Anyone with experience of Henrietta Barnett after an underwhelming open day?

[Eesha]

Has anyone have children who have attended Henrietta Barnett? We visited for the open day and was completely underwhelmed with it. The headteacher just looked bored, kids were sweet but we weren't allowed to ask any questions to the children about the exam or anything vaguely personal ie how are you finding it here. The free element is the draw but its like they make no other effort. Has anyone been wowed by it?

They really don’t need to make an effort to wow you. Think what the competition is for places. They have their reputation. I remember other parents telling me they didn’t like the building and I replied that the school was the staff not the bricks. Either you want a highly academic girls grammar school or you don’t.

@Rocknrollstar i just found it strange that the headteacher was just so blase and that we werent allowed to ask the girls any questions. I wondered if it was because people had been overly intrusive in the past but i then felt strange about asking anything.

i don’t think it’s that strange that random people weren’t allowed to quiz school girls about their school experience. Surely questions should be addressed to the teachers.

We weren't going to ask anything personal but after the headteacher said no questions, it felt awkward to ask anything at all.

It's really normal to ask questions of the kids during open day. But I had a similar experience visiting another grammar, which felt deeply underwhelming and like they were trying to discourage applications, compared with various comps that were trying desperately to woo.

Oh gosh, I didn’t realise parents weren’t allowed to ask questions, my y7 dd was one of the tour guides yesterday and said the families were quite quiet, so maybe that’s why!

She is really happy at the school. Today they spent the day rehearsing with their forms and then performing music and dance pieces they’ve been working on during the year for a year group competition. Last week they were in Normandy for a week. The school is non pressured and happy and this year the homework has been minimal. The school
reports system is well thought out to minimise them being overly competitive and there are no detentions - though conversely no house points etc either.

I hope that helps, but any questions then do ask.

When we looked round this time last year there weren’t teachers available to talk to tbh. This is very different from Latymer - but they close the school for a few days per year so all the focus is on the open day visitors. HBS stays open and it’s just the y7s and 8s who are guides, so classes are going on and teachers are working. The head is very protective of the teachers’ time, which is a good thing really, but it means that they aren’t available for chatting to really as there are just so many applicants for so few places that the reality is most people they talk to won’t get in.

Once your dd has a place though it’s a very different story and teachers respond really quickly (often within minutes) to any concerns.

@leeloo1 yes, it just felt strange to be told not to ask any questions, and the headmistress bluntly telling people that, didnt go down well.

I wanted to know more about sports facilities, whether the children play other schools, the homework load and whether its very full on, how they deal with bullying if there ever is any, what sorts of instruments they play if any, whether its hard joining in y7 or do lots of girls join at that time. Just normal questions really

The school starts in y7, so it’s a totally new cohort. If girls come from the same school then they are put in different forms, so they have a fresh start. They are taught within their forms for everything in y7, so they really bond, although they’re obv free to mix in breaks/lunch/clubs.

This year the girls have two full sessions of sport - lots of running along with football/netball etc. My dd feels her fitness has improved through it and she’s found she’s good at some athletic skills she hasn’t tried before. There are sports clubs at different levels at lunchtime - some you do a trial for and some anyone can attend.

I know that some girls are taken to compete in matches/races etc, but that hasn’t involved my dd so I can’t comment.

Homework - there was one week early on where my dd had let it stack up and panicked, but overall it’s very manageable (less than in primary!) and almost everything is due for the same day the following week, so if you have evening activities it makes it easy to work around. The girls are expected to manage homework themselves and I believe my dd has risen to the challenge of that. I know recently lots hadn’t done a Latin homework, my dd had so she and the ones who had did extension work, while the rest did the homework in class. I love that it’s more ‘natural consequences’ and ‘you’ve let yourself down a little’ rather than punishments.

Instruments - again there’s a huge range and at all levels. From grade 8/diploma to fun ensembles for beginners. There are lots of choirs etc too.

Bullying - I haven’t heard of any, but again the girls are spoken to respectfully and asked to discuss what’s happening and why. Counselling is freely available in school and there is a wellness hub that lots of the girls go to in their free time or if they need support.

I think that’s all your questions and I hope it helps.

It’s a highly pressured environment. Having known lots of girls who go, I personally wouldn’t consider it for my own child because of the levels of anxiety amongst these high performing groups and the pressure. But teen mental health is a work area for me so I am particularly cautious about these types of schools.

HBS has a relatively small cohort (PAN 120) and it is a truly super-selective school. Even with a 3-mile radius priority, only about 30 girls in the second stage actually live within that area. If you look at the top 150 girls in stage two (who are almost guaranteed a spot sooner or later), about half live 10 miles away or more when they submit their CAF, and a third are traveling from as far as 15 miles out. (You can find all the above info from WhatDoTheyKnow website.) They are coming from all over Greater London and beyond. It is super-super selective! It makes me wonder how many of these families actually end up moving closer to the school after they get in. You could argue that this extreme selectivity, rather than the teaching quality or pastoral care, is the real reason their academic results are so good in the first place.

That’s genuinely not been my experience of the school. They actively aim to reduce pressure and competition - e.g. not giving grades in reports, but focusing on areas to work on - and they ask parents not to focus on test results. The tutors have small groups of girls so they really are ‘known’ as people.

Of course the girls are clever and many of them may be perfectionists (after all they worked hard enough to get a place!) but there is an abundance of pastoral support in place.

When the deputy head of my daughter’s primary school found out we were applying to Hbs she sucked her teeth and said “oh noooo, I wouldn’t! The girls there are just so… sad!” which worried me a lot, but I’m glad I ignored her as my daughter could not be happier - and she isn’t one that would be happy anywhere as some of the girls seem to be. They work hard in lessons, but play harder and the lessons are paced to motivate them.

As they get older I’m sure exam pressure of GCSEs etc does kick in more, but in a way isn’t it better if there are more girls of the same ‘type’ together so the school can better support them? I went to a large bog standard comprehensive and it didn’t make me less of a perfectionist, it just meant I didn’t have much of a cohort.

whether its hard joining in y7 or do lots of girls join at that time.

What do you even mean by that? 🤔

Your main concern should be whether your daughter can get in. It’s a massively high-level entrance and high-achieving school. It’s not for dullards.

But the sport’s shit and the music’s rubbish. So if you want a doctor or a lawyer with no sports skills and just grade 3 on the clarinet, go for it.

But the reputation is based on the perpetual myth: best best. And the best kida get in. Ans the kids do the work. The teachers are just as in any state school. Nothing speci

I agree that the selection process is the main reason these schools get such great results. But I would not go that far as saying HBS's reputation is just a 'myth'.
Yes, it’s not necessarily that the teachers in grammar schools are 'better' on paper; they’ve often got the same degrees and training as anyone in a local comprehensive. The difference is how they actually spend their day.
In a grammar school, the teachers are experts at handling a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. They know exactly how to handle kids aiming for Grade 9s or looking at Oxbridge. On the flip side, in a typical state school, teachers are often just trying to keep the classroom from descending into chaos or spending half their time helping kids catch up. It’s a different skillset. That systemic difference is precisely why the school has its reputation.

@Breeze67

You are painting a very oversimplified picture, which suggests you might not have direct experience with how grammar or comprehensive state schools actually operate.

Both state schools and grammar schools use ability setting (streaming). While not universal, many children are intensively "hothoused" from a very young age just to pass the grammar school entrance exams. I know many families and children who went through this. Often, once these kids get into a super-selective school, they ease up. It then becomes apparent that a child might not be as naturally brilliant at mathematics as their peers, struggling to grasp concepts as easily. This is precisely why grammar schools have sets—to cater to differing capability levels.

The same logic applies to comprehensive state schools; they also stream students into sets based on their level of immersion and ability. In a good state school, the top-tier set does Maths and Further Maths—exactly the same as a grammar school—and these students regularly win gold medals in the UKMT maths competitions. In these high-achieving state school sets, the pace of education is absolutely no slower than in a grammar school's top set.

Furthermore, student behavior in the top sets of state schools mirrors that of grammar schools. Some kids are slightly naughty, while others are not, depending entirely on their age. The older they get, the more focused they become because they realise what is at stake.

When it comes to teaching, trust me: managing top sets and grammar school classes is much easier. My own son has been in the highest set for Maths and Science from the very beginning. On top of that, he has two hours of tutoring per week to push him even further. His tutor’s own son achieved st GCSE nine Grade 9s at a grammar school. Interestingly, this same tutor spends two days a week working with students who failed their GCSEs and are retaking them, while also successfully teaching the other extreme-kids from top sets and grammar schools like my son.
He maintains that the curriculum is exactly the same, as Further Maths is included in both, and the top sets in state schools take Triple Science for their GCSEs. He says that at our school ( Catholic state) my son's set is doing quadratic functions and parabolas at the end of Year 8, even though other schools don't cover them until Year 9.

In his opinion, teaching smart, motivated kids is nothing compared to the immense challenge of teaching children who struggle to focus or have limited academic abilities. He says that in our school at the end of year 8 my son set is doing quadratic functions, parabolas that are not until y9 in other schools

When we were going through looking at schools for DD, the open day at the highest achieving grammar was quite off-putting. The message was basically that only a small proportion will get a place and do not force your child to commute ridiculous distances.
Once the 11+ results were out, they held another event for those who were potential applicants. It was warm, informative and very welcoming.
I think the school had literally thousands of people going to the open days, they sucked up an enormous amount of time and effort and most of those attending were never going to be serious candidates.

It's very full on, lots of parents tutor throughout. 4 A levels is the norm and quite a few do 5. Amazingly academic and free school if you are tough but not a place for the faint hearted.

Thank you for sharing your personal experience. It seems top-tier state sets can match grammar schools, but that raises a question: if they are so comparable, why does your son still need private tutoring? I understand that tutoring happens everywhere, but I suspect that grammar school students require less of it than those in state school top sets, simply because grammar schools build that high-intensity environment into the school day for the entire cohort. I take your point that teaching struggling students is indeed more challenging, but the teachers who successfully sustain such a high academic culture at grammar schools deserve some credit for that, too. Honestly, I don't believe just any random teacher could sustain HBS's track record of academic success, even with a selective intake. A reputation is not bulletproof, and it would undoubtedly deteriorate if the quality of teaching weren't up to the mark.

@Breeze67

My son doesn't need tutoring because he's struggling. From day one before any tutoring, he has been managing perfectly fine in the top set out of six. You are making the mistake of assuming tutoring is only for kids who can't keep up, but for us and many many parents, it's about pushing him further and beyond.

He is a 13-year-old who doesn't spend his free time shooting zombies in video games; instead, he builds and launches highly detailed rockets and nuclear plants in virtual reality. To get into top-tier universities, you have to be miles ahead of the competition. That is why he has a tutor—to go above and beyond. He is not impressive when it comes to art and music. I will not pay for tutoring in those subjects- I do not care. This is not his future

Furthermore, it is exactly in the 'top-top' sets at state and grammar schools where many, if not most, students have additional tutoring. It isn't down to the ingenuity of the teachers; it is the result of relentless hard work at home- kids, parents and tutors. The same teachers who teach in grammar move to state and vice versa. They are not like some preselected golden eggs. Grammar schools receive less money per pupil than comprehensive schools so it is not like the facilities or teaching wage is higher.

Btw, every teacher deserves a credit. Those teaching in grammar schools have easiest life. Those teaching lower sets in deprived schools below expectations deserve the most of credit

The kids apply to grammar school not because of teachers reputation but GCSE results or A levels - University acceptance. And yes, in the previous years there were superselectuve London grammars that were only Good when it comes to teaching. In other aspects graded. outstanding or ...not. There was even one grammar closed and then after change if management reopened sue to sexist and racial slurs. ...

The same teachers who teach in grammar move to state and vice versa.

Sorrry, but...once more for the hard of hearing at the back - Grammar schools are state schools...

Forgot to mention that he is also in top set at English. But I don't pay for tutoring. He is not into humanities and will not take it at the A levels. It is the specialists that are winning

DD's old (state comprehensive) school set for maths and English from year 7. They used the SATS scores as a guide. There was always movement between the sets so that the pupils were always in the right set for them.

DD did have a tutor in year 11 for a few weeks, only because her maths teacher wasn't very good and she needed a little more time to understand each new concept. She was never going to fail maths though. It just meant that her grades improved from Bs to A. She eventually achieved a high A in maths.

Of the 100 schools in England with the highest average A level points score in 2025, HBS had the worst 'value add' or Progress score from the end of key stage 4 and the end of A levels.

It might be super selective but there are plenty of schools that outperform it that have much better value add scores.

Read into that what you will...