Chelmsford County vs Colchester County

[Waffles25]

Hello,
My daughter has managed to get decent scores to have a good chance at either of these schools. We live in Chelmsford, and CCHS would have been our first choice. But now I have heard great things about Colchester County too. I’ll be grateful for any advise or experience that can be shared!

My daughter attends CCHS and absolutely loves it. She's currently doing her GCSEs and in Year 11. There are loads of extra curriculars - sport, music, art etc. One thing is they are very academic and only offer facilitating subjects so nothing like Graphics, Sociology etc.

Year 7-9 is relatively easy as long as you keep on track of work and I'd say the teachers are really supportive but they are very on top of making sure homework is done etc.

I can't think of what else to say but I am very happy to answer any more questions if needed! You can PM me if you want. x

I don't know much about Colchester but generally I think it is viewed as good. I think CCHS got the better grades this year. We only chose CCHS because it is just a walk for us while Colchester would've been a bus journey

They are both CCHS? Go to whichever is quicker and easier to get to (Chelmsford?) as any slight difference in academics etc do not warrant the extra journey time and stress.

I think Colchester is generally referred to as CCHSG even though they both have the Girls bit. But I could be wrong.

Also I agree with this, they're both strongly academic and both very good schools so whichever is easier.

Given how rural the county can be, and how bad public transport can be, I would weight very heavily whichever one will mean she haa friends who are closer and don't require hours of ferrying round each week.

Obviously you have to consider the schools themselves as well but there is a massive benefit to you if you don't have to keep ferrying her, as well as a massive benefit to her in the form of being able to naturally increase her independence.

When I went to Colchester County High in the 80s it was definitely CCHS but looking at their website, they seem to have the G now.

Have you checked the admissions criteria? And beware of the journey time due to the sheer volume of work always being completed Colchester way.

I went to Colchester girls high and we were referred to as CCHS at the time but that might have changed by now.

I loved my time there, the culture of the school and how supported I was. Though I think lots of that is to do with the teachers and head.

Chelmsford was my first choice but overall I'm glad I went to Colchester. I lived closer to Chelmsford so the commute was longer but we used a private bus service so it was all kids from the local schools (St Mary's, CRGS & CCHS) on it.

Regarding friends and distance, that was an issue as most of my friends were from the other side of Colchester so it made sleepovers etc a bit harder but we managed.

I think you have just visit and see for yourself which environment and set up is best for her. I found that Colchester had excellent clubs at lunch and after school, but, again that was at the time.

Thank you for the response! I think I’m leaning towards Chelmsford county too because it is local to us. DD liked Colchester county or CCHSG slightly better, but she has said she is happy to go to either.

Yes I have. DD has score 391 in CSSE scores and 112 in the CCHS (FSCE?) results. So I am hoping that is good enough for her to get in as we are in catchment for both CCHS and CCHSG.

Thank you, I’m glad to know that your daughter is liking it at CCHS. It’s just that I had heard some not-so-great stories from colleagues at work about mental health issues/ stress/ drug abuse, that I got worried. I’m assuming most grammar schools will have the first two issues and third issue seems a common issue at some comprehensives too! I might have been overthinking this when I created this thread, but thanks for offering your experience with the school.

Regarding mental health issues, there are definitely kids who struggle but I don't think that is due to the school specifically. I feel like the pastoral team are very good actually. Stress is there definitely because of the high pressure in academics at GCSE level but that won't be very different to any other grammar school at all. There were two children in the year above my daughter suspended for drugs I think but I don't know a lot about that. But I just don't think CCHS stands out for any of this as there are so many schools where this happens and at a worse level.

If you're only choosing between Chelmsford County and Colchester, then I'd go for Chelmsford because of the fact that it's local to you. I don't think there is a huge difference between the two schools really, but they're both excellent in my opinion. My daughter is certain that she wants to stay on for 6th form.

@Waffles25 hi, we have set up a cchs cat1 what app group, ping me a direct message if you would like to join.

Further complicated by yet another CCHS, the former grammar school, Clacton County High...

@Waffles25 if you live in Chelnsford, given that CCHS is easily accessible from the bus station, there can't be anywhere from where the school too difficult to get to. Whereas CCHSG is not only miles away, it's pretty awful to get to at 'school' times especially - definitely not just a simple walk from either station and it is ofen remarked that if travelling by road, once you're even vaguely near the school, it's far quicker to walk.

Is any perceived 'advantage' of attending one selective school over another really worth the journey?

Hi guys I was just wondering how those of you who may have attended Cchsg have found it there and positives and negative’s there, my DD achieved a score of 370 for Colchester and 105 when she sat the Chelmsford exam, we have chosen Colchester as it is closer but how did you child or you find it there. Ik so many people say it is really stressful and others say it’s not,but yeah, any info or worrying things (or good ) things to be aware of.

Was still CCHS in the 90s (when I went). The G seems to have been added when they became a multi academy trust!

If it helps I lived very near Colchester and it didn’t make that stuff any easier.
However, one of my best mates lived in Chelmsford and because her parents weren’t prepared to collect her in the evenings she wasn’t able to do any extra curricular stuff.

Unless you live in Witham where the journey time would be almost 50/50 , pick the one nearer to home.

I think the G was added to distinguish it from Chelmsford County High School (CCHS) since so many girls apply to both.

I'm glad I went to Colchester. I lived closer to Chelmsford so the commute was longer but we used a private bus service so it was all kids from the local schools (St Mary's, CRGS & CCHS) on it.

That brings back horrible memories of the school bus I used to catch from Colchester bus station, again used by a few different schools. I remember getting hit on the head by a can of something once & after that I switched to catching the ordinary bus. Although I quite liked the walk if I had time & the weather was ok.

To those who have DDs at these schools do they tend to stay for 6th form or do they want to join the mixed 6th form at the boy's school?

Many more apply to the boys school than there are spaces available. Some also leave to go to the Sixth Form College (wider range of A Levels/closer to town/don’t want single sex any more). How many leave varies year on year to be honest. But they also accept new students in at A Level.
Some girls will also go to completely different places as well.
On a trip to visit my old Head of 6th Form I saw the new facilities for the upper school. Absolutely fabulous and much better than the demountables with holes in of my day!

I’ve heard quite a few girls at CCHSG move to CRGS for sixth form. I think that’s often due to wanting to be in a mixed environment at that stage. CRGS also tends to have better A level results, though that is a chicken and egg situation since some of the top girls from CCHSG will go to CRGS and their top A level results will factor into the school’s higher ranking (which may later encourage other girls to move for sixth form and so on). Probably a similar situation for CCHS and KEGS.

The reason I asked is because I've read about the girls not being treated by well the boys

Most do actually want to stay and end up staying.
There is still though quite a few who aim for KEGs. This is mainly because I think it is better academically and has a higher Russell Group rate or something. However, KEGs really doesn't accept that many new candidates and not that many end up going to KEGs.

Edit - Yes, there is thing called a survivor page for KEGs and it is very weird.

I hope the school has addressed the issues