Orley Farm, Reddiford and St Helen's College Hillingdon??

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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which is best in your opinion?

Orley Farm
11
65%
Reddiford
4
24%
St Helen's Hillingdon
2
12%
 
Total votes: 17

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Lola001
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:55 pm

Orley Farm, Reddiford and St Helen's College Hillingdon??

Post by Lola001 »

Hello,

I am trying to decide which of these 3 schools would be best for my 5 year old twins (Boy and Girl). I would be really greatful if any of you parents with older kids have feed back about how academic these schools are, overall education, ethos, postive and negative points not written in brochures! how well do the kids do at 11 plus?

Look forward to your feedback.

regards,
Ed's mum
Posts: 3310
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:47 am
Location: Warwickshire.

Post by Ed's mum »

Good luck with your poll. I'm afraid I have no experience of these schools. Is there anything particular that you are looking for? Facilities, ethos etc?
Lola001
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:55 pm

Post by Lola001 »

Thanks for your reply. I was looking for academic achievement, ethos and a generally well rounded approach. I don’t want to be swayed solely by aesthetics and what they tell me.
resmum
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:53 pm
Location: wolverhampton

Post by resmum »

I think Orley Farm is in a different league from Reddiford - i.e. it's a traditional prep school surrounded by green fields which sends some of its pupils to public schools. Reddiford on the other hand is bang in the middle of Pinner and seems to be on a fairly cramped site. It seems to feed into the Northwood and Herts private day schools and the Watford Grammars.

One or two children came back into the state primary system from Reddiford for one year (Harrow has or used to have year 7 in primary school) when they failed to pass the 11+ as the school stops at year 6.

The senior school at St Helens has a good reputation but I don't know much about the junior department.
T.i.p.s.y

Post by T.i.p.s.y »

Haven't posted on here because I have only ever looked online and have friends at the school. It is a nice school and will keep your options open for senior school choice. It does have a lot of land and that should not be discounted as living in London kids don't have many opportunities to run free and little children especially need this. I would choose Orley Farm over the other schools as it caters for differing abilities and I find the least selective schools often have the best teachers.
zorro
Posts: 2076
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:27 am
Location: Barnet, Herts

Post by zorro »

Children from Orley Farm move on to my son's school (Aldenham ) at 13 and they play them at football in Y7 and Y8. Seems like a nice school . Don't know anything about the other 2 schools.
Lola001
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:55 pm

Post by Lola001 »

Thanks for the feed back so far. Orley Farm appears to be the favourite! Please keep the comments coming :)
EveDallas
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 2:01 pm

Re: Orley Farm, Reddiford and St Helen's College Hillingdon?

Post by EveDallas »

Okay I have experience of both Reddiford and Orley Farm.

Reddiford is very cramped, there just isn't the space to expand as it is in a residential area. They do make use of their space well, but there is only so much you can do I suppose, so the playground and classrooms are very small and not much space for the children to move around. There is no swimming pool or cooked school dinners. It's strength lies in that it gets very good 11+ results, with many children getting into grammar schools and first choice independent schools.

Orley Farm has better facilities and more space. Personally I think Reddiford is better academically and Orley farm better for everything else, though ofcourse they do well academically too, just not as well as Reddiford.
One thing you have to keep in mind is that in Orley farm the boys bit goes up to 13+ and often these sorts of schools are very reluctant for you to leave or even do the 11+. If you are considering Orley farm, I would have a look at that aspect - hth.
year to go
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:30 pm

Re: Orley Farm, Reddiford and St Helen's College Hillingdon?

Post by year to go »

Hi Lola
Definetly biased as have 3 children at Orley Farm, one in year 5 preparing for 11 plus and twins in pre prep .
We choose Orley over the others for both the academic results, which are outstanding with many scholarships each year, but more importantly for us, for the all round education and the truly family focussed approach.
The music and drama are excellent and all the children truly benefit from the huge amount of outdoor space which is used fully in the curriculum.
Twins - the school is used to having twins , there are currently twins in years 1 -4.There is no sibling policy at Orley so assesment time was truly anxiety provoking with 2 of them to get in.Twins do tend to be put in separate classes and this has really worked for us with both girls still see each other alot during the day.

11 +/ Leavers destinations.- As with Reddiford , Orley sends boys and girls to a wide variety of schools but with many going to highly academic independant schools with scholarships. They school meet up with you in year 4 for girls to advise where they think would be best suited to your child both academically but also to suit their personality. To my knowledge this apears to be an accurate assesment, and in the recent results all the girls got their first choice of schools.
The school does not specifically cater for grammar school entry but those girls sitting for grammar schools were given some NVR coaching at school, and most of the preparation for the independant schools is directly relevant anyway.Whilst many parents would only consider independant there are some that enter both WGGS and HB or QEB from the school. In recent years children have gone on to Watford grammars and Parmiters.

Overall, would recommend it without hesitation for a very well rounded education that truly treats each child as an individual to make the most of his/ her potential be that sporting, musical or academic.
sonic1
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:45 pm

Re: Orley Farm, Reddiford and St Helen's College Hillingdon?

Post by sonic1 »

some good friends of our sent both boys to Reddiford but grew increasingly frustrated with lack of prep for 11+. My friend said the onus was on her to prepare her son. In the end she sent him to a crammer college for extra tuition and he got offers from Habs and MT's but was not successful with WGSB or Dr.Challenors.
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