St Margarets Bushey - help please!

[11pluswobble]

Hello, we have a lovely DD10 who's been preparing for 11+ entrance exams. She is bright academically (GD in about half her subjects and always stellar reports from teachers) and loves getting stuck in to sport/drama/music etc.

However, she and we are having a major wobble with the 11+ preparation. She sits the Parmiter's test tomorrow and her VR scores have been tanking. She's been massively struggling with the timing and either running out of time with 20 questions left unanswered or rushing and getting loads wrong/guessing half the answers to finish. She is able to do most of the questions, just not under exam conditions. (It doesn't seem to be a wider issue than VR as she's managed 90% in her maths papers).

We're OK with her not 'passing' Parmiter's as our first choice is independent school (have applied to STAHS, Berkhamsted and Habs though the latter now seems highly unrealistic). And we're hoping that the exam technique issues will be better when she does the online adaptive tests where the exam technique is quite different.

However, I think I again need to consider back-up options and I'm really looking for feedback on St Margaret's Bushey. I know a selling point is that it's not super-academic and is strong pastorally (which is always good) but our daughter IS quite academic and would need stretching, she's just struggling with flipping VR under exam conditions! But any and all feedback and experiences welcome.

I've not yet visited the school but my only real concern is that it's quite small compared to the others we've looked at. That makes it a bit more vulnerable in the current climate (VAT on fees etc), and also does it mean there are fewer co-curricular activities/choices for academic subjects and also a greater risk of friendship issues? Thanks in advance!

Have you had a look at Royal Masonic School for Girls (RMS)? Not sure if this works for you logistically. They get excellent results given the wide range of abilities and without undue pressure.

Thanks @amum123, unfortunately the coaches don’t come out to us. Thanks anyway.

Oh not that's a shame. My daughter is there an absolutely loves it. Best of luck! Hope someone else can offer feedback on St. Margarets as I don't have any first hand experience I'm afraid.

St Margaret’s is a lovely school. Has become more academic recently but not at the expense of the pastoral side. Fantastic school

Thank you @insomniac1. I also messaged a friend who is a very experienced state school teacher in the area. She said she knows a number of staff there and they are all good. So feeling quite positive about it as an option, and have emailed them about going for a tour.

I know several people with children at St Margarets who absolutely love it - really supportive and nurturing but also provides stretch for more academic kids. It's also a really beautiful site.

How did your daughter find the SW Herts consortium test today? My daughter found the VR fine but said the maths was really challenging and didn't finish it.

St Margaret’s is a real gem (and thriving, and growing). Happy to chat by PM if you like.

P.S. Just wanted to add that St M doesn’t position itself as not academic. It isn’t fiercely selective (though is more selective than it was a few years ago) but it is academically ambitious for all its pupils. Our experience has been that the teaching has overwhelmingly been excellent. The fact that staff are happy in the school environment (due to its strong leadership and warm, nurturing ethos) no doubt assists in attracting and retaining great teachers.

My son also found the maths really hard!!!

Thanks @HeartofHerts, I may be in touch when we’ve had our tour! It’s great to hear such positive things.

@Osissa my daughter also ran out of time for maths and didn’t answer the last 5 questions, which is unusual for her as maths is probably her strongest (she’s also been doing NVR and English).

She did finish the VR but I worry she still messed up on the timing as she thought the test finished 15 minutes before it actually did, so rushed some questions.

Que sera sera I suppose!

Ok I feel a bit reassured on the maths now! My daughter had to guess about 9 questions because she said some of them took her ages. Nice to see some other SW Herts mums, there don't seem to be any on the main 11+ thread!

@11pluswobble Queenswood? Not as academic as it used to be!

We looked round Queenswood but a couple of (admittedly fairly minor) things put me off. And it’s so expensive, can’t bring myself to spend £££££ on a school when I’m not convinced about it.

It’s a final back up for us, but reading between the lines if all else falls through we could contact them next year and would be considered for a place.

know of a few who left after Y11 as they felt it wasn’t the school they were ‘sold’ lower down the years. There’s a strong PR push around it being more academic/plus pastoral and cocurricular. How much of it is just a hard sell I don’t know. The reality is the same as other private schools in the area- take on more kids and get a lower output, SEN and behavioural issues. Picked up on most recent inspection report too.