Switching from private to Henrietta Barnett

[HBswitch]

Hello,

I would be grateful to hear from parents of girls who switched from a private school to Henrietta Barnett at 11+. DD is in an academic private school in North London (goes through secondary) but we are considering applying for Henrietta Barnett for 11+ - not least because it will is a reputed school quite close to home, and our budget is tight - in case of a job loss, we will struggle to pay her fees especially given the annual hikes.

I am aware of the assessment process, of course, and that it is incredibly difficult to be offered a place. Also aware of the limited funding most state schools, including grammar, have to make do with. I would like to understand the quality of teaching, music and sports are at Henrietta Barnett. Is tutoring rampant? Bullying? How much parent input is the average / expected for both academics, extracurricular and PTA etc. (I am fairly time poor).

DD is happy at her current school and it may be a hard sell for her to move even assuming she is offered a place.

Thank you.

Following. Thinking of the same thing.

It's worth spending time on the elevenplusexams.co.uk website forum Hertfordshire /north London section. It's so challenging to gain a place that it's a decision you can make at a later date although I appreciate you do need to decide whether to prepare for the tests.

@HBswitch I assume you are within 3 miles area. Better to leave all these questions after you secured the second round exams. You only need to prep English, VR and NVR with hard time constraints. Above all your DD needs some luck on the exam day.

In general resource wise state school like HBS is hard to compare against some academic focus private in London. A lot of parents led efforts and inputs are required - just like how they prepare their kids to this specific entrance exam from what I observed.

Tutoring is rampant and so is self harming. Or at least self harming was a few years ago.

@Tellmeimcrazy I remember a MH talk many many years ago where the invited psych talked about the numbers of girls who self harmed at more academic schools and how easy it is to ‘wrongly’ link the two. It’s a bit more multi-faceted than purely academic pressure to achieve. It was fascinating and I now can’t recall all the detail. She talked about how many high achieving girls can be on the spectrum, neuro diverse etc but mask incredibly well so go undiagnosed, they can be perfectionists and wish to achieve highly in every aspect, not necessarily just about academics. The crux was if your DD goes to a very selective school you should keep a look out as 1 in 3 will have serious MH probs at some stage. As I say this was a talk a good 10 years ago but it’s probs relevant for Henrietta Barnet and your current school and for all our DC in general tbh.

Hello.

I have just moved to the area and I'm interested in my daughter attending HBS. I'm aware that in the first paper they are tested on English, Verbal & NVR, however does anyone have any advice on the 2nd round English? Any information would be appreciated as their doesn't seem to be much out there.

Many thanks,

@Shope23 , if you trawl through the forum Hertfordshire / North London section of elevenplusexams.co.uk website you can pick up tiny bits of info but basically the odds are so against your dd gaining a place that you need to prepare / tutor her for another school and use the HBS 2nd round as an additional option. It's pretty much the hardest girls school in the U.K. to gain a place at.

Thank you for your reply.

Let's put it this way - Ex partner worked in ER. Saw many more girls from HB than other very good private schools in the area. Again, this may have changed over time.

And other very good not private schools in the area may I add.

Second round is usually English Creative writing and maths (written format), it is schools own paper.

Though format can different from year to year, for example once they had negative marking multiple choice for maths for one session.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/maths_2021_entrance_exam_and_pen#incoming-2171332

Also not sure what area you move into, if you are live within 3 miles of the School with the rules and condition set up by the council. You will automatically get in no matter how low the score you have in second round. Unless all the students in the second round live within 3 miles.

Hence a lot of girls in recent years (within 3 miles) with more dedicated prep for English and VNR as there is no maths involved for the first hurdle.

You mean more girls from this school as doctor in the ER? Or more girl from this school seek help in ER than other schools in the area?

HB is not a big school so if that is the case is certainly concerning.

The latter but again this was a few years ago

Yes heard few year back not good some tragic case reported.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/13/elena-mondal-hanged-self-harming-school-inquest