St Albans High for girls V Queenswood

[Mamatotwo68]

Can any one give some advice. My daughter is currently at a non selective Prep school. They don’t believe in formal testing until their senior school which I love. My daughter is capable but in no way prepared for entrance exams so I feel she won’t pass a very academic one.
she is more in to dance / performing arts / drama. Also fairly in to sport and I would say average to above average academically.

The main reasons for wanting to move her is to have more friends like her, the current school is very very small. Only around 30 are in year 7 and of that only around 8-10 are girls. She only really has 1/2 friends she clicks me. If we knew more would join she’d stay, but it’s not looking likely.

Both Q and STAHS are 35 mins from our house . STAHS has a better transport route but we could make Q work with trains and school transport.

My main questions are -
Is one school much more academic than the other? Also as Q has a lot of boarders and international students I want to know she’ll have localish friends around her in half terms etc!
I love that STAHS is in a town as well. Q is a little bit in the middle of nowhere.

Any experience with both schools would be appreciated or just some feedback from either.

Thanks!

Hello, have a look at this thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5263711-thinking-of-queenswood-in-herts-for-dd9?reply=141782353

In short yes the two schools are pretty different, STAHS is much more academic and is more competitive/academically challenging to get into. If her prep school doesn’t prepare for 11+ she would at a very minimum need to go through past papers with you, but probably be tutored to be in with a shot of getting in. If she is average to above average academically then she may find it a bit too much of a stretch even if she passes the test.

Q has a reputation for being very sporty and much less academic which of course is just what some girls need. It’s not massive though, so you may find the friendship opportunities aren’t that much improved - I’ve heard the boarders and the tennis crowds tend to keep to their own.

Have you considered St Margaret’s in Bushey or possibly Aldenham as other less academic options?

Thank you! That confirms my thoughts really. I don’t really want that academic pressure. I feel she will do well where she’s happy and comfortable. Will look at that thread. Thanks

Royal Masonic (RMS)? Not sure if that's too far for you.

Dance, Performing Arts and Drama are superb at Queenswood - it was the main reason why we chose it (I have two daughters there). Q is good at an awful lot of things - as you’d hope given the fee level.

The comments above about boarding and tennis aren’t entirely true. Depending on the year there are between high 50s to 80 girls in a year. No more than 10% international boarders in either of my daughter’s years. Of those about half hang out with the other girls and the other half keep themselves to themselves (they all speak the same language) but are nice enough. There are large amounts of flexi boarders too. Both my girls best friends are day girls. There’s two tennis scholars in one DDs year, and five in the other. Hardly big numbers.

Local friendships can be a problem though. Girls come from a wide area and there’s no guarantee your daughter will be friends that live down the road. It’s also an issue at STAHS though, although the demographics of the city mean there are more girls living closer by.

Q transport is invariably much simpler though surely? They have a door to door transport service.

STAHS is much more academic. But it selects only the very brightest girls. It’s a great school but only really suits a certain type of girl. It’s fast paced and quite competitive - not cutthroat, but the girls put a lot of pressure on themselves.

Thanks that’s great to know! I’ve done a lot on research and I think I St Albans will be a no. It’s a shame though as I love St Albans and the town. I am going to take her to Queenswood. Sadly their door to door pick up only goes out as far as Welwyn way and we’re further up that that.

Are you sure determined on single sex?
My friend's daughters go to St.Edmunds college. Both are happy. and the bus routes are very good.

Sherrardswood may be another option for co-ed but it’s a bit of a marmite school (some love it, some quite critical of it).

Or St Francis in Letchworth but I know nothing about it other than it’s all girls and a faith school I think.

Your current prep school should be able to give you good advice (much better than me I’m sure!).

Thanks funny enough she went to St Francis for pre prep but we didn’t like the teachers and the lack of co curricular. Also looked at Sherrardswood and did really like that! Just felt again it lacked facilities. Such a mind field 😅

Is Bedford an option for you? The Harpur Trust schools (Bedford Girls and co-ed Bedford Modern) are fairly academic I think, but there is Bedford Greenacres which is a fairly new merger of two other indies which used to be the less academic options in the town.

@Mamatotwo68
I’d look into flexi boarding at Queenswood. That saves the daily grind of travel and so much more free time (or activity time) each day.

It’s a huge shame it’s slipped down the academic rankings. Was much more academic when my girls were there. It now pitches differently. It’s top for drama. Sport is enjoyed by many but there’s so much else to do you are not alone if you prefer drama to sport.

You made a good decision not staying at St Francis, that school is good at hiding its mess 😂

I still know nothing of St Francis but I keep getting Facebook ads for them claiming that they got the best GCSE and/or A Level results out of any girls’ school in Hertfordshire which is patently untrue! I’m baffled as to why they think it’s a good idea to say this.

I agree, not sure how they can say that, but I don't know too much about the senior side as all the people I know who sent their daughters there left before or slightly after starting the senior school.

I can't go into detail without these families being identifiable but I personally wouldn't send my DD to the junior school and would really think twice if going to the secondary school.