North London schools 11+

[Justanothergirl19]

Dear all,
I thought I would start a thread seeing that there isn’t one for North London. Looking for fellow anxious parents waiting for results on Friday or already on the roller coaster!
Waiting to hear from Highgate, NLCS, Channing, SHHS and Habs.
Join me if you fancy a chat or any kind of light relief while we wait!

Ohtobeasausagedog if you haven't seen SHHS, according to the offer letter you can email the admissions team to book an online tour with one of their pupils.

@MumsRule20
Many thanks for reply
We did visit Francis Regent
My daughter likes it and it’s near by as we live NW , she is academic but in the meantime she likes to be in a school with facilities as well
Her strength in s English, history as well as science
South we didn’t visit it
Channing we didn’t as well both with virtual and it’s hard to see the whole image of each school bu virtual
Thanks

@MumsRule20
Also south Hampstead it’s a WL so not guaranteed!

@Shery82 - we have chosen Channing. I attended the virtual open day and I really liked the new head. She also spoke very well at a question and answer session while DD was having her interview. I get a strong feeling for the ethos. And never really heard a bad word about Channing. So that's our decision. Not really anything against FH although I know the girls leave in droves for sixth form which is a slight concern.

@MajesticWhine many thank for replying
I’ve been in virtual Channing while my daughter was doing her interview
I don’t say anything wrong about the school
We like it but it’s a bit far from us !
FHR is near by but I’m concerned now if the girls leave FHR in means there is an important reason 🙄🙄🙄🙄

@Shery82 I wouldn’t worry about girls leaving at 6th form. When I was looking I only really looked at GCSE results to help decide on a school as always thought they might want a change at 6th form. FHRP is a very small school and I hear they have made a lot of investment in their 6th form recently and more are staying. But reasons for leaving are usually because they want to go to either a mixed school where there are boys (many go to UCS I believe) or to state schools where the results are excellent, like CSG or St Marylebone. I think there is some thinking that going to state school for A level will be an advantage when it comes to getting Uni offers but I’m sure the Universities look beyond this and see that the GCSE results are from private schools.

@MusicalMommy many thanks
I’m really so grateful
But I have to see more feedback about the school as my daughter got a place in a grammar school as well
I’m so confused in which one we will decide
I’m also looking at only the GcSE results and it seems FHR is very good results as well as Channing
I need to ask more about these schools
Best regards

Hi, can any parents with girls at any of these schools tell me a little more about them:

North London Collegiate
Guildford High School
St Paul’s
City of London?

We haven’t been able to visit any schools and are totally unable to work out how to make an 11+ decision. DD is very bright but sometimes anxious and can be quiet.

Thanks so much anyone that can tell us anything from the inside.

@SchoolDecisio , well done to your dd, did she get her St Paul's place today?
If you haven't visited Guildford I would discount it unless you are keen to live outside London in Surrey.
The other 3 are harder but St Paul's is obviously the top girls school in the U.K., they wouldn't have offered if they didn't want her and you have the range of west London to base yourself in.

Anyone aware of any WL movement at Channing yet?

@adoptedlondoner
I don’t know dear
My DD decided to go FHR
Good luck

[quote MusicalMommy]@Shery82 I wouldn’t worry about girls leaving at 6th form. When I was looking I only really looked at GCSE results to help decide on a school as always thought they might want a change at 6th form. FHRP is a very small school and I hear they have made a lot of investment in their 6th form recently and more are staying. But reasons for leaving are usually because they want to go to either a mixed school where there are boys (many go to UCS I believe) or to state schools where the results are excellent, like CSG or St Marylebone. I think there is some thinking that going to state school for A level will be an advantage when it comes to getting Uni offers but I’m sure the Universities look beyond this and see that the GCSE results are from private schools.[/quote]
Can I ask your opinion on the difference between top independent and top state schools? We have been offered SHHS, which we have accepted already and are quite excited about. However this week we also received a music place at St. Marylebone. You mention that they have excellent results and from own research we know that this is a great school. However when I compare GCSE and A level results - the difference still seems massive and top 20 independent schools still come out with significantly better results (separate from facilities, co-curricular, etc). Any insight on that? We are quite firmly set on SHHS, but i just want to gather all insights before we decline a state school offer. Thanks!

@Rrelaxo
We have the same thing as my DD got a place in the grammar school and we accepted FHR then the state results came with her place in a grammar school!!

I can only speculate really but St M is non selective so that probably explains why their results are lower. While SHHS has some children with mild SN, at St M there will be Statemented children and those working at a different level to their peers whereas at SHHS even the lower sets are expected to get As. St M does the banding test so considering that they have to take 50% of students who are in the lower half academically, their end results are phenomenal. For A level there is probably an extent to which they have to get a certain grade to be able to continue with a subject but this will be much stricter at an Indy school meaning the indies get higher grades. SHHS is a gorgeous school though so I can see the dilemma

@adoptedlondoner Channing have closed their waiting list I believe

Do any one know anything about St. Michael's grammar Catholic school? How far down the ranking did they get to on the 1st March? My friend's daughter was ranked 150th and didn't get a place. My daughter got in but she was within the 128. She called the council and apparently they don't know and I was just wondering if anyone ranked 129-149 got in. TIA

@Maura45
Hello dear
We got it as well but I don’t know about the ranking
My DD was in the first 20%

What is an 'exploding offer please?

@malteasergeezer It is when an independent school makes your child an offer but reserves the right to withdraw it if they meet their quota of acceptances, even if it is before the official deadline.

Thanks - that's terrible though! designed to hurry people into accepting (and no doubt paying a hefty non-refundable deposit?)

@malteasergeezer
CLSG, Highgate and Channing have histories of exploding their offers.
Did Highgate do it this year?

Highgate did but Channing (and I believe CLSG) did not this year.

@TomorrowOnce @Justanothergirl19 CLSG specifically didn’t do exploding offers this year. And they have waitlist.

@Rrelaxo as MusicalMommy pointed out, St Marylebone is a comprehensive so the intake is much different from SHHS both in terms of prior attainment and likely parental support for education. However, I believe that it sets in almost all classes from Year 7. If anyone will tell you (parents, school off the record), you should try to look at the results of the top set (out of six) rather than the results of the entire school.