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?

Honestly wouldn't read too much into the open day - some of these super-selective schools don't feel the need to sell themselves because demand is so enormous, it's not really a reflection of what it's like once your dc is actually there. Sounds like from the other replies that once you're in, the experience is a lot warmer and more responsive. I'd weigh up what current parents/pupils say more than the open day vibe itself - those days can be pretty stage-managed and stressful for staff given how many attendees realistically won't get a place. Good luck with the decision either way!

we found HBS's open day pretty low-key too, and I think that's almost intentional - with thousands of applicants for so few places they don't feel the need to sell themselves the way a fee-paying school would. doesn't necessarily reflect how they treat the girls once they're actually there though - sounds like from the other replies upthread (leeloo1 especially) it's a genuinely warm, well-supported school day to day. I wouldn't read too much into the open day tone itself, it's more a symptom of how oversubscribed these super-selectives are. good luck finding the right fit for her

I'm a current parent and about to be former parent of a daughter at the school. I'm in the fortunate position of being able to afford (just about) sending my daughter to a private school and my daughter has left the school early at the end of year 9 to go to a private school. Unfortunately I've seen a slow decline in the quality of the school over the last few years. Sure, your child might get the best grades out there, but I think there's more to education than getting great grades; which frankly these girls will get just about wherever they go. I might sound snobbish, but I want my daughter to have that bit of polish and charm when leaving school, I just don't think that HBS offers that.

I bet that most of the students are privately tutored throughout their time at this school.

Pretty much most of the students are tutored yes (Including my own), honestly speaking, even in the elite highly academic private schools where there are much smaller class sizes) most children still receive private tuition. If your child isn't receiving regular additional tuition they will be at a disadvantage, even if they are academically talented... The Asian community have resulted in the bar being significantly raised academically (at the upper end of the curve) and frankly put non-Asians are generally not considered competition. There are some exceptions, a few Europeans prize academics and you can find kids from for Ghanaian or Nigerian backgrounds who take academic success as a priority, but for the most part most people other than within the Asian community are unwilling to do what it takes (rightly or wrongly) to compete at the highest levels. This is not a judgement, more just a commentary on the state of play.

Apart from being tutored to pass exams are they also being taught to think critically and use their own initiative?

Hi @Eesha!

Everything you experience at Open Day is a response to previous events and incidents. Parents have often asked intrusive and inappropriate questions, including about questions in the entrance exams. The biggest challenge is that, sadly, the open day is irrelevant to most visiting families because their girls will not do well enough in the exams - really, the Open Day should be scheduled after those exams. The Open Day is hugely disruptive to the work of the school, however it's organised.

@Dido2010 thank you for your reply. You sound right in that people might have been too intrusive before. I just felt awkward asking about anything in the end. We are still going to try as its local/a decent practice exam, and if DD progresses, we can look with fresh eyes

The Asian community have resulted in the bar being significantly raised academically (at the upper end of the curve) and frankly put non-Asians are generally not considered competition.

That's quite irritating. Not because they end up better but because the approach is different. Less passion and 'follow your own path' and more 'cookie cutter just success matters' approach. I have worked in China and with Chinese businesses in the past and then (about 10-15 years ago) they were looking to western European countries to coach them in more creative and individual approaches to work and learning.

edited, TYPOS, so many

Less passion and 'follow your own path' and more 'cookie cutter just success matters' approach. I have worked in China and with Chinese businesses in the past and then (about 10-15 years ago) they were looking to western European countries to coach them in more creative and individual approaches to work and learning.

Spot on.

DH has worked extensively in China, South Korea and India. He says that the people were very well educated, but were totally unable to think outside of the box and use their initiative. The way they learn is to amass a huge number of facts but find applying the facts or using what they know in a different way very difficult because they haven't been taught how to.

Creative thinking and problem solving was not their forte, and that is why DH used to get so much work there.

On the whole creativity thing I'm not very convinced it pans out quite how people think. The commonly held general view I've seen is "people who are pushed and are very highly educated, can tend to be unable to think outside of the box and be creative or use their initiative". Here's the facts: Over one-third of UK tech unicorns (startups valued over $1 billion) feature ethnic minority founders, with the majority being of Asian heritage. Make of this what you will, but the facts tend to suggest that the opposite might be true at least when it comes to entrepreneurial pursuits. Considering that Asian-heritage individuals are roughly 9 percent of the UK population, this suggests that they actually think outside the box and are far more creative than their non Asian heritage counterparts! I think as it stands an Asian heritage person in the UK roughly 1.5 to 2 times more likely to be actively involved in starting or running a new company compared to a white person.

On this, I don't think you are necessarily taught to think critically and use their own initiative in school, regardless of which school you go to, it's actually the opposite, you're taught to follow the rules and be compliant, which is good for society, not necessarily liberating for the individual. I usually laugh at the suggestion of teaching initiative and critical thinking within formal education, the individual learns critical thinking by asking questions, making mistakes, living life and having experiences. I think that the rigor that Asians generally have towards their studies in school and university ultimately might be translating into a strong determination and work-ethic in later life that suits the cut-throat world of business which doesn't suffer those who aren't willing to fight and consistently go above and beyond normal effort levels. There are risks to this approach, you can have kids suffering from mental health and burnout; however (again big generalisation) this is generally considered a secondary priority in a lot of Asian households, it is considered first priority or a family duty to strive for academic excellence.

Tech start up success is a very narrow measure of creativity. For a start, the UK sample size is very small being only about 60 such companies currently.

And if you look at the most valuable unicorns, only a couple have Asian founders.

We use Year 7 s as guides for families precisely so they can ask them questions and they can get a sense of the school from the horse’s mouth.

To echo @Dido2010 - I know from personal experience that students have previously been made to feel extremely uncomfortable by parents asking intrusive questions so a total ban on questions had to be introduced. It is a shame that a small number of parents have made it this way.

@FayeLP thank you, we genuinely thought it was so strange at the time and completely off-putting. I really dont feel I got anything from the open day. We will certainly apply as local but not that bothered either way.