Francis Holland Regents Park: please help

[Lovingdiscussion]

Hello, DD received offer along with scholarship. She really loves the school. Can I ask if any parent can describe how a day goes in the school? How academic is the school? DD is very bright academically but loves to do different activities. Do they stretch eager children enough? I know the school do not rank as highly as SPGS or CLSG etc but would you say the school is nurturing and a happy bright child will do good in the school?

And one last question would a parent be seem completely odd if he/she leave CLSG offer and go for FHRP?

Your input will be highly appreciated!

My DD received offer from FHRP. Current parents please provide an insight. Can message me as well.

Many Thanks

bump..

Hi - we also got an offer from FHRP. I was impressed with it when we visited, and only 2 doubts I’m having are distance from home plus where will her friends live.

Can anyone provide me with a feel as to where other kids come from? We’re in N6.

We love the school. We are based in NW6 and my daughter takes the bus to school. We chose FHS RP over Channing as it was easier to commute using public transport (direct tube and bus options). As with most parents, we were very anxious for our daughter starting a new secondary school, commuting to school by herself, etc. but it’s been very smooth. One thing I liked about FHS is that all the girls start at Year 7. So all the girls are new to school. Fewer friendship cliques / issues from junior school. School is very strict on discipline, and bullying issues are taken very very seriously - which we really like. Pastoral care is fantastic. It is surprisingly quite focussed on academics as well - as we were told it isn’t as academic as some other North London schools. Tests every term, reports every half term. Perhaps it’s all relative? Outside of academics, lots of sport. They use Regents Park for PE, lots of netball and other fixtures. Lots of clubs. The jazz evening last week was an interesting experience for us: having come from a pushy hot house type prep, we couldn’t help notice that girls who were performing were of all abilities, and they were allowed to perform in front of an audience at a school event. The teachers and students were all having fun and encouraging the performers. Couldn’t imagine that in my daughter’s prep school - it was the same group of outgoing / articulate / grade 5 piano/violin girls who got all wheeled out for the big events. Most importantly, our daughter is happy. Exhausted after a full day of school and then doing homework and revising, but feels supported by school.

Girls in our daughter’s class are from all over London (think areas with relative decent commute to Baker St by tube), given the commute options.

They stream the girls in Math from the second term of Year 7. So I imagine they stretch and challenge the more academic girls.

Re CLSG and FHS, it’s a personal choice - commute, feel for the school etc. We loved CLSG when we saw it, for the very visible socio-economic diversity, the location (we both work in the City) and obviously, the reputation. Our daughter didn’t get an offer. If we had to choose, I think we would have chosen CLSG for those reasons - academic reputation / league tables being the driver. If your daughter has an offer (congratulations!), they must have made that offer knowing she can cope with the school.
Although I don’t think she would be at a disadvantage if she were to come to FHS over CLSG. She would be stretched and supported in a nurturing environment.

@PGDL many thanks. Really reassuring to know how the school is academic but focus on other non academics as well, giving opportunities to all abilities. We had the similar feeling as well when did our school visit on top of visits we had to do for tests, interviews etc.

@PGDL thank you very very much for your message and reassurance, you confirmed all I felt about FHRP!
We are 5’ walk from Channing so I always assumed my DD would go to Channing but FHRP really impressed me and it would better fit for my DD.
Just need to get over the fact it’s a 45 min tube journey versus a 5’ walk and I’ll be fine :-)
Think the journey is more of a problem initially, once they get used to it it becomes second nature.
Thanks so much once again, your message really reassured me.

My daughter also has offers for Channing and FH RP. We are in N2, so the commute will be relatively easy to Channing but the tube with a change at KX if FH.
The commutes would be so different for my daughter and as you say @LolaHighgate, likely that friendship groups might not live that close to home. Definitely a bit worried about that. Just wondered how you'd found that part of it @PGDL?
It is great to hear about all the positives of FH, we certainly got a great feel for it every time we visited.

@Londoners
My understanding is that most Channing kids live within a 3/4 miles radius from school (also as a large majority move up from junior school). So definitely better for friendships nearer by.
However I am consoling myself with the hope we’ll stay in touch with friends from primary and that actually having both those friends which are local and then friends that are some more miles away will over time be a benefit (once they are 15+ they will I guess enjoy having friends from different areas of London as this will allow more independence and exploration).
We are in a bit of a different position to you though as we are on the WL for Channing vs having the offer so Channing not really an option for us any more (I don’t think WL will move much, as my understanding is all kids that were not offered a place are on the WL, meaning WL has 100+ kids on it) …

Our daughter has made very good friends with a girl who is based in SW London. They get to spend time in school, not so much after school, at least not yet, because neither is allowed to travel that far alone! But they do homework and study together via zoom most evenings! We offered to organise a play date, and our daughter was mortified that we wanted to get involved!
From what we have seen (and we see a lot of the girls going in / out of Baker St), the girls seem to be independent and confident of navigating London for school.
I can see why you would be nervous about the change at Kings X. School days can be long; after school clubs finish around 5pm, sometimes later if they are doing sports fixtures. Early morning clubs start at 7:30am, so early starts on those days too.

But, there is something nice about having friends all over London. Not getting upset if you are not part of the group of friends who are always hanging out at that park or cafe or party in your neighbourhood? Plus, taking the tube and bus has been great for confidence building and independence.
Maybe try the tube run one school morning (after half term) to get a feel for the crowd and route? Take your daughter with you. That might help with the decision. We did that last year over half-term. It was a straight route and no changes, but we were all nervous about it!
If it helps, we chose FHS because (1) easy commute (30 mins, direct bus and tube), (2) everyone who starts at Year 7 is new, (3) great feel at open evenings and tours - felt like the teachers were invested and students were happy - and we can confirm this, (4) they are focused on academics - and girls who are driven and eager are supported, (5) strict on bullying issues - dealt with immediately - no faffing about/pretending it doesn’t happen. So it was a full package for us. Channing was tempting, but the commute didn’t appeal and that coupled with concerns around cliques and friendships being local, it made more sense to us to go to FHS.

@Lolahighate I agree that two friendship groups over time will be a real bonus.
@PGDL It’s lovely to hear about your daughter’s experience.
Thank you both so much. It is really helpful to chat it through a bit

@PGDL - thanks so much for all your advice, knowing our experience really helps and makes me feel very reassured!

@PGDL - apologies, a few more questions from me, just to totally nail down my logistics:

When does the school day actually start? (if no clubs beforehand) Is it 8.30am?
Does a high percentage of kids do the before the school clubs (is it expected they do?), and would this be a 1- 2 few days of the week or 3-5?
Does a high percentage of kids do after school clubs? What time they finish?

Thanks so much once again!

School starts at 8:25am. Girls are encouraged to be in school by 8:10am. Gives them time to go to the locker room to put stuff away, hand in their phones etc. Clubs are completely optional. Girls in Year 7 are encouraged to join as many as they like, to make friends and get into school stuff. The girls are over enthusiastic and excited at the start of term and we had a crazy first term with many early starts and late finish. School was great and supportive - it was chaotic for the girls to find their way into different classes and clubs, changing into PE in the locker rooms, etc.
School finishes at 3:30pm, and after school clubs finish by 4:30-5pm latest. Sports fixtures (coach to FH Sloane Square or CLGS), would mean they get back to school around 6pm.
We are now down to 2 early morning clubs and 1 after school club.

@PGDL Thanks so much once again, your input has been incredibly useful!

@PGDL really useful insight. Many many thanks

My DD’s heart set on FHRP. So will be going towards that direction

@Lovingdiscussion @PGDL - we've confirmed our place today, paid the deposit etc.
Really look forward to it now (and most importantly - my DD is too!)
Definitely feel it's the right choice, following lots and lots and LOTS of research and comparison, with Channing in particular (which is 5' from home for us).

Great to hear that your girls are looking forward to FHS RP! Very happy to answer any other questions about the school. It’s a lovely school. I am sure they will be happy and thrive x

Just want to echo all of PGDL's thoughts about Francis Holland. Living in N London meant we felt spoilt for school choice, and we are closest to FHRP which helped, however we prioritised the promise of pastoral care and friendly feel that comes with a school this size. DD had been a high achieving exam performer in primary (no prepping) but a lazy day-to-day student. We wanted a school that could nurture a love of learning and awaken a more academic side of her, but without feeling intense pressure and while still having a positive social and enriched secondary experience. FHRP has been that school. She's happy and flourishing in all the ways we'd hoped- academically and otherwise. Our younger DD, who has had just the opposite primary experience (not the highest exam scores in the class, but fully immersed and thrives in the day-to-day learning), will be joining her sister at FHRP because we know it's a school that can nurture both. One DD is more music and science oriented, the other more arts and literature, and we know both shall be well supported to develop their strengths and interests. (Neither are terribly sporty, but the sporty girls are catered for, too!). I'll also just say that academically the expectations do rise of the girls quite noticeably, but it's done in a way that they do not feel they compete with one another. In fact quite the opposite in my DDs circle, where they work to support each other to do better (she's in Year 9). We will miss Fillingham, who has devoted himself to the school community (and handled COVID challenges exceptionally well), but, in view of her experience, I think the new Head will work hard to maintain this same character and ethos of the school. Good luck to all, there are no bad decisions in the end so go with your guts!

@Tierra - your words and experience are very reassuring, thank you for sharing, much appreciated.
One minor thing that my DD is a bit confused about is not having boys around. Are there any interaction with boys within the school activities? At open day they mentioned a school disco? Thanks again.

I know FHRP does lots of music concerts with Harrow.

Yes, there was a disco that involved boys in Year 7, but there hasn't been anything else scheduled (though perhaps this has more to do with COVID- the pandemic started while my daughter was in Year 7). I'm not aware of any upcoming dances or activities with boys from other schools except the concerts with Harrow, but it could be that I'm out of the loop on this.