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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Aylesbury High School and Chesham Grammar

4 replies

JoinTheDots · 23/09/2020 14:58

Hello,

my DD is in year 6 and looks set to pass the 11+ so we are looking at schools for her application. Usually I would go to the open evenings, but they are all virtual this year and it is not the same as getting to see teachers face to face and getting to ask the current pupils questions. I do not know any other mums who have pupils at these schools, so I wanted to get a feel from people who have children there now.

My own DD is academic, shy, not very competitive or into sports / drama / music. Loves to read and play computer games. She likes to hang out with one or two friends, but is a bit of an introvert and not socially an alpha girl. I worry about her finding a nice group of friends (she has some at primary, but I think they will all go to different schools) and making the leap to secondary on her own is daunting. She is probably the only person in her class looking at these schools. She is an August born child so will be very young in the year.

Would anyone like to share views on the experience of their children? It might really help my daughter make an informed choice. The sorts of questions I would have asked at an open evening are:

Do you like school? Are the teachers nice / happy / helpful? What was your first week at school in year 7 like? Is there anything you don't like about school? Did you find it easy to find your way around the school?

But any information, views or comments would be great. Thanks in advance.

OP posts:
Onanonanon · 23/09/2020 16:29

My DD is at Chesham. Here are her answers to your questions:

Yes she likes the school.
The majority of teachers are nice, kind and helpful. Some less so but you'll quickly learn who they are!
First week in year 7 was not as scary as she thought it would be. It was not as big or as daunting as she thought it would be and she found her way round within a day or so because the layout is basically a circle and very easy to follow. You can stay with people in your class for walking round, going to lunch etc so you won't be on your own in first few days. What she doesn't like - there is lots of homework (but possibly no more than any other secondary school)

In my opinion, there is a wide range of students with different personalities and interests and it's overall a friendly welcome school. If your DD is not into sport, drama or music, there's also - for example - debating club, board games club, multiple computer clubs including girls computing club, and lots of others (at least in non-covid times!)
Only negative points for me - sometimes the communication is not perfect, and large catchment area means friends may be spread out geographically, but otherwise very happy.

Feel free to pm me if any more questions. Also worth posting your questions on 11 Plus Forum Bucks section, if you haven't already.

Fifthtimelucky · 23/09/2020 16:30

I have a friend whose two girls were at Aylesbury High School until recently. One sounds very similar to your daughter (academic, loves reading and shy) but unlike yours she was quite sporty and not into computer games.

Both were very happy there and went on to their first choice RG universities.

Onanonanon · 23/09/2020 16:31

Also there's a good library with friendly librarian, and library is a good place to hang out and read if you're on your own (again, in non-covid times!)

JoinTheDots · 23/09/2020 21:47

Thank you, nice positive views which is reassuring. I shall also post in the 11+ Bucks section when I get a moment.

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