Channing vs Queen's College vs Francis Holland Regent

[SameBoat2022]

My DD got offers from the three, (academic scholarship from Queen's, waiting list for academic scholarship from FHRP).

My husband and I adored the vibe at Queen's, and would choose it, but she now says she wants Channing, also because her best friends disliked Queen's. I feel Queen's would be more supportive, relaxed and nurturing, while Channing girls seem more edgy. She is very bright, not particulary driven accademically, fit but not sporty - more of a reader and writer and very sociable. But she also needs structure and a challenge.

It's unlikely any of her current school friends will go with her, wherever she ends up at, so it'd be important to pick up a school less cliquey than others.

Any advice please?

Thanks!

@Frogusha I agree with you. I don't think CSG is the bees knees don't get me wrong but equally I don't think your daughter's sport needs will be met to that level at any of these schools. Sport uptake dips after prep. SHHS seems more sporty than Channing. Mill Hill/Belmont is where the super sporty kids go or Highgate if they're academic as well.

Go with your instinct - that vibe at Queen’s is real. Our daughter had several offers including Channing but we are very happy we trusted our instinct and chose Queen’s. The Head and the staff are excellent. Our daughter runs out of the house in the morning to get to school and is really happy. Two of our friends chose Queen’s as a result of our positive experience. It’s a lovely place - go for it!

Hi,

we are in the exact same position, including the pending result from CSG.

Rightly or wrongly, we are focused on FH and Channing. This is driven by our daughter's preference and the impression that both schools have a similar spread of academic capabilities of the girls (which seems to be a good range that our daughter would fit into) that drive similar GSCE/A-level results.

Both schools appear to have virtually identical A-level results for 2022 but Channing has had higher A-level results for longer (even pre the unrepresentative covid years). Strangely, Channing does have a better spread of leaver destinations in terms of the quality of universities but without the international aspect of FH (they do have leavers to the US). We don't know why that is given A-levels results are the same in aggregate - maybe Channing has a bigger spread of very academic girls that get into the best schools and some below average performers whereas FH has fewer stars and is more concentrated around the aggregate A-levels level?

Sports appears slightly more developed at FH, particularly for swimming or gymnastics.

Channing is said to have a narrower geographic spread of home address, so all girls will be close by in North London.

With that we are running out of objective differentiators. Does anyone have others?

Frankly, my ideal secondary school
is one where I do not have to micro-manage, ferry around or worry about homework.
She needs to learn how to fend for herself, and the soonest the best.

Suspect that tilts the scale towards the private options rather than CSG. Doesn't answer which of the private schools.

Maybe your decision would be impacted if either FH, Channing or Queen's was to require materially more homework each day which you would need to enforce.

I haven't seen any facts on the relative homework burden of those schools. Would be interesting.

@northlondon23 agree with all you said. For me the material difference is travel and where it is. I.e. where it is easier to get to and from, and also for you if she needs help with a heavy bag / an instrument, or you need to attend a fixture / concert. Location also means FHS go to galleries, museums, places of interest nearby in London more often than Channing (take a look at the calendar on their website). I also like that FHS stands on its own, whereas Channing is as a poor sister there by Highgate as a reminder to those who didn't get in (I know not everybody tried, may be it's just us). As the girls grow up they woud be able to go out in Central London too, not wasting time to get there. From Highgate it's a bit of a trek.

Leaver destinations are sadly getting worse for privates with the push towards more inclusion and that would be a steer towards CSG.

My DD loves Queen's, and as a parent I don't recognise any of somewhat negative comments above. We had a choice between multiple schools, including FHRP, and haven't regretted our choice once. Queen's is a great school with a focus on academics but also with a particular focus on the individual.

My DD is in year 8 at Queens. She received 6 offers following her 11+ exams. In the end, we narrowed it down to Queens College or Francis Holland Regents Park. On paper, Francis Holland seemed to be marginally stronger, being closer to Regents Park and as it has an on-site swimming pool. To inform our decision, we spoke to past students that had just finished each at Queens and at Francis Holland. We found this to be the best piece of advice as they knew first hand the pros and cons of each school. Queens came across very positively in our discussion with the past student (more so than Francis Holland Regents Park). When the past student at Queens was asked what would she would change about the school, she struggled to think of anything and said she could reflect upon it if we would like (that spoke volumes to us). Following our discussion with the students, having visited the schools and spoken to the headmaster of each school we ended up choosing Queens. It has been the right choice for our DD. As our DD is from a small (in size) state primary school, we chose Queens college for its supportive and nurturing environment which comes out in the ethos of the school and all that they do. My DD did not know anyone at Queens College when she joined - she was not unique in that regard. She has made many friends at the school. As a scholar at Queens, my DD has had the opportunity to go on some really interesting trips (I attended one with her). She has also created a scholar's portfolio on a variety of topics that have interested her. I would go with your gut in the end !

My daughter chose a place at Queen's over places and scholarships at FHRP, Channing and SHHS and she is loving being at Queen's.

Queen's is everything we had hoped it to be and more. My daughter has an academic scholarship and finds the work academically stretching, the teachers inspiring and opportunities accessible and seemingly endless.

She hasn't experienced any cliquey groups. The school mix the classes well and change seating plans regularly. If I ask who went to the prep school she doesn't really know which I think shows how well they integrate the classmates.

We have found the school to be extremely supportive, positive and nurturing.
Our daughter is happy and therefore thriving.

We went with our instincts and what felt right for our daughter and we are so pleased that we did. Good Luck with your decision. The offer days may help.

Don't know much about the other 2, but DDs both had lots of friends at Channing who all seemed to enjoy it, but some years there is a bit of an exodus to co-ed schools for 6th form.
DD1 refused to apply there as she hated the uniform so much - referred to it as the poo-niform (to be fair, that was not the only reason!)

Oh both I and my husband loved Queen’s but for some reason she is not keen now 😔

Thanks everyone for your informative and sensible contributions. At this point the most relevant aspect for me is the quality of pastoral care. I know first-hand it’s excellent both at FHRP and Queen’s but have no insight into Channing. Anyone?

Having had a few issues with our children over the years we’ve found the pastoral care at Channing to be excellent. It’s a genuinely caring environment where the girls are treated as individuals. It’s a real focus for the school, and they are constantly reviewing and improving rather than feeling complacent about it, which is always a good sign for the future.

My daughter is at Queen's College Prep, but we are not going to Queen's as the more academically able girls apply for places at competitive schools. The Prep girls who are going into Queen's are generally kind and chill kids. So it really depends on what your DD likes. If she likes a generally non-competitive and friendly environment, then Queen's is a good choice. However, if she is ambitious, it may not be the right place for her. We have found that the school struggles to cater for the gifted pupils. My daughter has been quite bored in a number of lessons, especially Math and ICT. Their music offering is also suboptimal (most students do not learn instruments to a high level, and the performance level of the orchestra is not good), hence my DD who is gifted in music does not have much chance to further develop her interests. I'm sure you are already aware of the limited facilities at Queen's, which might put a constraint on what your DD can potentially explore. For instance, if the PE offerings at Queen's is similar to its prep, it's always the same few (hockey, rugby, netball, swimming, running). My DD really wants to learn tennis and badminton, but they struggle to secure venue as the school doesn't have one in-house.

All comments are very helpful. Yes she is technically in the gifted range, NV Cats at 139, average 131, but her abilities have been masked by mild processing speed issues so that is uncharted territory at the moment. But yes, I can see she is finally allowing herself to be ambitious and I want to encourage it, provided that the environment is nurturing.

I couldn’t agree more re doing what is right for your child but I must say that music at Queen’s is really excellent - lots of opportunities and a high standard of achievement with regular formal and informal concerts, singing, instrument grades, GCSE and A’ level. What they lack in on site sports facilities they make up for by accessing those at Regents Park, Paddington Rec and Finsbury Park (athletics) with specialist training during lunchtime and after school clubs. They also have an excellent and growing Dance focus (for all abilities).

We’ve chosen Queen’s over Channing for our gifted/DME child, because we feel that . They seem to have lots of potential for academic rigor with academic differentiation in many subjects from Year 8 and the additional academic opportunities offered by the scholarship program, which we feel will satisfy our daughter’s academic inclination. We also noticed that there were many more outright rejections from Queen’s amongst our daughter’s cohort at her prep school and other local prep schools, which makes me think, at least for girls not coming from the prep school, there seems to be a level of academic selection.

Historically FHRP and Queens aren’t as academic as Channing but they’re both improving. If you look back at previous years’ league tables you will see that to be the case. Channing’s GCSE grades 7-9 were still better in 2022 but not by a significant margin. The Sunday Times League Tables don’t rank in the order of % grades for some
reason.
Personally I’d choose Channing between these three as it has a more consistent track record and I prefer the location/facilities but it depends on the girl and what suits her personality. My daughters don’t go to either but have a lot of friends at Channing and FHRP and they evolve into quite different types of girl so think about that aspect as well as the grades.

Kiddify replicates the ST league tables

This is actually 2022

Update: she finally got the academic scholarship she was waitlisted for at FHRP. Does anyone have any idea how it compares to the one at Queen's, please?
Does it have to be hard 'til the very end?

Thanks

Hi. My daughter is an academic scholar at Queen’s in year seven. We are so happy with the choice we’ve made. I’m very happy to answer any questions you have this weekend. I remember how hard we found it last year. Good luck with the decision!

Dear all, does anyone know whether Queen's College has a programme of key speeches and lectures? FHRP has it on the website but I cannot find anything from Queen's... Thanks

The older students have a lecture series - last week they had a KC talking about human rights. There are also ad hoc talks that everyone can go to, so for example there’s an International Women’s Day talk next week on “Hidden Women of W1”. Then there’s the academic festival with a whole day of lectures and workshops (last year themed around space, this year on fashion).

My DD is at Queen's. It's a very good school, but what I've learned is that there is no point in agonising over minute differences among schools. The girls will take their own path and after the honeymoon period is over they will put on their hoodie, roll up their skirts, reject after school clubs, study and sulk. As parents we just have to sit and observe, and suffer. And yes, there are some glowing example of girls doing every activity their parents' money can buy, getting endless offers, but let me tell you, they are a minority , the majority will go through violent rejections and hormones upheavals whether they go to St Paul's, Queen's or your (good) local comp.