Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
Also didn't want DG to think she had gone completely mad - obviously more important things on her mind today!
Yes - we are very lucky to have such good schools in the area and to have the problem of choosing between WGGS and DAO for a DD is a nice one to have!
Yes - we are very lucky to have such good schools in the area and to have the problem of choosing between WGGS and DAO for a DD is a nice one to have!
Last edited by mum1969 on Thu Oct 17, 2013 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
DG has already explained that early arrival of DAO results has resulted in a bit of dis-orientation...so I will be gentle in joining the queue to comment on above assertion.Daogroupie wrote:They are certainly not neck and neck academically. DAO is way ahead, it is the number one semi selective comprehensive in the country by results. But that is the not the only way to choose a school. What are your criteria? How easy will the journey be for you? Is your dd interested in sport, music or drama? DG
My "specialist subject" as it were is Oxbridge admission (since I am involved with a number of out-reach initiatives launched by Cambridge colleges to broaden their potential intake across the state sector).
Slightly dated data, but (taking out a couple of schools with tiny numbers which skew outcome) Watford Grammar ranked as 3rd best "Comprehensive" in the U.K. with 6.7 % of students sent to Oxbridge.
DAO ranked as 6th best with 6.5%.
i.e. I think the description of neck-and-neck certainly applies on this criterion.
but more importantly they are both clearly excellent schools with a track record of results that many independent schools would love to have.
Lady Margaret School + Camden School for Girls both rank slightly higher on this narrow criterion (but I don't know if they really count in same category of "Comprehensive" as admission rules etc are constantly changing).
On broader criterion of getting 6th form students into top 30 Universities: both are in top 4 Comps in the country.
(This data is slightly old...2008-10... but averaged over 3 years so pretty reliable sample)
1) Lady Margaret School: 72.9%
2) Watford Grammar (Girls): 72.8%
3) Watford Grammar (Boys): 69.2%
4) DAO: 68.4%
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
DAO is not a comp.
Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
Thank you for your comments. DD is very much into sports, drama and music. The 2schools are about similar distance wise so with all the comments here , I think we will be going with Watford girls. Thank you all
Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
I think it is regarded as comp because it is only partially selective?davidsdad02 wrote:DAO is not a comp.
Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
all the west herts schools and i presume DAO are in the league tables for comprehensive schools rather than grammar schools due to being only partially selective. I suppose to make things fairer they should have separate league tables for independent, grammar, partially selective, and fully comprehensive, but even then you will get those who how partial is partial etc
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
DAO is a semi selective comprehensive. It is not a grammar school, it is not a faith school, what else do you think it is? DG
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
Independent, fully selective grammar and fully comprehensive are the clearest categories.Mgnmum wrote:all the west herts schools and i presume DAO are in the league tables for comprehensive schools rather than grammar schools due to being only partially selective. I suppose to make things fairer they should have separate league tables for independent, grammar, partially selective, and fully comprehensive, but even then you will get those who how partial is partial etc
Partially selective covers a variety of admission procedures (and different %'s of selective admission).
Obviously, partially selective comps have an advantage over fully comps in comparable areas.
But we are seeing here the limits of value in league tables.
School policy is also important as well.
QE Barnet sits at the top of a lot of State sector A-Level / University admission tables partly because of the way it trims admission to the 6th form.
If it kept the entire 11+ intake all the way through.... its performance levels would drop a bit.
Time lags are also important: A-levels results now reflect admission policies from 7-8 years ago.
In many cases these have changed during the intervening period...so you may be choosing a school based on a strong current performance that could change in the future.
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
A partly selective school. If a school selects a portion of its student population and siblings of those selected, it gets all sorts of advantages, some invisible. A fair-minded look at this would tell us that it is odd to compare DAO with a school that doesn't select at all. Whether a partially selective school fits some official description is a different matter.Daogroupie wrote:DAO is a semi selective comprehensive. It is not a grammar school, it is not a faith school, what else do you think it is? DG
My son is going to QE and I have no doubt that the superb results of schools like QE are mainly because they are super selective, obviously.
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Re: Watford Grammar Girls or Dame Alice Owen
All siblings are entitled to a place, not just siblings of those selected. Siblings of staff members, music places, distance places, looked after and statemented students. Even siblings of students no longer at the school are entitled to a place. The government considers DAO to be a comprehensive and there are letters displayed at the school reflecting that fact. DG