St Albans High School for girls

[pubandstate]

Can anyone tell me more about this school, specially under the new management with their new Head.
I visited the school few months go, went for an open day well before the lockdown,
I need some advise about this school, its culture and how they are comapred to good state schools.
Do they really nuture their students as they say or is it an academic factory. Pls help

Sport and art are not great here. Standards are low compared to other schools. If youR child is sporty, she will be frustrated with the standard of what is on offer. Cross country running seems to be one of the main sports. Netball - you need to be in the club for some sort of tuition . Swimming, cricket, hockey, tennis - token gesture. You need to be a member of clubs outside of the school, but the school will take all the glory for their achievements . All kids are encouraged to participate in sport if this is what you are asking, but this doesn’t mean they will be taught/ trained up to a decent standard. Often they put the non- sporty kids to the B team just to give them the ‘experience’ ... Art is very poor in my opinion, period. Academic subjects are taught to a very high standard, though. It’s not a well rounder school. It’s a highly selective academic school, so you need to decide what is important to your child and you.

thank you Bored2death2020,
do you have any children in the school.
how is their pastoral care

I don’t know why you don’t look at Queenswood op. It does have everything you want. There are plenty of academic girls there but sport is taken seriously so girls really enjoy it. They also have amazing drama and music. It’s a well rounded education and has around 450 pupils so time and space for everyone.

Agree with the above. We immediately discounted places like SAHS and HABS for our daughter...they seem more like an overcrowded ‘bright girl’s club‘, for people purely focused on academics, and a mutual desire to keep their school high up on the league tables...as after all, that’s what attracted them in the first place. Kendrick with fees. Places like Queenswood offer a much more rounded, holistic way of school life. If we were going to spend money on our bright child’s education, we were approaching it with the premise of, ‘what can you offer her’, rather than what our child could offer them.

My daughter went there. It’s a great school. Though not for the faint of heart.

I realise everyone’s experience of a school is different but I can’t tell you how different our experience has been compared to the perception of an academic hot house with limited pastoral care etc. Don’t get me wrong, the girls work hard and they know the teachers expect them to try their best but there is an understanding (that surprised me given all the rumours I’d heard before we had first hand experience) that not every girl’s best is the same and not everyone is going to be good at everything. There is lots of sport (pool on site, big variety of sports options) and, in our experience, everyone is encouraged to have a go and have fun in lessons even if sport isn’t their thing. Competitive teams are for the sportier girls but there is always an opportunity to get involved if you want to. Our problem is that DD hates sport and would rather not be given the opportunity to have a go but that’s another story...! Art facilities are fantastic and the teachers are really encouraging. DD is really arty and is loving what they do. There are loads of opportunities for extra-curricular activities but our experience of those is limited to the clubs DD has chosen To join which are mostly on the music/dram/art side of things. I couldn’t tell you about sports clubs, D of E etc.
I can’t stress enough though that this is only my opinion and I know others have really different feelings about schools. It’s so personal and dependent on the child. We looked at St Albans boys for DS and ran a mile because, whilst it’s an amazing school that is brilliant for the right boy, it just wasn’t right for DS.
Good luck whatever you decide to do. If you want any other info feel free to PM me.

thank you everyone. really valuable.

I think it’s good to have a broader mix of girls. The bright ones can flourish in a slightly smaller pond and it’s no detriment for them to be with girls who are not quite so bright as them. They do, in fact, learn from each other and celebrate differences.

Queenswood is looking a bit less academic than it was 10 years ago judging by league tables but, with more competition for places I would expect an upward curve on results. However just academic results isn’t what you pay for. There should be a lot more to any independent school than that and in many ways it’s almost a way of life you are buying.

That’s exactly it @My0My...it is very much a way of life, as opposed to simply being just another 9-4 school. I find it sad when children are written off from sport at such a young age..because they supposedly hate it. Or music or art etc. If it was not for our daughter‘s school pushing boundaries and enabling all children to enjoy sport, and not just those who were already good at it when they arrived, she would never have discovered the joy she has for it now. We didn’t want a school that mainly catered for individual interests and talents they all have when they arrive...which seemed to be the case with the grammar places we were considering, and the selective likes of HABS & SAHS etc. we wanted a school that broadens their horizons in a way we felt that those schools never could. Incidentally, the one girl we know who left SAHS a few years ago now; was very proficient at sport...but she joined from a school quite similar to Queenswood after GCSE...having played competitively throughout. She found the focus very much on academics, much to her reflective disappointment, but perhaps that’s because it was 6th form and quite a pressured time in general. Yes she did well..and went to a good uni; but no better really than if she had stayed where she was.

thanks, it sounds Queenswood is a all round school, however they are expensive.
I guess most of these academic schools, specially private once are only focus on leage standing for their own survival.
but SAHS has a better reputation been a happier one campared to few hot houses.

pub it’s not remotely like people think it is or say it is.
My DD is no genius, just a fairly bright girl.
She played sport and did tons and tons of drama.
She finished at 4pm (Queenswood is weekly boarding - well you don’t have to, but most do, so day girls are the outliers. And it’s miles away from St Albans).
Got the bus there are back, walked into town to get lunch when she was older.
It was just a very normal existence.

Thanks Hello,
SAHS ???

pub yup - it’s a great school.

No. Most girls are not weekly boarders at Q in the younger age groups. Most are day girls and have been for years. Most board by 6th form and quite a few start boarding by y9, but very many are day girls.

Yes, I know Q is expensive but you have to see it as “day boarding”. It appeals to busy working parents who want their girls to get a broad spectrum of activities and actually have the time to do them.

We almost didn’t go and see Queenswood because the fees seemed so much more expensive, but if you visit then you would understand why.

The school has 50% day girls, and most definitely not “mostly weekly boarding”. The school day is very long with transport home leaving at 6pm each day (4.30pm on Fridays). That’s two hours a day more at school that St Albans.

Class sizes are much smaller and their fees include a contribution to the capital expenditure programme - the facilities there are top notch. The co-curricular programme is extensive and apart from a few activities with external experts tuition are all included in fees. Sport has an inclusive approach and forms a natural part of the school day - but not just tearing around the hockey pitch, they have things like yoga and casual swimming too. Drama and art are fabulous. Pastoral excellent. Value added in terms of academic results is some of the best in the country with girls at GCSE level getting, on average, grades two times higher than would be expected on entry to the school.

Following entrance exams and offers we had the choice of a Bucks grammar, an academic scholarship at a highly selective independent and Queenswood and we chose Queenswood. BUT we did spend ages deliberating about taking the grammar place. If we had to scrimp and save to afford the fees then honestly, the education you get at independent schools is not worth the £16-£24k a year more. You can supplement a state education with music lessons, club sport, etc. and still be thousands of pounds better off. In the end we have the money and know it is exactly the right school for our daughter. We would have been almost as happy with the grammar though.

Not all schools are equal and it’s about finding best fit for your daughter and yourselves as a family. Look at class sizes, results, facilities etc but ultimately you just “know” if the school is right. Don’t just make it based on reputation or other people’s thoughts.

Not wanting to derail but with people having local knowledge on this thread, would you recommend STAGS St Albans Girls School? In fact how does it compare to STAHS?

STAGS is a good school.
Obviously being a state school class sizes and resources are more pushed and it’s not selective.
But I know quite a few parents woth girls who went to STAGS and were happy with it.

Thank you HelloMissus That's what i had heard too. One more question about STAGS, does it have a really competitive culture among the girls and parents or is it a place where girls can be themselves and grow into confident and competent people?

I suppose what I'm asking is is it a happy school or does it have a bit of a tense competitive feel?

The STAGS parents and girls I know are all just normal.
Obviously there will always be some parents who take school/parenting and turn it into an Olympic balls ache - but I avoided them

In my opinion, it's a complete different world to compare a boarding school to a day school.
What you get from a decent boarding life cannot be compared in any way to a good day school.
It's a complete different upbringing.
mostly character building, not suitable to all children though.

pub they are chalk and cheese it’s true.
We just never wanted our kids to board, really. Not the way we roll as a family.
We just wanted our kids to go to school on the bus in the morning and come home for their tea

I did visit Queebswood and it seemed nice but with the late finish and the bus ride back home, it would have been a longer day than the commuters into London for us.

I agree about comparing boarding schools and day isn’t a true comparison but the majority of girls at Queenswood ARE day girls. Some board one night a week which boosts the boarding numbers.

It was meant as in terms of comparison as what your fees get you. St Albans has fees of almost £6,900 per term including lunches. Queenswood is £7,115 in the first two years. That extra £200 is “buying” you a whole lot more for your money - smaller class sizes, significantly better facilities and more hours in a school day. It questions how much value are you truly getting for your fees at St Albans? I struggle when comparing it to a great grammar - how are their fees justified?

I am really not knocking the school. For the right girl it is brilliant and it does have a lot to offer. But if you think you are getting an all bells and whistles independent education including all the extra curricular stuff there then you won’t get it. Their focus is on academics.

Sidetracking a little, but have you looked at Northwood College? As a GDST school their fees are cheaper and results rather excellent. Given you mention Clement Danes I am assuming you live more that way. It was too far for us but I was impressed. I felt there was much more added value there than at St Albans.

thanks everyone, very valuable information.

@Zodlebud "following entrance exams and offers we had the choice of a Bucks grammar, an academic scholarship at a highly selective independent and Queenswood and we chose Queenswood. BUT we did spend ages deliberating about taking the grammar place. If we had to scrimp and save to afford the fees then honestly, the education you get at independent schools is not worth the £16-£24k a year more. You can supplement a state education with music lessons, club sport, etc. and still be thousands of pounds better off"

We also spent a considerable length of time deliberating a similar array of choice; and although finance is decidedly more of an issue, we decided it was worth it for the lifestyle it offered, as opposed to just the education it offered. We didn’t feel the ‘academic’ day schools offered much beyond the grammars, so if league tables were our prime focus, we would have stuck with grammar.

Or there’s St Helen’s also in Northwood. I would use both Northwood schools as a comparative to St Albans. Once lockdown is over then do go visit them all, along with some grammars and Clement Danes - I think you might be pleasantly surprised at just how good some of these state schools are.