Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Lady Eleanor Holles (LEH) and Headington School Oxford

32 replies

tinywhisters · 27/01/2023 04:41

Hello, we will be moving to either SW of London or Oxford. My DD will be in year 10 in Sep 2023. Do you have any comments on LEH and Headington School (day school)?

OP posts:
sailingsunshine · 27/01/2023 07:21

Do you have the LEH offer? I would have thought a year 10 place is hard to achieve. Otherwise do you want to live near London or Oxford? The LEH coach network is extensive and you could live in Wimbledon or Richmond upon Thames. LEH is probably a more selective school than headington as has a larger pool of dd to select from.
Are you interested in Diversity? Also ask how many dd will be joining at the same time and if there is a buddy system. It's never easy joining any school at an occasional entry point.

DorotheaDiamond · 27/01/2023 07:25

Not sure LEH has any places at y10….usually take at y9 but I think they want the continuity for 9-11 given that I think some gcse stuff is done in yr9.

sailingsunshine · 27/01/2023 07:50

Yes @DorotheaDiamond , that's what I thought, my ds is at hampton and they don't take anyone in to year 10.

Original poster
tinywhisters · 27/01/2023 10:41

sailingsunshine · 27/01/2023 07:21

Do you have the LEH offer? I would have thought a year 10 place is hard to achieve. Otherwise do you want to live near London or Oxford? The LEH coach network is extensive and you could live in Wimbledon or Richmond upon Thames. LEH is probably a more selective school than headington as has a larger pool of dd to select from.
Are you interested in Diversity? Also ask how many dd will be joining at the same time and if there is a buddy system. It's never easy joining any school at an occasional entry point.

Thanks sailingsunshine. My DD has the chance to interview, not sure whether she can have the offer. For now, just want to have more information on the two schools in terms of academic support, school management etc., may not be very interested in diversity.

OP posts:
sailingsunshine · 27/01/2023 12:07

LEH is getting a new head in Sept, she is well known in the area and coming from a good school but currently on a break (she isn't in post at any school).
They are both good schools, the curriculum is so narrow that there is little difference in teaching between top private schools in the U.K.. Has your dd chosen her GCSE's? I would focus more on how they will integrate her into the cohort, it's very difficult to join any school in year 10.

Original poster
tinywhisters · 28/01/2023 09:42

sailingsunshine · 27/01/2023 12:07

LEH is getting a new head in Sept, she is well known in the area and coming from a good school but currently on a break (she isn't in post at any school).
They are both good schools, the curriculum is so narrow that there is little difference in teaching between top private schools in the U.K.. Has your dd chosen her GCSE's? I would focus more on how they will integrate her into the cohort, it's very difficult to join any school in year 10.

Oh would she be the head teacher of senior school? My DD is yet to choose the GCSE subjects. I also want to know any support from the schools to help a new year 10 joiner in choosing the subjects.

OP posts:
LittleBearPad · 28/01/2023 09:43

Are you basing your planned location on schools?

sailingsunshine · 28/01/2023 10:28

Yes LEH is getting a new head of the senior school in Sept. Yes once you get the offers you need to talk through GCSE selection, many of the curriculums like Geography are taught from Year 9.

Original poster
tinywhisters · 28/01/2023 13:02

Yes

OP posts:
Original poster
tinywhisters · 28/01/2023 13:10

Thanks for your information. Are you LEH parent?

OP posts:
sailingsunshine · 28/01/2023 14:51

@tinywhisters , no I'm at Hampton school parent with a ds who uses the coach network and I work in education (but not as a teacher).

NellyBarney · 28/01/2023 15:48

Headington is a bording school. They obviously take day girls, but would you like your dd to board/could afford it if she wanted to? For financial reasons we were quite clear that we would only consider the day option but the head told us that almost all girls wanted to flexi board to have a lie-in in the morning and we got the impression that they were really pushing it. We moved away and dd is now a day pupil at a different boarding school and again we find that the school is pushing for her to weekly board by advertising to her how much fun it is and how much more convenient. I don't mind her boarding, but it is significantly more money, and we find ourselves in a position where dd is constantly nagging us and claiming that she is losing out as all her friends are boarding.

Blueocean123 · 28/01/2023 18:48

LEH parent here. I cannot say about the support for Year 10 joiner because it is not their main intake and probably just one or even no girl join at that point. I highly recommend you to ask LEH directly once your DD got an offer.

Original poster
tinywhisters · 29/01/2023 07:33

@NellyBarney Good point! Thanks for reminding me.

OP posts:
Original poster
tinywhisters · 29/01/2023 07:35

@sailingsunshine Thanks for your information. That is very useful.

OP posts:
Original poster
tinywhisters · 29/01/2023 07:38

@Blueocean123 Thanks for your advice. Is your DD in senior school? Can you share with me pros and cons of LEH?

OP posts:
Blueocean123 · 29/01/2023 08:18

DD is in year 9, so your DD will be joining her year group.

We are very happy at LEH and cannot find any particular cons. LEH offers great range of extracurricular activities including lots of lunch time/after school clubs and most of girls find their favourite activities and enjoy them. Girls are highly motivated and self independent.

Original poster
tinywhisters · 29/01/2023 11:48

@Blueocean123 Great to hear that! Hopefully my DD can get an offer from LEH and would be one of your DD’s classmates.

OP posts:
NYE2023 · 30/01/2023 07:57

My daughter left LEH last year & is now at uni. She was really happy there & we were really happy as parents too . She was given so many opportunities to extend herself and try new things - for her the LEH approach really worked . I’m not sure who the new Head is but I hope that many aspects of Mrs Hanbury’s legacy endure. She wasn’t universally popular but we thought she was brilliant . We very nearly didn’t apply to LEH because we didn’t like the ethos under the previous head, but I’m glad we did. I don’t know Headington at all but both schools have lovely campus .

Original poster
tinywhisters · 31/01/2023 04:35

@NYE2023 Thanks for your information. Would LEH provide sufficient support to assist students in choosing university and subjects? How many students got offer from Oxbridge on average every year?

OP posts:
NYE2023 · 31/01/2023 08:59

We found the 6th form great - very supportive for UCAS/ careers but in a way that made the girls own their decisions and applications which I think is very important . Our DD is at Oxbridge and got 4 A* at A level but I really would not use absolute numbers of Oxbridge places as a comparison for the following reasons :

  • London girls school like LEH lose a number of very able girls who want a co Ed experience to schools like Westminster & Kings College many of whom would have been ( and indeed are) successful Oxbridge candidates - as a result the LEH sixth form is much smaller than many sixth forms so an absolute numbers comparison is unhelpful if another school doesn’t have this movement .About 10% got Oxbridge places last year which was much lower than “normal” but this was a trend seen across the indies as Oxbridge seeks to inc state school %. Last year ( and I guess this year ) there was a contextualised admission process because of assessed GCSE grades/ few indie candidates fished out of the pools who in past might have been etc . So girls who might have in past got places / interviews didn’t .
  • a number girls got onto very competitive courses like medicine and vet med - just as tough to crack as Oxbridge - and many ended up at unis like Imperial , UCL , LSE , Durham, st Andrews etc so all great outcomes . Indeed last year A level results were pretty much one of the best so a focus on Oxbridge is not the full story .

It was my daughters sixth form teachers who very much encouraged the Oxbridge route for her - it wasn’t a particularly early aspiration ( she was wait listed at 11+ and never an academic scholar so fair to say not on our radar ) . They recognised her intellectual curiosity & genuine passion for the subject and there were many opportunities to exploit it . And really that’s the thing - she exploited those opportunities. For me the biggest thing LEH gave my DD was the confidence to give everything a go without a fear for the outcome . And most importantly she loved it . I realise not everyones experiences will have been the same but for her it was a very good fit.

Original poster
tinywhisters · 31/01/2023 12:56

@NYE2023 Your point of views makes a lot of sense. Big thanks to you. Hope your DD very success in university.
By the way, did your DD have private tutor when she was studying in LEH?

OP posts:
NYE2023 · 31/01/2023 14:25

@tinywhisters we didn’t need to have a private tutor . On the whole the teaching was very good in our experience . Inevitability we had a few teachers who were not as good as others or where the teaching style didn’t suit but on balance it wasn’t an issue. Most of the girls are pretty self motivated & would probably look something up or ask for help . But I don’t want to give the impression that tutoring doesn’t happen since it almost certainly does but I suspect it happens at many SW Kondon schools !

NYE2023 · 31/01/2023 14:25
  • SW London schools
DorotheaDiamond · 31/01/2023 21:08

Grapevine says LEH has 6 Oxbridge offers this year…