QE Boys Barnet

[New21]

DS has done relatively well in the entrance exam, so he has a good chance of securing a place for the school at allocation day. Unfortunately we had not been able to visit the school because of covid, and we don't know any student there.

Do you have personal experience with the school? If you have a DS there, are they/you happy with it?

Anyone?

Top of the tree academically, pleasant surroundings ... don't know much about the pastoral side although you will probably find comments somewhere on here. What are your alternatives?

You will get a better response from the elevenplusexams.co.U.K. Forum.

Thanks for your advice! The alternative would be independents and we are waiting to see if he gets any offers. Mainly doing research on QE at the moment as we know so little about the school!

Thanks @Singingrain1223 I looked at the 11 plus forum too but it feels that a lot of people there have strong opinions on the school but not so many with actual experience iyswim.

Yes I think "strong opinions"'on elevenplusexams.co.U.K. is a good description!

My brother went there twenty years ago. It was fab then, he got great exam results. It goes without saying that if you aren't academic you won't fit in - it would be wrong to tutor heavily for the 11+ to get a less academic kid in as they'll be miserable, in my view.
I would ask about SEN - my brother has a number of learning disabilities including dyslexia and ADHD which weren't diagnosed until uni and really impacted his uni results. I'd like to think the school has improved at picking things up since then. One thing was that the school was so very supportive and structured it never gave him a chance to fail, so when he got to uni and had to organise his own time and meet deadlines himself, he crashed.

Did you apply to Latymer or Dame Alice Owen as well?

Qe is very prestigious and you need to score 230 or above.

Thank you for the advice, @Hollywhiskey! DS got a decent score and he didn't have a tutor, so I hope he will be able to keep up if he does go there. That said, it is impossible to know now how he will compare to his peers academically, considered that everyone would have passed a highly selective test to get in. So more importantly, is the school good for the majority of the boys there, encourage them to be rounded, and help those who struggles? I have the impression that they are traditional and probably strict, but is it balanced by good pastoral care?

@Pkaboo We didn't try the other schools, even QE was a last minute decision. His score is quite a few points above 230 so he has a decent chance to get a place in March, but we haven't seen the school properly!

He has done well to get in without any tutoring so I'm sure he'll be more than able to keep up. My friends ds is a pupil there. The teaching is excellent and there are good extra curricular opportunities. Her main gripes are that the school don't necessarily let the boys sit the A levels they want to do - there is some sort of internal exam and a weeding out at sixth form. The 6th form isn't open so its boys all the way through and she also complains that it is very mono cultural in that it's almost exclusively Asian boys.

Hi @New21!

We live in the borough and we know several QE alumni, including friends and contemporaries of our daughter.

Overwhelmingly, the school wants pupils which will keep the school top in league tables. That's it! This will suit some boys and not others. ... And the school is regimented and dictatorial and that needs to suit your son's personality as well, with old fashioned competition at everything.

I repeat: it puts league table position above all else and does it clinically and does it well. However, that means some 45 boys each year leave after Year 11; this is because, after extensive internal testing in Year 11, the school does not allow them to do the A Level subjects of their choice for fear of slightly lower grades risking a lower league table position. What will you do if your son is 'offered' only Biology and Art A Levels? So parents should be prepared for a 16 plus move to another Sixth Form.

Congratulations to your son on his 230+ score.

@Lightsabre Thanks for the info! Do you know if your friend's DS is happy? I found that as a parent, I only have a small glimpse of school life and what I think is important might be very different from what my child does. I will investigate more on their A level policy, maybe check if they have any policy documents online. I know about the high proportion of Asian kids in the school, but I am not sure whether it affects the boys in their day to day life, since they are all a bit older and the family influence is smaller, compared to at primary?

Thank you @JBX2013! Are the experience of the boys you know quite recent? I see that the headmaster has been at the school for a long time in different positions before being appointed, so I guess the culture is to stay?

I was watching their YouTube videos the other day and I think the boys's pride and the school's emphasis of tradition comes through. I need to think if that would suit my DS.

He's happy enough and is a hard worker. The pressure seems to come from the other high achieving boys/families - constant competitiveness (I think that's true of a lot of super selectives though). The sixth form policy though does add to the pressure. Lots of views/discussion on the school on the elevenplusexams forum.

Wow he sounds amazing. To achieve a great score without any training against some kids who have been tutored since reception and in the final year put in 8 hours a day, he will sail it.

I liked the school from what I saw and parents I speak to tell me their kids are very happy there. Good luck whatever you decide.

@New21, The boys we know best finished Year 13 there in the summer of 2017.

Thank you everyone for the information you have given me. That A level policy does seems to be a worry, I definitely need to look into it. I wonder whether there is something similar in other "league table schools".

I hope we will have a chance to visit the school before deciding!

The fact he got such a high score without tutoring suggests he would be absolutely fine in QEB. It might be a good thing to move by sixth form anyway to a mixed environment.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. DS did some test papers over the summer holiday and he was lucky that day. He will definitely need to develop his study skills for secondary, he is easily distracted!

I can't lie and say I do not care about academic results, but I want to put him into a place with healthy competition and have good support in subjects/areas he doesn't do so well, with teachers who encourage children to have a go.

@New21 interested in where you got to with QEB. This is a school we are potentially interested in.

@New21 can you please let us know if your ds joined QE?
interested to hear your thoughts of the school