Choosing a senior school in NW

[MissScotland]

Hi everyone,

We received our DD's 11+ results on Friday and are really pleased and proud. Just as we thought that the difficult part is behind us we realised that the hardest decision is yet to come.
So a bit of background -
DD is very bright and an excellent pupil. Likes to study and acquired some solid learning skills over the last couple of years. Her strongest subjects are on the technical side - maths, geography, science... But she also does extremely well on all other subjects and enjoys pretty much every subject at school. English has always been her weaker side. But with a lot of hard work she managed to do well in the top sets. She's very bubbly and friendly, however, is not super strong with verbal expression. She has a lovely group of friends at school and she's very happy. She enjoys sports but she isn't very sporty.

She loves music, plays a couple of instruments and likes to create music too.

She was offered a place by a few schools but we are currently focusing on Habs and Channing. She's on the waitlist for NLCS (we think quite high up).

I loved Habs and she did too. My husband hasn't seen Habs yet.
We all went to see Channing. My husbands liked it. Myself not so much. Our understanding is that Channing is much softer than Habs. My impression was (and I might be wrong) that it was a bit of a hippie school, with a lot of focus on verbal expression, opinions, agendas, activism etc. I'm worried about how someone who is a bit more technical and less socially confident will do in this environment. I found the facilities a bit average too.
Habs have come across as very welcoming and gave us the feeling that they would love to have her. The facilities are amazing and the music department very impressive.
Basically, we want her to be happy and do well, and feel like she's doing well and not constantly trying to catch up with everyone. We are worried about Habs being very hard on the girls and highly competitive. And we are worried that Channing, although maybe warmer, might not play to her strengths.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this and appreciate any insight you may provide.
We will visit these schools again before making a decision.

Thanks in advance

Habs is without a doubt more academic. I wouldn’t describe channing as ‘hippie’ at all, more traditional. Channing is still academic and get great results, just maybe not as focused on ‘everyone getting 3a*s at alevel’ . They still send to oxbridge etc but it’s not geared towards that where I feel habs push every girl to get top grades. The facilities at habs are superior. Personally if I had the 2 choices, If I felt my daughter could cope with habs , I would accept the place. But if you aren’t as focused on top top grades, then channing is a lovely school. I think depends whether your daughter can cope in a high achieving environment ..

Thank you @afewtoomanychoices
I'm trying to understand how this translates into every day life at the school. My daughter goes to a private school now where they are expected to work very hard. She's coping well.
I feel like I hear things but they are very general. If Habs aims at a* at all a levels (and they don't have a perfect record of that) then I assume they put in a lot of effort with the girls and the preparation is fantastic. How much and what exactly out of this can be considered over pressurised or negative?

Ah - NW London

I have a daughter at Habs. It’s a rigorous environment with lots of tests but it’s not overly pressurised. The girls learn that testing and feedback is part of the school routine and they tend to take it in their stride. If your dd is the type of child who will get very stressed by not getting 100% in every test then it’s something to think about, but otherwise I wouldn’t worry. The teachers are supportive and want to help the girls to do well, making themselves available at lunch or break if a girl has a question. The range of extra curricular and the opportunities outside the classroom are phenomenal, and overall it seems like a very happy place for the right child.
My dd is very happy there and we are very pleased with the school.

Also remember, if habs offered her a place they must think she will suit the school and the environment. They don’t hand out offers easily habs! Also consider travel, with habs having coach rides and kids more spread out across Hertfordshire etc. however I do think that’s a nice thing too and creates more diversity

Does your DD have a preference? We’ve got offers from an overlapping set of schools to you, so I get how you feel. Given the uncertainties in the process, we tried to keep a completely open mind until we knew our offers, and have gone through phases of preferring different ones over recent months. One of the schools, which I reckon is probably the easiest to get to, is where I’ve always seen DD going. After her excitement of having a choice to make, in the past couple of days she’s been talking about that one the most - if it stays that way, and she enjoys the offer holders morning, I think that’ll be done deal for us. Is DD excited and chatting about either in particular? I asked Channing a lot of questions and concerns about DD’s areas of interest and they sent back really thought-through detailed replies from the relevant teachers, so maybe you could try that?

The country dips into the nether world at the Watford Gap…

I'd look at the journey!

Did you take your decision? Channing or Habs?

We accepted the offer from Habs after visiting both schools again. Really pleased :-) Did you accept an offer?

I’m pleased you chose Habs. My grand daughter is there and is thriving. She loves going on the coach. The ethos, pastoral care and teaching are exceptional. She has a wide range of extra curricula activities open to her. The school is now working more closely with the boys school (uniform changing in September)

Op you know the north west is generally considered to be the area from Cumbria to Cheshire… not a particular section of the m25 🙄

Thanks @mdh2020! These are exactly the reasons why we chose it. Plus the music department that we found super impressive (DD is very much into music and will be a music scholar there). From the first open day the school felt so welcoming and respectful. I'm hoping she'll do well there.

Grumpsy - schools being talked about are in London postcode NW not the North West more generally. But thanks for the helpful geography lesson.