary it occasionally. Do head over to the elevenplusexams.co.uk where HBS is discussed at length, quite obsessively in fact.

More generally, I also recommend reading the posts about HBS here in recent months. There is nothing special about HBS that any selective school doesn't have, except for some (and definitely not all!) of the most pushy parents in the country. People think nothing of having their 11 year old children travel over an hour to school from Bucks, South London or Surrey.. So very little opportunity to meet friends at the weekend or for birthday parties.

It's a good school but do your homework beyond the league tables.

HBS get incredible results, but mostly due to the fact that they are so EXTREMELY selective at intake that those super-bright girls are bound to be A* students. From what I hear the pressure on the girls is also relentless, whereas Latymer and DAO although also super-selective (I know DAO is only super-selective for part of its intake) appear to be more nurturing schools (all hearsay of course and totally depends on the child).

Latymer and DAO are less "super-selective" than HBS. HBS has no catchment area. Latymer and DAO (for the academically selective part of its intake) are restricted to students living or educated in specific postcodes in North London. No idea about any differences in pastoral care between these schools.

Thanks for your answer. I’ll look at elevenplusexams. And yes, I have read those things about the school. It seems to be the best option for us though, apart from the fact that the chances of my daughter getting a place is so small!

Hi XelaM
Sorry for the stupid question, but what does DAO stand for?
I like the idea of Latymer, but my husband thinks it’s too far from us, and my daughter would prefer a girls’ school (and we agree it would be better for her).

I didn’t actually know Latymer had a catchment area, but I’ve just looked at their admissions policy now and seen. We are not in the ‘Inner Area’, so I assume this means the chance of getting a place would be extremely low anyway.

@ZentaTBL DAO is Dame Alice Owen. Honestly, if your daughter is super-bright then go for it. Every hear a few girls from my daughter's school go there and some get in, but choose Habs Girls or other independent/grammar schools. As far as I understand it, this year if you got through Round 1 and moved into the 3-mile radius of the school before Round 2, you are guaranteed to get a place even if you didn't get Band A. I don't know whether that will still be the case next year

@ZentaTBL I think Latymer have never offered a place to an out of catchment candidate, but (if it's even a possibility) they give you time to move within the catchment after the results are out. I think by the following January

@XelaM Ah, I checked and we are out of the catchment area for DAO.
My daughter is bright but I don’t know about super-bright. I went to Habs and I think she would get in there, but I doubt HBS. I want to do what’s in my power to give her a chance though, just in case.
Does your daughter go to a state or independent primary?
Ah yes, I know about their knew policy with the catchment area. It’s only a month or so between the 2 rounds though, isn’t it..

That’s interesting about Latymer

Sorry for the late reply. My daughter is currently in year 5 at an independent prep school and we're battling through the 11+ preparation. Unlike by the sounds of it your daughter, mine isn't the sharpest tool in the box and I'm not sure how realistic it will be for her to pass any of the exams

She is currently getting tutored and her prep school is super pushy in preparing them for the exams, but not sure what the outcome of it will be. We'll give it a go, but I'm being quite realistic because the sheer number of kids that are applying makes the chances look so slim.

Latymer is our dream school and Mount House is our back up (next to our local comp of course) as it appears to not be very selective and is lovely and nurturing. I don't even know whether we will try for Henrietta Barnett. My daughter is part of an amateur theatre group that rehearses next door to Henrietta Barnett, but that's as close as we are likely to ever get there Not sure she would fit in among the ambitious academic girls that the school attracts anyway (if by some miracle we were to get in). However, as I said, despite the chances looking so slim, every year a few girls from my daughter's school are offered places there, so it's definitely not impossible.

I can PM you with a tutor recommendation if you would like. Apparently most kids from my daughter's school go to him and he has had good success rate with all the grammars and super-selective independents (this year the no.2 ranked kid at DAO was his student). My daughter goes to him, but not it remains to be seen if it's of any use.

By the way, most super-bright girls at my daughter's school would prefer DAO over Henrietta Barnett if offered a place at both (mainly due to the sibling policy at DAO and location) and many are only considering going down the independent route (Habs Girls being the usual preference), so they will only be sitting the Henrietta Barnett and Latymer papers for practice and are unlike to take up a place given the choice.

*XelaM", could you please PM me the name of the tutor? We are still a few years away but it will be useful in 2 years' time.

@Frogusha Done

XelaM thank you very much! 😊

@XelaM well some days I feel positive about my daughter and think she would get into Habs etc, but other days I feel far less positive and the exam prep seems like a losing battle! She seems to fluctuate massively - sometimes she seems really bright and other times the opposite! She’s very different to my son and how I was, and I find it so frustrating at times 😬
I know some girls who got into Latymer from my children’s old school. It was close to where we used to live.
I’m actually looking for a theatre group for my daughter, what’s it called?
The girls who do get offered places to Henrietta Barnett from your daughter’s school - are they extremely intelligent in all areas?
Oh yes please, I’d really like the name of the tutor you use. Thank you 🙏🏼

Hah, the attached was sent to me by a friend of mine. That's pretty much how I feel about my daughter's 11+ revision Coming from a very academic family, I am really trying hard to keep my cool with how different my daughter's ability to grasp school work is (which is why I could never tutor her myself... )

I will PM you with the tutor's details and the theatre group.

As for how smart those girls who get into Henrietta Barnett are, it's very difficult to say because they were in the years above my daughter and I don't know any of them personally. I just go to the end of the year prize giving ceremony where the Head reads out a list of which schools the kids go to and every year Hentrietta Barnett is in the mix.

In my daughter's year there are two extremely bright girls and one of them prefers Habs (because her two brothers are at Habs Boys) and the other prefers Dame Alice Owen or Highgate if given the choice. I don't know how many of those who are likely to get into Henrietta Barnett will choose it over the other schools. So don't lose hope!

Haha, that made me and my husband laugh 😂😂
Yes, my husband and I tutor our daughter ourselves and some days it is incredibly hard to keep my cool.. I always assumed that my child would be how I was as a child..

Sorry for all the questions but I’m just curious - at your daughter’s school do they spend a lot of time practising the verbal and non-verbal reasoning exam type questions?

Ok, that’s a very comforting thought about the two extremely bright girls in your daughter’s year. I guess everyone has different preferences and aims. And I guess a lot of parents will prefer an independent school and just use the HB exam as practise.

The girls who do get offered places to Henrietta Barnett from your daughter’s school - are they extremely intelligent in all areas?

A few girls from DD's primary got HBS places both in her year and the year above. One was quite bright but the others were unremarkable in terms of being quick on the uptake or being able to synthesize ideas or create new ones. They were by no means deficient, mind you, but they weren't exceptional. All the girls who got places, however, were right at the top of their years in terms of discipline and were regarded by their peers as being very strong in both English and maths.

@ZenaTBL They do VR/NVR once a week as far as I can tell, as she gets VR/NVR homework once a week. She does some VR/NVR (especially VR as I think many schools don't test NVR anymore) with the tutor. Her school do exam type of questions in English. All her English homework is a variation of comprehension questions like those in test papers and the same with maths (10 mins timed questions for example). Although in maths they do a lot of mathletics as well. I think anyone can just sign up to do mathletics online. From February tge school will have afterschool prep for the 11+ (not sure how many times a week).

Anyway, all of the above is great in theory, but as I have said, at the moment my confidence in my kid's 11+ success is such that I am looking at buying a caravan to park next door to Fortismere 😝 I'm trying to stay optimistic

@user149799568 thank you, that’s really interesting.

@XelaM haha 😂 aww, I feel just the same. I feel like it’s plenty of time for my daughter to get really proficient in all the areas with the amount she’s doing, but most days she just doesn’t seem capable of it. Then she has these sparks, that give me a glimmer of hope.. only to be snuffed out again 😂

Thank you for answering all my questions in so much detail, it’s really helpful and interesting.

Hi all,

I'm looking for some details on the paper pattern for the Henrietta Barnet Round 1.

The school website mentions its based on GL Assessment pattern and consists of Verbal, Non-verbal and English.

Are these all combined into the same paper and in the same exam duration or are there separate papers with separate blocks of time?

Also what is the total duration of the round 1 test?

Thanks