Habs vs NLCS vs St Helens

[Mumtum79]

Long post warning!
We are very conflicted and would appreciate some help with people who know these schools at 11+ entry as we currently have offers.
My daughter is at StH already. She is quirky, confident, kind and has a spot on sense of comic timing. She loves her school, has a bunch of tooth-achingly sweet friends and has generally had the school experience you pray for your children to have (I'm lucky so far I know-it's probably going to all go wrong in senior school 😬). She loves maths and does things in her spare time like paint pictures of famous female scientists and mathematicians (absolutely nothing to do with me!).
However, I don't feel StH stretches her hugely. The school (much respect to them) tend to encourage sports and music whereas I'm not sure about academics and although this is brilliant for developing talent in the year, it's not so great for my daughter.
However, having visited NLCS, I was blown away by their STEM focus.
The Habs sixth formers I met on the interview day were confident and lovely young women but I worry that my non-sporty, almost geeky daughter might struggle to fit in there whereas the eyeroll-inducing NLCS catchphrase of 'unashamedly academic' seems apt for my daughter who isn't an allrounder. Am I right in this? Or are the NLCS girls equally scarily-brilliant all rounders??
She is very self motivated and managed to get into NLCS and Habs with only minimal input from me. She's also been awarded a 30% scholarship at Habs. St H have also offered a scholarship but we don't know how much it is yet as they seem the last school to send out their letters.
She would love to stay at StH but could be persuaded otherwise (she came out of both NLCS and Habs interviews saying that was her first choice 🙄!) . My son is at Habs and he would love her to come there but I feel Habs boys is different to the girls school.
St H offers an enrichment program for its scholarship students but I don't think Habs does (my son is on a scholarship there and there's nothing extra that I've noticed).
Distance wise, she'd be on a 30-40 min coach journey for Habs/Nlcs but we are moving to be walking distance to St Helens (for other reasons, not solely her).
Is there enough of a difference (academically and also personality wise) between Habs and NLCS to walk away from a scholarship? I feel I would be expanding her opportunities by encouraging her to leave StH but am aware that there would be days I would regret having moved her from somewhere she's so blissfully happy having been through something similar with my son at his 11+ a couple of years ago,

GD is at Habs and will be in yr7 in September. We are incredibly impressed with the school, especially the pastoral care. Both boys’ and girls’ school are about to change with the appointment of a new Executive HT over both schools. I don’t think you have to be particularly sporty. Although they may not have stressed it at the Open Day, they are very keen on STEM and a team from the school recently did very well in a national competition. GD has just been awarded an art scholarship and there countless opportunities for extra curricula activities. GD has a 40 minute journey on the school bus and has been doing it since yr3 and it has never been a problem.

Hello, my eldest DD is in y12 in STHNS and youngest in NLCS y9. I found STHNS the perfect mix between academic and non academic as my DD has many opportunities. The school has provided lots of opportunities e.g. networking breakfasts, lectures, etc. Some students from HABS have moved to STHNS for sixth form due to the academic pressure and only favouring girls getting majority 9s at GCSE.My DD and I chose not to pick habs due to the couple of stories I have heard from ex girls about the girls they produce their as there are "cliques". My other daughter is in NLCS and the academics are great but I do have to say it is lacking in other departments. The school focuses on pure academics but they do bring out the best grades. My daughter was in the same exact position as you @Mumtum79. I say either stick to STHNS as there will be much more academic challenge at senior school as the girls are only in y5/6 or move to NLCS or HABS. My DD at STHNS is in the higher girls program where they stretch and challenge your daughter with complex but interesting academic challenges, so they do cater to academically bright girls.Also look at the GCSE/A level scores and compare. Hope this helps you :)

Well done to your DD, Mumtum, she sounds like she will do well wherever you choose!

@nwldn12 thanks for your insight - so helpful for those making a decision. Could you clarify a bit more about NLCS being lacking in some departments. (I have heard all is not as it should be but I wonder if this unrest is due to the intermission between heads?)

@nwldn12 and @mdh2020 thanks so much for the input. Reading through the other threads has also been very helpful. @FrogWithTeeth good luck with your journey!

@Mumtum79 hope you don’t mind- I’ve DM you (via mumsnet) - we seem to have quite a bit in common so would love to hear your views

My daughter started at NLCS, came from a state school. She is very happy there and has made friends. They do a lot of sport and have lots of extra curricular activities.
She also liked St Helen's and she was offered a scholarship there. But we decided for NLCS at the end. She did not get into Habs, I think because of the parents' interview (she was invited for an interview and she did well according to her) - I think we, the parents, gave the 'wrong' answers.
She has a friend who is at St Helen's in Year 7, and she is also very happy there.

My DD is at Habs. She started there in Y7 this year.
She really enjoys it and she feels she made the right decision. I see a few issues with the school. Happy to provide more info in DM.

We have a daughter in year 10 at NLCS, she’s academic and they have bought the best out of her, she plays water polo, swims, tennis, does debating and in Model UN and takes part in all the drama productions. I not sure what extra extra curricular she could be missing.

@Mumtum79@FrogWithTeeth in the same boat so have been watching this thread.. We received the post today ... DD has an offer from Habs and CLSG as well.. We went to Habs open day and on interview day and I somehow didn't feel the warmth and too many reviews from parents makes me think twice.. St Helens scholarship has made it hard for us to make the decision !!

Please, can you DM me as well your feedback about Habs, please

My dd was at St Helen's and loved it, as did I. It's a fantastic school and I don't know why it's seen as a lower tier option. Yes they have a wider ability range but exam results are very similar to those of Habs (or at least they were in my dd's day).

There were a lot of super bright girls who did very well academically. Dd was probably around the middle in terms of academics. She struggled a bit with Maths (which was why she didn't get an offer from Habs). She was in the bottom Maths set for quite a few years at St Helen's but it was seen as a positive, she was in a small group with excellent teaching. Dd ended up with an A at GCSE (and halfway to an A). Dd ended up with mostly As and As (with a few Bs) at GCSE without too much stress.

The school is very nurturing and supportive. Lovely grounds and outdoor space. Good transport links being very close to a Met line tube station (Habs is not great in this regard - the girls need either the school coach or lift from parents). Northwood is good for after school socialising at the end of term and sixth form girls are allowed out for lunch.

Excellent extra curricular activities as you would expect at similar schools. But the one difference is provision of CCF which is run jointly with Merchant Taylor's School. Dd was in the Air Force division in Years 10 and 11 and had a great time.

One of the considerations I would bear in mind is “do I want to be in the same school for my while school life? (Assuming that she has been at St Helen’s since reception)? She may think she does now but regret it in year 8/9/10 when the groups have shifted quite a bit and others have moved on to pastures new.
personally I didn’t want my daughters to be in the same school for 14 years and the change has been hugely positive for them (NLCS).

My whole school life…excuse the typos.

Hi there
i would really like to hear more about the St Helen’s scholarship programme as my daughter has an offer here and nlcs. I feel like bad turning down a prestigious school such as nlcs but St. Helens is convenient and obviously cheaper too with the scholarship. Really confused as she worked hard for nlcs and I don’t want to deny her something great unless I hear St. Helens is strong .

Hiya - we have a sizeable scholarship from St Helens too. Did you go to their offer holders day ? Try and speak to the head of scholarship department , who actually explained in detail on what their mentorship programme is .

however we are unsure if we would choose St Helen's .

Yes we did go yesterday and also went to nlcs. Very confused

Hi, I don’t know St Helens, but we received two academic scholarships at less academic schools, I looked at their exam results and they are much lower, NLCS and the very academic schools are very selective at choosing their girls. Your children are very bright and hopefully would thrive in a very academic environment - good luck

Thank you and all the best to your daughter!

@Atlantic123 The scholarship depend on what kind of scholarship your DD has received. If she has got a music scholarship she gets free music lessons, opportunities at carol service and music mentoring. If she has got an academic scholarship she has a mentor that she meets with fortnightly and they discuss academic problems and chooses which class she wants to be in e.g. geography, sciences, history etc. They really stretch her thinking and make her think. But the academic gap between all the girls at STHNS isn't large because at the end of the day it is a private school and they were clever enough to get in. But if it comforts you there are sets for subjects such as maths.

@MissScotland Would you mind DMing me your feedback on Habs as well please?

I just thought I'd update this. We had intended to start at NLCS but at the 11th hour, my daughter, who until then hadn't really had too strong an opinion, suddenly voiced a strong preference for St Helens. So we are there and I have to say, we have been very impressed with the academics and the pastoral care. Thank you everyone for all your input.
Good luck to all parents wondering how to help their child best in their search to becoming useful and happy little people!

Hi @Mumtum79 , thanks for your update.
I am in same bucket this year HABs vs St Helens. Can I please check what is HIP program? Any particular reason for not considering HABs? Your inputs will be useful. Thanks!

Hello! Congratulations-must be a relief to know she's got a place but of course you now have the dilemma of two!
I guess it's a personal decision at the end of the day and comes down to your daughter and you. We just felt our daughter wouldn't have coped with the long coach rides and also liked the idea of her and her friends having an accessible high street to wander down to for after school milkshakes and bubble tea 😂! I am aware all three schools have different strengths but so far we've been pleased with our daughters decision and feel that that the school are doing a great job in stretching her academically with subject based challenges (open to all girls interested) that vary from maths to music.

Keen to speak to someone who has kids attending St Helens secondary.

Is there any parent here whose girls go to Habs currently, so I can get some feedback?