AHS or SHF?

[BraBoy]

Hi everyone,

I attended two open days at each of the schools, Aylesbury High School and Sir Henry Floyd Grammar. Guess what, each gave me one terrific experience and also one very poor experience. As a result I am unsure which school would work better for my daughter. She is quite successful accademically but also really enjoys drama and dance, though isn't so much into sports. Does anyone have experience more recent than 2017 that might help us please?

Thank you :-)

My daughter started Year 7 at AHS last month, and loves it!

There were no open events last year, only videos,, so we didn't see SHF in person.

My daughter is not sporty and that worried me (a lot of afters hoop clubs so far have been sports/dance related), but they do have a lot of drama as well.

The pastoral care is excellent.

She is the only one from her primary there, the other two girls went to SHF, but we liked it and not having boys appears to be an advantage

I forgot to mention, they do dance as one of their PE lessons each week (one term it is swapped for swimming I believe).

OP, just in case you don't know, the best source of info is probably www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/index.php Please be aware however, that there is a poster on there who thinks SHF is the best thing ever and only presents positive information about it and negative about all other grammars in comparison. It's almost as if they are on commission!

Further Cambridge's comment I realise my comment may sound a bit ambiguous (wrote it on my tiny phone when I couldn't sleep).

My daughter is at Aylesbury High School, just for clarity.

SHF does seem to be the more popular for primaries in Aylesbury to migrate to, I 'guess' the reason for that is AGS and AHS seem more pressured, more 'elitist' maybe?

As of now my daughter hasn't been unduly pressured and she comes from a primary in Aylesbury that was failing, and her knowledge has a lot of gaps compared to others that come from other primaries.

Another thing that people recommend SHF for is pastoral care, as I said above the pastoral care has been amazing. My daughter has just started her periods and there was an issue whilst at school. Luckily the fact that there were only girls, all of whom can sympathise, and amazing staff, meant it was not traumatic. If there were boys I can imagine it would have ended up causing more issues.

I went to a mixed school, which is why I hoped my daughter would prefer a single sex one (she is like me).

Of course I've no doubt that she would have loved SHF too, but she is happy at the HIgh and is not sporty.

Where did your DD prefer? Which is the best fit? Do you want co Ed?

AHS has always had a higher reputation where I live. AHS was the overwhelming choice for girls. In fact I don’t know a single girl who went to SHF: from where I live or amongst DDs friends. You may find that leafy lane village DDs all choose AHS!

Boys were mixed. Several went to SHF and loved it. It always had a strong reputation for performing arts and the DC I know very much enjoyed that.

Therefore look at what each offers and think which would suit DD best. It’s quite fair to say that many DC from MK go to SHF and AHS is more popular amongst the professional parents who don’t live in Aylesbury! But check out what dance and drama is offered and ensure your DD will actually get to do it. Ensure it’s not entry by audition. Sports teams work like this and drama productions can too!

Should clarify, there is nothing wrong with praising a school your child currently attends. If their experience is great then obviously you have every right to say that and that is helpful. My warning relates to a poster who is unable to countenance any school other than SHF - which is apparently 100% perfect in every way and has been for many years and is superior to all other grammars for all children. No school can be that!

That’s absolutely correct. I think when you compare SHF with the Aylesbury secondary (modern) schools you can see why someone would go overboard on praise for SHF! Aylesbury secondary (modern) schools have been in and out of RI and Inadequate since ofsted began! It’s a long standing issue that none of these schools can sustain improvement. Hence the migration to village secondaries.

Obviously if you want single sex then SHF isn’t for you. As it was the old technical high school and didn’t start life as a grammar, it’s long been viewed as a bit second class. Chesham Grammar changed its name to get over this issue! In some quarters it is seen as not as good and the very gifted children rarely go there. Traditionally it’s had more places open to DC who get in on appeal or it fills up from MK. More than the other two. However I’ve found parents to be very happy with it. So it really comes down to what suits your DD. My best friend was head girl there!

Thank you all for taking teh time to put down your thoughts.

@Player456 really appreciate your view based on yoru daughter actually attending year 7 at AHS now and it's great to see she is enjoying it and is being looked after. And I can certainkly see that numerous matters will be eased by there not being boys around at that age. Thank you and my best wishes to you and yours!

@TieroFizz thank you as well. Your view is very useful. My DD seems very happy with AHS and I note your suggestion to check some of these things, like access to Drama so thank you for taking the time, much appreciated

and @CambridgeConcise, thank you also. I took a look and take your point on broader, balanced views. Very useful :-)

I think that particular poster has disappeared from that forum.

@BraBoy where did your DD end up, please, and are they happy? I'm resurrecting all the old threads on this topic as still very undecided between these 2 schools with a week to go until application deadline :-)

@Hotdoughnut There’s a very recent thread on this!

@tizerorfizz yes I think I resurrected the one you're referring to 🤣 We are SO undecided! But it is a nice position to be in.

Either one would be brilliant.

Obviously I'm biased towards AHS as DD goes there, but both are brilliant (AHS wins for us though).

Whichever, your DD will have an amazing time and a fab education!

Thanks so much, we have AHS as 1st choice at the mo, and can change it up until midnight tomorrow! My daughter likes the idea of all girls and prefers the journey to AHS.