SHHS?

[NewMum112]

Good Morning ladies, two day to accept/reject schools, I would like to have some final views on SHHS please, I’m interested to hear the negatives as well as the positives, if you have a daughter there or visited the school before or even heard about +/- , really appreciated.

We have accepted an offer there last week, choosing between SHHS and Channing. We haven't been able to visit the school in person, but quite liked the staff we spoke to during the virtual events last week, especially a strong focus on pastoral care. The headmistress is very well-spoken and again, the current parents and children we spoke to seem to greatly enjoy her leadership of the school. Finally, my daughter is excited about all the co-curricular activities and the school dog :)

@NewMum112 - Been following your threads because I am always interested in reading those with offers far and wide.

If you are looking at affirmation about SHHS, it is a fantastic school! It is the mecca of academic girls in the 'surrounding' area. Girls we met there were very candid. We know people there and the headmistress is one of the more vocals of the indie heads. I also like their concept of 'mehrlicht'.

Following your other thread - wondering what you and your DD thought about the offer holders of CLSG and G&L? Read here and heard that SHHS had the more frills, whilst the other two were more simple and and personal.

I've name-changed for this as it's sensitive, but our DD is at SHHS and had some issues outside school that led to her having a CAMHS referral. The therapist said that SHHS is exceptionally good in its pastoral care. She said that while while schools might say they prioritise pastoral care, lots don't but SHHS genuinely does.

Thought this was worth passing on.

How do you all know you’re talking about the same school?!

@Cambionombre
Thank you so much for your input.
Of course it’s so much worth passing it on, I’m so grateful to you for sharing it with us, and I’m really sorry you went through this and I hope everything is better now with DD.
At CAMHS they deal with lots of schools so this information coming from them about SHHS is priceless, thank you so much and I really wish your daughter all best. Thank you.

@Rrelaxo @TomorrowOnce
Thank you so much for your views, I totally agree with you, the SHHS offer holders’event was outstanding and the theme of the school is so relaxed yet they achieve this incredible academic results, it was so impressive and the teachers were so humble and paying attention to the smallest detail. I guess we are 90% going to accept SHHS but we still got that feeling of missing something in G&L 😭

@PotteringAlong
I’m sorry but I don’t understand your question.
We are all talking about SHHS
South Hampstead High School.

My point was how do you all know that? On an international site, admittedly mainly British based but not centred in one part of the U.K. how on earth can you write SSHS and immediately get lots of people know that you automatically mean the same school with those initials.

You didn’t post on a local board.
You gave no indication in your post where in the U.K. you are, or indeed if you are in the U.K.
But you all assume you’re talking about the same school.

Maybe you are but my question was how do you know? Is there some kind of bat flare that goes up that I’m just not privy to?

SHHS. Sorry.

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=51410&sid=b5dce3aaa8629548a3f67b2fc2e3e87b

@Potteringalong: see the link above.

@EITEL but they weren’t mentioned in the OP! Other schools in the local area were mentioned afterwards. People just knew!

@EITEL

Any closer to a decision *@NewMum112*? We have accepted our place. Still have worries about going private - the cost and the privilege. DD currently at a State. But do really like the feel of SHHS.

We did the same- accepted SHHS after lots of thinking, which was made even more difficult last night when we were offered a musical place at St Marylebone for girls (state)- our first choice. DD is also moving from state school. Cost and privilege were big debate topics for us as well but in the end SHHS felt like a really excellent choice that is worth the investment.

@Utility @EITEL Yes we have accepted the offer and paid the deposit, there’s no walking back now. I hope it’s the right decision.
Thank you for your explanation on the usage of the independent schools abbreviations

My DD joined SHHS in Y12 and we have no regrets. It's a terrific school and Victoria Bingham is superb. The vibe is relaxed but their academic results are strong. Another year with 20% Oxbridge offers. Their communication is great and I've been impressed by the remote learning and use of technology for parents evenings etc. I think you've made a great decision OP.

@namochangeo
Thank you so much, this is very reassuring. I wish your daughter all the best.

One last thing ladies, is it a common practice that when you decline an offer they ask you which school you chose for your daughter? As I said before we are new in Uk and I don’t know the full 11+ process? Do I have to say which school my daughter will be attending?

which school you chose for your daughter?
Sometimes schools also ask other offers you had.

Good for statistics and further marketing.
Likely looking whether they were chosen over 'higher' ranked indie schools (SPGS, G&L, NLCS, CLSG, Habs, Guildford - some boarding) or grammar (HBS in your case), reflect on what they did this time to entice these parents, and what else can be done in the future. (- 'higher' because the differences are small.)

We disclosed this information to some schools - but not all. It was kind of random.

@EITEL
I feel the same, I don’t want this information to affect my other DC. Did you give them the name of the school?
I haven’t replied yet.

I don't think it would influence whether or not they made an offer to the sibling but it would give the school an idea about how many offers they were likely to need to make. They don't want to assume it will be a "no" and risk missing out on a good candidate but it helps them decide whether they offer by 5, 10 or 400%!

@TomorrowOnce
Thank you for explaining the purpose of their question, it does make sense, but how can I respond politely to them without disclosing the requested information, or is it better to tell them the name of the school so we won’t burn bridges with them?