NLCS and St Helen's Northwood 11+

[123DS]

I was wondering if you have any first hand experience regarding the two schools above. My daughter got a place from both.
In particular, I would like to know how much homework is expected to be done after school and over the weekend.
What if a student falls behind? What support is there?
Are pupils very competitive or do they work together and support each other. Thanks in advance for any comments

NLCS - two pieces of homework per day, each must not take longer than 30-40 minutes. A couple of times a week they also have 15 mins of French. Sometimes, they are asked to complete longer pieces of work such as an essay or a short story and they will get a week or two to complete that. No direct experience of falling behind but the teachers communicate with the students directly on Teams and I have only seen evidence of supportive, non pressurising communication.
The bond between the girls is lovely, have not had evidence of competing - there are lots of areas every girls can find their niche, from sports to coding to reading etc.
The school does not make a big deal of grades or specific achievements unless they are by a team of girls. In general, it is not an environment where every 5 minutes there is a prize or a special commendation to a specific girl.
This is year 7 experience by the way.
Hope it helps.

If my daughter had the option between NLCS and STHNS I would hope she chooses NLCS. Just because they get better results looking during and before covid. Both schools are good independent schools but I feel NLCS will give your daughter the extra push to get amazing grades. But I have noticed NLCS girls are extremely competitive and toxic at times as they want the best and don't want any girl near their level. STHNS has a wider range of extra curricular activities as well as a less competitive side. But all girls schools have "mean girls" and I guess its just something your daughter has to deal with.
Also another factor when choosing is location as you don't want your daughter to travel too far as school days can get quite late after the coach journey
Hope this helps your daughters decision!