Headington Girls School

[princesspeahead]

We are grappling with girls day schools in the Oxford area. Went to see Headington on an open day - need to go back solo as it was a bit of a zoo - but wondered if anyone had any up-to-date or local views on it. Also wondering what the views on the headmistress were - I found her rather a cold fish, but then she said a few things that were interesting and made me wonder if there was more there than I previously thought.

Anyway all views, however short, v much appreciated please!

[heathcliffswife]

Hmm thats a tricky one, but hey she's obviously abright girl so alls good. From what I understand OHS is very very academic, whereas headington is more about the all round person whilst also achieving good results. Out of interest did she have any preference?

[Mum72]

Had a card through for their open day recently!

I read as far as "there is no onsite parking" and ...... and..... so we recommed you use the park and ride .

The vision of horrendous school runs went through my head. How on earth do boarders get dropped off at the start of term with all their bags and duvets etc????

Live too far from Oxford now to seriously consider it now even as a boarding school but that really did put me off tbh.

Loved the junior school when we considerd that about 5 years ago.

[StanHouseMuir]

Mum72: That's about the only downside I see to Headington: parking. However, they have made arrangements for a drop-off zone, where you are allowed to park for 5 minutes. Take a look here:

www.headington.org/travelling-by-car-and-carsharing/

HCW: We got the offer from OHS a week ago so she's thoguht about nothing else since then. The big difference in facilities doesn't seem to had had much effect.

Your understanding, matches ours, although in the league tables they're pretty close to each other, despite their differing reputations. It's a great choice to have, she's done us proud.

[heathcliffswife]

last open day I think we parked in a supermarket car park not far from Costa! Im anticipating mine will get school bus from nearby village, so wont have that problem too ofetn! Stanhouse, where are her friend going?? Again congrats!

[StanHouseMuir]

She'll be catching the bus in whichever school she opts for. Everyone else in her class is going to the local comp.

Why Oxford Indies when you have Grammer schools in Bucks?

[heathcliffswife]

I have twins and not convinced the local Grammar would suit twin 1. Ideally it would be great to choose a place that would 'fit' both of them. They are at a lovely Prep school at the moment but its tiny! So if they do get into H next year it will seem huge :)

[skylark2]

My daughter's at OHS. No regrets - she loves it.

My impression, which strongly influenced our choice, was that OHS's attitude was "we know we have a reputation as a hothouse and we consider this to be a problem, therefore we do this, and this, and this..."

Headington's attitude was "we do not have a problem."

Never felt mine was being hothoused at OHS. She seems to get less homework than her friends at the local comp, to be honest :) And they have been great about her having time off for sport and highly supportive (she is competitive in non-school sports).

What's wrong with using the park and ride? It goes right past the door!

[heathcliffswife]

Does Headington have a problem with being a 'Hothouse' I didnt think it did?

[skylark2]

Their reaction to "what happens if your students are under pressure" was "our students are not put under pressure."

Now maybe they really don't have a problem in general. Maybe their system just is that good and supportive and prevents all problems before they happen. I'd rather a school which acknowledged up front that sometimes things don't go as smoothly as you'd wish.

YMMV. I know people whose kids are very happy there.

[heathcliffswife]

Whats YMMV ?? (confused) !

[StanHouseMuir]

YMMV - your mileage may vary.

Park and Ride - where's that from, Water Eaton?

[curiouserandcuriousersaidalice]

I was slightly put off Headington for my non-sporty, academic and bookish child by the emphasis on how good the school was at rowing and the wonderful theatre but when it came to maths they just waved vaguely at a set of temporary classrooms, and the library seemed much smaller than OHS and further down the priority list. There was also the insistence of the girl taking me round that it wasn?t a particularly academic school. Also the other prospective parents I met were more of the ?looking for a private school? variety than the ?looking for an academic school? variety and I didn?t feel as comfortable. However, I do know parents who are very happy with it, and children who are very happy there though, and there is nothing wrong with their results.

Headington is on the park and ride route from Thornhill, OHS on the park and ride route from Water Eaton.

[heathcliffswife]

Where did you end up sending dd Alice and did you look at many others? Im hoping Headington suits both twins. They arent at the top of the class but neither are they at the bottom.They are both quite humanities led.What Im really looking for is somwhere that looks at the whole child if that makes sense. ie their sport, academia, dancing, drama, music, hobbies, personality etc etc. It will be interesting to see how the new Head pans out. i think perhaps if I had a really academic child I would be considering Oxford High :)

[curiouserandcuriousersaidalice]

Heathcliffswife - dd is in year 5 so we haven't made a final decision yet - but I'm tending towards trying for OHS. Both schools have new heads so it'll be worth watching to see how they develop in the next few months.

[heathcliffswife]

My twins also YR 5 so am going round the next bunch of Open days with them and shall take it from there.I think both previous Heads had good reputations, so lets hope they don't make huge changes. Thanks for the advice :)

[StanHouseMuir]

Alice - when we went round Headington in June, the maths classrooms were in a modern building on the first floor.

[heathcliffswife]

Actually at the last one I thought the librarian was pretty impressive. She was so keen !! The art block was good too :)

[curiouserandcuriousersaidalice]

I went round in October - I agree the art block is fantastic and wasn't criticising the librarian (who I didn't meet), it was just the library felt small compared to others I had seen.
It may just have been the effect of the (very pleasant and polite) girl who showed me round, perhaps she didn't like maths, perhaps they should have had a set route to take us round (it was more a case of 'what would you like to see now?'), but I just felt slightly at the contrast between the beautiful performing arts spaces and the underemphasis on the academic side along with slightly scruffy-round-the-edges classrooms (which admittedly doesn't affect learning that much).

I'm not saying it isn't a good school - I have friends who's children are very happy there and doing very well . Perhaps I should take a second look.

[curiouserandcuriousersaidalice]

Actually rereading the OP (admittedly quite old) I wonder if the problem is the way they run their open day.

[freshmint]

the old and scruffy classroom block you may be thinking of is being pulled down at easter and a new and beautiful one constructed in its place
I have a dd there, I can't say enough in praise of it. brilliant school. their academics are fantastic but it caters for a wider ability intake than ohs which is all to the good imo

ohs has two major issues - bullying and eating disorders. if you have a very strong child it may be a great place for them. if you have in any way a sensitive or less confident child it might be a mistake. pastoral care not a major priority whereas at headington it is everything

i see ohs as a sort of st pauls girls equivalent in ox (but spg is better and more pastoral i think)

[heathcliffswife]

Excellent, someone who has a dughetr there :o Has she been there long Freshmint? And if you dont mind me asking does she have to travel far to get there? Glad she is enjoying it :)

[heathcliffswife]

Lets hope my dds spelling is better than mine up there. Sorry ladies!

[StanHouseMuir]

freshmint - which block is being demolished, they all look pretty new here:

maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=headington+school&ie=UTF8&hq=Headington+School&hnear=Headington+School,+The+Bursary,+Headington+School,+Headington+Rd,+Headington,+OXFORD+OX3+0BL,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.757991,-1.221491&spn=0.0008,0.003664&t=h&z=19


We've made the decision to accept the offer of a place at Headington for September.

[heathcliffswife]

Excellent Stanhouse now we can pick your brains post September as to what it's really like!!

[StanHouseMuir]

Sure...for a fee

Headington was our first choice (DW has taught there previously), but then we were swayed by OHS (all of us) more so since we received that offer first. In the end, we just thought Headington suited her better.