Queenswood School: Is it any good?

[animalprintfree]

Could anyone share their recent experiences of the school please?

I'm a little concerned about the GCSE results and dont know if they are reflective of the fact that it's not a very selective school or if the teaching quality might be an issue.

Also do girls in middle school and sixth form mind the fairly isolated campus?

Lastly how hard is it for day girls to maintain friendships when they commute from London? I'm worried my daughter might be isolated on weekends if other day girls live closer to the school.

Any views on the above would be much appreciated.

Thanks

It’s an absolutely brilliant school and meets the needs of the very brightest as well as those who need extra support. You are right that the results reflect the fact it’s not too selective though. It’s competing with St Albans High School, Habs Girls, NLCS, Henrietta Barnett and Dame Alice Owen even before you consider schools like Channing and SHHS. The very brightest are being creamed off and unfortunately it is seen as a “backup” school. I don’t think 62% grades 9-7 at GCSE is anything other than amazing given they aren’t very selective. Plenty of girls get all grades 9-7 there. It’s most definitely not the teaching but the wide intake.

I also like that maths is their most popular A-level and almost half got A*-A last year. The great majority go onto Russell Group universities and occasional Oxbridge.

But I don’t think you chose Queenswood just for academics - it’s about everything else that goes on there. It’s a refreshingly different atmosphere to the highly selective North London schools. Sport, drama and music are all excellent and all activities are inclusive, particularly sport, so if you want to join in you can. Days are long to fit everything in (until 6pm) but the door to door transportation makes it all very easy. About half the girls are from north London (particularly the Hampstead, Winchmore Hill, Finchley type areas plus further out towards Enfield and Barnet) and the other half more Hertfordshire. Of course it’s a little bubble and if your daughter is quite urban then she might struggle, but girls board more and more as they move up the school (flexi boarding you can do 1,2,3,4,5 nights or full boarding) so it’s a very different experience. A lot of sixth formers weekly board in preparation for university. So whilst being in the countryside has its disadvantages, it does afford the beauty of creating a really lovely close knit community.

I will PM you with more personal information.

I’ve only ever heard great things about the school and the results are amazing. As PP says - the top tier schools are able to cream off the most able and not have to do much to get amazing results out of them. This is why results are not really a fair measure - it’s like comparing grammar results with comprehensive results!

I have heard good things but perhaps OP is thinking about the academic side of it too. Not that I think like that is the most important thing, just giving another point of view. There are other private schools in North London that still get very good results and a fraction of the price.

Good luck with looking.

Thank you all so much for your comments. I didnt get to visit the school in person and now have to make a choice without even knowing anyone with a child there.

I wasnt solely interested in academics, but like every parent just want to know I've given my daughter the best chance to fulfill her potential.

I feel relieved to hear such good things about it.

Thanks again

@MrsDThaskala The fees reflect a very different type of school though. Queenswood used to be a very prestigious full boarding school (girls brothers were usually at Harrow). It has evolved over time and now has a very flexible boarding policy but the long days and a strong emphasis on sport and extracurricular are exactly as at full boarding school. What they get at somewhere like STAHS is a totally different, but yes cheaper, experience. The facilities, buildings and grounds are also far superior and class sizes smaller.

For a fee comparison you should look at other similar schools in the area like Aldenham and Haileybury.

As others have said it’s not a select school, so has girls with different academic abilities. Core subjects are streamed so the more academic pupils are taught together. As regards to the quality of teaching this is variable as probably most schools some excellent teachers, some average. I felt the girls even the most academic are not pushed and therefore can loose motivation.
The classes are small and facilities amazing but in year 9 the fees rise and is much more expensive than other private schools. From personal experience I felt let down by the pastoral side of the school and does seem to have a few problems and I know several girls who have left due to this.

I have the opposite experience - pastoral has been absolutely brilliant. We had some difficult and out of the blue family circumstances last year and communication backwards and forwards was exemplary.

A minor issue that was affecting my daughter was dealt with within 24 hours.

Of course, everyone will have a different take on what they expect but my daughter was cared for when needed, and supported and navigated through having to stand on her own two feet when required. I have nothing but positive things to say on the pastoral side.

To be fair, all schools get pupils who say it’s not for them. Both my DDs went there and of course there were movements in and out. For a whole variety of reasons. I think this Principal has steadied the ship.

The days are very full and girls are really day boarders. I can see academic results have dipped since my DD1 was there. Very much so. I think the school is viewed slightly differently by parents and @Zodlebud is right about brothers at Harrow. Lots of bothers at Eton and Harrow years ago! However it’s like all schools, a few won’t like it and others think it’s wonderful. The latter definitely outweigh the former right now I believe.

"Lastly how hard is it for day girls to maintain friendships when they commute from London? I'm worried my daughter might be isolated on weekends if other day girls live closer to the school."

certainly this isn't an issue for kids at Habs, which has an equally wide 'catchment'.

My DDs had loads of friends from Queenswood school in London. We don’t live near the school and are miles from London. Friends are friends. You make it happen for dc.

There are huge numbers of girls travelling in from London - in particular the Hampstead / Finchley / Islington type area. A few more a bit further out in the Mill Hill and Barnet type area. The majority get school door to door transportation so make friends in the minibus. My DD has a lot of friends from all over Herts and London. Of course they’re not just down the road, but get togethers are easily arranged.

We did eventually choose Queenswood and so I thought it might be helpful to update this thread in case anyone else comes across it whilst making their own choice.

If I could make the decision again, I would not have chosen this school but my daughter doesn’t like the uncertainty of moving so we are stuck with it. The only real benefits she has derived are some good friendships and also some good extra curricular provision (drama and sport).

Results
The results from GCSE continue to be mediocre, in my opinion, but bizarrely the school write about them as if they are outstanding. However when compared to the best London comprehensives they are really not!

Teaching:
Teaching quality is very variable and my daughter has struggled the most with this aspect having come from a primary school where the teachers were enthusiastic, dedicated and progressive. She has had several teachers who appear to lack enthusiasm for teaching, and who make no effort to instil a love of learning or love of their subject beyond just passing tests. There are a lot of tests… She describes most of the teaching as dull and uninspiring, and almost without exception all the better teachers have left over the past couple of years. Turnover seems fairly high though the school tell me this is normal for secondary school as teachers leave to advance their careers. They have sets for Maths and languages but bizarrely these change a lot. I have never seen so much movement in sets. This causes some girls a lot of anxiety, constantly worrying if they are going to go down a set.

SEN support
My daughter has dyslexia, and the support has been incredibly disappointing. Despite a very comprehensive report given to the school and lot of follow up conversations they have not addressed any of her needs adequately. Given how they marketed themselves as offering personalised learning, I feel really let down by this. The lead in this area did leave and so we hope there will soon be some changes implemented with the new person who heads this now but so far we have not seen any benefit. Several subject teachers either don’t understand or make no effort to accommodate my daughters learning needs which is frustrating.

Isolated campus
The schools location makes it impossible for students to travel to and fro independently. Even if we lived 10 mins away it would not be possible for my daughter to walk/cycle there, as the approach is not suitable. This is a shame as she will now always travel to school by car.

There have been very few trips. I don’t know if the location contributes to this. I would have expected them to attend more museums and galleries etc in the early years before GCSE…

Friendships
My daughter has been lucky to make some excellent friendships. Her friends mainly live in Hertfordshire with a few in North London. The distance and location of her friends means that she has less independence in her social life than if she were at a local London school. Every meet up has to be facilitated by parents dropping off and picking up by car which is a hassle. She wishes she could just go the cinema/bowling/swimming without it involving someone’s parent having to commit to a 1-2hr round trip by car to make it happen.

Door to door transport
This is an excellent service however our reliance on it means that my child has incredibly long days given our location. She is out of the house from 7am to 7pm which is exhausting for her. She finds the other girls on transport rude to the drivers, inconsiderate (often turning up late with no apology) and no friendships are formed as they spend the entire duration staring at their phones.

Sport
It can be hard for girls who are average (I.E. not county level) to get fully involved. What’s the point of a C or D team in netball when other schools don’t have the same to arrange matches? For sports scholars provisions seems excellent, for everyone else it’s tough knowing you could have made a team if you were in another school.
We would have expected more swimming lessons given that the school has its own pool, but they have spent surprisingly little time in the pool during P.E. Athletics for non-scholars does not involve any training only the chance to compete, so there’s little opportunity to improve.

Discipline
We find the schools approach to discipline heavy handed and yet ineffective. There is lots of poor behaviour, vandalism and theft, vaping etc. The school are very keen on the use of sanctions for minor infractions (E.g forgetting equipment for a class, not charging your computer) but the aforementioned more worrying behaviour is not adequately addressed.

Facilities
My daughter was surprised by the poor facilities which need updating in several areas. However they are working on this, so this may be less of an issue for future generations. The new sixth form centre is good although it has been decorated in the most uninspiring way. It’s hard to imagine they had any input from the students or an interior designer, it already looks dated…

Overall we find it to be a very dull school with little to recommend it aside from sport and drama provision. Feel we are paying a lot for very little. I wish we had chosen a more progressive school with better leadership.

@animalprintfree Out of all your points, I would say that your daughter will find that issue with teaching anywhere at secondary level. It is so so different to primary school and you just won't find a secondary school with that. Inconsistencies will always be there and inspiring is not what most teachers are sadly, esp in such a results driven environment that education is now.
I agree with you on everything else, but I don't feel queenswood hides any of that to be honest, aside from maybe the dyslexia provision. I do feel they market that a lot and it's surprising that your experience has been so bad. However, the facilities, sports, long day, travel etc those aren't usually cons for those that choose the school. I am surprised you chose the school as they don't really hide that. Could it be that you hadn't realised quite the impact it would have on your DD? Or did the other things you felt would balance it out, just not come to fruition? I have no skin in the game, my DD doesn't go there and I don't even have friends there, but if you're this unhappy with a school that costs this much, I would look to moving, however badly your DD does with transitions. You would be surprised how quickly she will settle at a school she is more happy in, esp as it sounds like she's still in KS3. There's schools in London that do a far better job with all of your cons. They won't though, have other things that Queenswood does do a good job on eg extensive sports provision. Also, lots of schools do matches with E teams! Aldenham, Belmont, Haileybury are all local ones. Might be good to speak to the sports teacher. They sound a bit lazy if I'm honest!

Have you looked at More House in Knightsbridge or Thames Christian? Their dyslexia provision is amazing.

I quite understand parents don’t always get the right school.

My DDs went to Queenswood. When we chose the school, 20 years ago, their results were very close to our local girls grammar school. Now there’s a huge difference. I do agree that Queenswood is not a state school and certainly when my DD1 was there, results remained high and there was a fantastic enrichment programme. 2008 saw 70% at Astar -A at gcse. Obviously not the same exams as now but it was pretty good. I think it’s half that now. 2010 - 86% A star to B at A level. That’s better than the grammar results in 2022 from the one I mentioned earlier. So what has happened?

Principals. Ms Farr managed to recruit largely bright girlsin her tenure. In my DD1’s year, hardly anyone left and only a few didn’t do well. It was considered an academic school on the up. It kept its strong identity in boarding, sport, drama and music. Then Mrs E arrived. Then Mrs C. Then parents decided it was ok for less bright girls. So bright ones largely go elsewhere. They need them back.

Whilst we were there, day parents complained about the length of days. They didn’t want boarding. So the ethos changed. The day was shortened for day girls. However the school day is known about before DSs start so it is wrong to complain when it’s a usp of the school. Having lots to do!!

Ditto sports teams. Neither of my DDs got near one. Didn’t remotely matter. They did a bit of sport as required but didn’t really like it. It’s always been win win win there. DDs preferred drama and dance so did that. Lots of music too. Always in house competitions and helping to organise house supper.

Anyone choosing Q knows where it is! Stay in London if you don’t want this type of school. Teaching was always variable. SEN - don’t know a single DD that had it. Clearly a change there. Facilities. Pretty good for the size of school. You looked round. You knew what was there.

School trips: Mrs E got rid of them. There were loads before her. Parents complained at the cost apparently. . DD2 got virtually none. This started to happen when badly behaved DDs were not filtered out at admission because they needed bums on seats and people giving money. So they didn’t want these girls on the trips. I rarely heard about anything remotely badly behaved for years. Except day girls arriving in trackies. Fast forward to DD2. Some pretty poor examples of behaviour but money talked. It would be libellous to say more.

DD1 still has a huge array of Q friends. DD2 hardly any. Only a few years apart, but a huge change in pupils, parental attitudes and results. The school stepped up the money giving from parents and some acquired special status. It always had had “superior” parents but this amplified it.

My DDs boarded and certainly didn’t find it dull. They didn’t sit in a bus for hours and they got fully involved in school life. Had a great time mostly. The school had its fun side then. Staff entertainment and muck up day being two. I assume sadly abolished now.

Lastly: school is the Dc in it. Not decoration or flashy facilities. 27 tennis courts isn’t it? Very decent theatre! Most girls really can find something to do. But you need friends around you. Boarding is so much better. Why sit on a bus and blame others for your boring journey?

Our experience has been totally different and in no way would I describe the school as “dull”. There is a huge amount to get involved in - it’s down to the child to fill their lives.

As for GCSE results, they are not selecting the brightest girls and cannot be compared to the much more academic London day schools. I would say that they didn’t artificially inflate grades through the teacher assessed covid years when many other schools around them did. They know the girls extremely well and they work to individual benchmarks - for some girls nine grade 6s is an ambitious target and this absolutely needs to be lauded. Success isn’t just about getting six hundred grade 9s.

The sports teams look for commitment. They run several training sessions in the week and on Saturday mornings (when there’s no matches). Girls improve and progress. You don’t get a spot on the team unless you commit. Many of the girls also train outside school in their sport. You don’t need to be county level but standards are high. For netball they also run summer leagues so there are lots of options to play.

My DD has only had two of her teachers leave in her several years at the school, one through ill health. She’s had one teacher who I would describe as “wishy washy”. The rest have been great and some exceptional. They do expect girls to be self motivated and work towards independence. They are not necessarily spoon fed. They are also expected to ask for help if they need it.

I do feel it’s a little unfair to moan about the location of the school though - you can see where it is on Google maps!!!!!

I honestly think you have either been exceptionally unlucky in your experiences or perhaps have expectations not aligned to those of the school. What you have described above is nothing like our experience of the school at all.

They do definitely have a problem attracting a bigger cohort of bright girls. Even @Zodlebud didn’t want it for her brighter dd I recall! When we went, there was a much bigger cohort of brighter Dc but this definitely is not the case now. As you can see from my stats the school has changed and it’s difficult The destinations of leavers has changed too. That’s a huge shame as the school had worked so hard to build that up. Although Oxbridge prep was always dire. That was DIY.

Totally agree about location and being a self starter. It suits busy girls best. I’m at a loss as to why do a long bus ride when you can do some nights at school. No one ever walked to Q. As with choosing any school, look at everything that affects you.

@PresentingPercy That’s not true about my other DD. She is extremely bright, yes, and her current prep recommended schools like Wycombe Abbey and SPGS for her. The point of a prep is to prepare you and make recommendations for next schools. It would be foolish to ignore that.

Her main strengths are, however, creative subjects. She truly excels in art and performing and I was looking for potentially a more academic school that could also meet her creative needs. Her prep also encouraged us to visit Tring Park but it’s not for us - maybe at 16, but at 11 the curriculum was far too narrow and I wasn’t convinced about some of the academic teaching.

Given her older sister boards then it was entirely realistic to have them at two different schools and we didn’t just want to send her there because that’s where her sister goes. We were looking for the school of best fit for my daughter.

As it has it she WILL be starting at Queenswood soon as we feel it is the best place for the education that fits her. A lot of the more academic schools had big weaknesses in several creative areas or didn’t work for us e.g. full boarding at WA. I have no concerns at all that she won’t meet both her academic and creative potential there, but we needed to see the other options to get to that conclusion.

You posted about looking elsewhere! You asked for recommendations. I’m glad you chose Q. It needs a boost!

I agree about Tring. No sport at all.

The key word being “looking”. Not discounting 😂😂😂. We needed to see if there was something else of better fit and I asked for recommendations. At no point had I written it off.

To add that my elder daughters year is VERY academic. It was the first year they were highly oversubscribed and they have continued to see an increase in applications. More applications means they can be more selective. I am expecting to see their results improve again over the years.

I’m never quite sure why schools like this dip. We saw a huge difference between DD1s cohort and DD2s. DD2 wasn’t as academic as DD1 but her A level results would out-perform many at Q now. Let’s hope the bright ones don’t leave. That’s been another issue as suggested by the other poster. Too isolated for some and they want a day school they can walk to in London. Or take a short bus/car journey to. I think boarding leads to better friendships in many ways but you don’t need difficult DDs in the houses. DD1 never had this. DD2 was with some horrors. Luck of the draw but it matters.

Hi all

Sorry that I wrote and ran... life was a little messy of late and I forgot to check back on this thread.

I agree that some of my criticisms/experiences could have been foreseen so some of the counter responses here are valid. In fact, I did have reservations, which was why I started the thread in the first place, to see if I was worrying unnecessarily. Some things seem fine or doable in theory but are different in reality you may appreciate. Yes we knew the days were long and that friends could potentially live far away, but how this feels in reality and how it affects DD's daily life is worse than we had imagined.

DD is my oldest child so I did not know what to expect from secondary school apart from my own experience decades ago! I hated school but even I have to grudgingly admit that the teaching quality was excellent across the board at mine, much of it is still of use to me now, so I did not expect to find fault in that area.

In respect of my referring to the school as "dull", it is more the ethos and attitude of the leadership than the list of activities on offer. I just don't find the school leadership team to be progressive, forward thinking and innovative and this has an effect.

It may have helped if my DD was able to board. There are reasons why this isn't a suitable option for us. I think we were naïve about the effect of the long days travelling and the expectation that there would be friendly chatter on the car journeys. However, as we are in the age of smartphones this was probably unlikely.

A very selective school would have been wrong for us, my daughter is an A student at best student not an A* student. She would not have liked to be in bottom sets or feel that she was near the bottom. She got an offer from a more academic school which we declined in favour of Q. I do feel as @Zodlebud states that the younger years are more academic as the school has become more heavily subscribed. Just to add though, that I have never compared their results to selective independent schools, I was comparing them to good comprehensive state schools such as Parliament Hill, Camden Girls, St Marylebone etc -given the broad intake. I would have expected Q to be doing much better than those, but the difference is not great.

Ultimately, I feel we made a mistake. My update was to help someone in a similar situation not make the same mistake. The school will of course be right for some people, but I just wanted to add my perspective. Of course, prospective parents will be able to attend Open Days now, something we did not have the benefit of during Covid restrictions, I'm sure that helps get a better sense of the school.

@animalprintfree My DDs didn’t have 100% great teaching either. Art used to be dreadful, for example. Leadership has been a bit average for 15 years. They need a real big effective personality to grab it but plenty of parents want the school now. 10 years ago they didn’t.

However leadership was top notch when Ms Farr was there. After that it went into “finishing school” mode where young women aiming high wasn’t the norm. Girls with opinions were routinely pushed aside for quiet “yes” girls. Previously girls were listened to and encouraged to articulate feelings and thoughts. It wasn’t the school we had chosen.

The school became much more actively focussed on chasing very wealthy parents who would donate to the school. Very much two tiers of parents and, of course, only one group with influence. My DD2 didn’t stay due to issues I alluded to in my earlier post and dismal art teaching. When she left, only 26 girls went from y11 to y12. Around 34 left. More girls arrived from China but the 6th form numbered 36 so many parents felt as we did.

These issues won’t affect you and hopefully the school is stable but far less academic than it was. It was similar to my local girls grammar. It’s no coincidence Ms Farr went to St Paul’s GS.

However boarding does provide friendships. It means DDs get more time to gel and participate in house events and activities. I would reconsider boarding as long days are no fun.

@PresentingPercy Your information on the school is now very out of date.

The school is now highly oversubscribed, with waiting lists and recently there have been many girls not even being offered a place.

Art is extremely good with the GCSE results one of the top performing subjects in the school.

There is no chasing of money.

The parents and children like the head and she must be doing something right to have boosted the school to its highest number of pupils ever. Yes, she’s not some formidable character nor does she come across as a slick business woman but she is approachable and well respected by all. Staff like working with her and staff retention is good.

You do point out your information is historic but it must surely be 10 years plus old now? I am not sure how relevant it is to this thread?

@animalprintfree Wow, for those fees I would expect them to bend over backwards to make kids and parents happy. I'm glad we chose a cheaper school 🥶

Surprised to hear about the trips, pastoral care, badly behaved girls and facilities (I thought all those things were the main appeals of the school?)