What is rugby high really like?

[ginx]

Hi Janeymorris,

It's all different this year. I don't know whether it's her age, but everything is "boring".

Unlike everyone else, including her friends, she does hardly any homework - at home - she does it at school. She seems to have much less homework than her friends at Ashlawn (both selective and non selective). But she is doing quite well.

I worried about this all through year 7 but she actually did quite well. The school reports show where your child is in relation to the "average" grade for each subject. This is based on just one test per subject so isn't totally true - but given my dd didn't achieve level 6's in SATS (and her friends did), she is doing very well.

Friends; she has two best friends - I was a bit sceptical about being a threesome but they are still very good friends.

I have an issue with the fact the girls are in the same class, with the same 30 girls, for almost every subject. I am of course comparing this to Ashlawn where dc usually change classes and therefore mix with more dc. I feel my dd would have more friends if she was at Ashlawn.

She attends drama at a local school on Saturdays, and has become friendly with many girls her own age who go to Ashlawn; friends from her junior school and new Ashlawn friends. I can't help thinking she would have made more friends at Ashlawn - but I'll never know.

Two girls in her year apparently have a criminal record - cyber stalking or something - if that is true.

I also prefer a co-ed school, I think she is mixing in quite a narrow world. Hence going to drama is good, mixing with other children (and boys) from different backgrounds is good for her.

She is ok but not brilliant at sport (has played in netball and rounders teams occasionally). She plays the flute and it has been a problem leaving lessons on time for her flute lesson (she tends to forget!).

The school have been absolutely brilliant with her diabetes - because it is smaller than Ashlawn, the reception staff know who she is and who I am. The pastoral care lady is just lovely.

My dd is a bit of a geek - she now admits - at her birthday party the six girls who came were all "geeky". They spent ages arguing about how the heart works! I think the girls are all competitive and dd feels she is always "keeping up" in conversations. I'm sure this is good for her learning and achievement, but I'm not sure how enjoyable it is. I feel she relaxes more with her Ashlawn friends.

I also feel she has become a little snobby - if that's the word I mean.

I am not sure I would choose it again over Ashlawn. My ds got very good GCSE's at Ashlawn - about 100 pupils achieved high grades - and I think up to GCSE there is very little difference in results if your dc is prepared to work hard.

For my dd, it has not been a lot of extra work. All her friends work harder. I worry she is in a narrow world and thinks she is slightly better than others. But I am perhaps painting a black picture, she is happy and wouldn't want to change.

Where does your dd want to go? Our dd chose RHS over Ashlawn herself. And she insists she is happy. A hard decision for you!

Good luck.

[kenyancowgirl]

ginx, what a lovely honest post. I think you sum up probably aspects that we all go through at some point or another. Some weeks I think the boys are doing brilliantly and everything is perfect and then other days I just think...oh dear...perhaps somewhere else would be better! but, on balance, we are more than happy, as are the boys. Obviously I am talking about a different school but it is reassuring (if that's the right word) that we all go through the same ups and downs!

[ryan123]

Hi Jennymorris,
I can help! I had one child at Rugby High and one child at Ashlawn. They're twins. I must say that the one at Ashlawn gained better GCSE exam results than the child at Rugby High. My child at Ashlawn gained 12 A* grades whilst my child at RHS gained 4 A* grades and 7 B grades. They're both outstanding Ofsted schools however, I must say that Ashlawn has won me over and my daughter at RHS strongly regrets not going to Ashlawn as she hates the all girl environment. They finished school last year and my child at Ashlawn is at Cambridge University studying Medicine however my daughter at RHS is at Coventry studying beauty. There's a big difference. My child at Ashlawn gained 2 A* grades and 1 A grade at A-Level whilst at RHS, my child gained 3 C grades. They were of the same intelligence in primary school. In terms of exam success, Ashlawn's grammar seems to perform higher than the two other grammar schools, I'm not surprised. I like the fact that Ashlawn is a mixed school as my child from RHS feels very uncomfortable in the presence of boys however the Ashlawn child is perfectly fine. In terms of homework, children at Ashlawn definitely gain more in early years of about 14 pieces a weeek, at RHS they receive about 12. Subsequently, Ashlawn pupils are slightly ahead of RHS pupils by comparing classwork and assessments. It seemed that in November, RHS were doing the work that Ashlawn students were doing in September and Ashlawn students had already done all of the content that RHS students were focussing on. In addition to this, I think that Ashlawn's teachers mark students' work more often than RHS's teachers and whenever I needed a teacher at Ashlawn, I'd be able to contact them within half an hour whereas at RHS, I had to wait 3 hours once! I definitely think that Ashlawn is much more professional. Both of the schools assess their students frequently. Really, it's where your child wants to go but my child at RHS hated every minute of it, and regretted going there as in year 6, she thought that RHS was the one for her, but it wasn't. Hope this helps

[Janeymorris]

Thank you both for your posts, I'm sad to hear your DD did not enjoy her time at RHS. The children build up certain hopes for high school, and I have found a certain need for some of the girls to say 'I got to RHS' without perhaps that much thought over what it is really like to go to a girls school. From the visits we have made and reports from parents, I think RHS is an outstanding school, but suits a certain type of personality. Those that have that do well and love it, those that don't try to fit in but are not particularly happy. My DD is not that personality and we didn't enjoy the atmosphere when we visited so think we have made mind up that it is not the right school for her. We also have been very pleased with Ashlawn, not sure about the 14 pieces of homework! my DC is in set1 year 9 and we've yet to ever have had more than 5 and even those are not more than 20mins. Its actually one of the things I've found great in that they work very hard at school to get good grades, but still are able to have a life outside of school. The teachers are fun and he has loved the lessons. The man issue we have had is more on a social side and problems with distance from school. Did you live in walking distance? My DC has been extremely lonely at school and it is only now in year 9 that he is beginning to get a small bunch of friends. A child with a less loving family to go home to may really struggle. Most people he knows walk to school, go to each others houses, meet at weekends, and new lots of people from primary. A child who gets on the bus, knows very few children when they start and spends the short lunch break queuing for food has no opportunity to make friends. Their are very few clubs for year 7 and 8. Now in year 9 we have the issue of expectations to go to enrichment classes for French, science, art top up. All great if you live local, disaster if you work and have a hour round trip! Otherwise it does seem to get good results and its great to hear that this applies to 6th form, was your DD an isolated case or did any of her other friends get As?.
I did smile when I read your RHS DD had gone into beauty, my DC is always saying the RHS girls on the bus are always doing their hair and nails !!(although apparently the boys opinions are the Bilton girls are the best looking because they're so sporty and fit!).
Thanks again.

[ryan123]

Hi Janeymorris,
My daughter at Ashlawn was certainly not an isolated case! All of her friends at Ashlawn achieved at least 7 A* grades at GCSE. At A-Level, again, all of her friends achieved minimum 3 A grades, though some did achieved higher with 3 A*s. The school is exceptional. Funny you say that you have a child in top set year 9 at Ashlawn, my youngest is in top set year 9 at Ashlawn too! Which band is yours in? I certainly do not live in walking distance! In fact I live 8.5 miles away from the school! Many children travel from long distances to go to Ashlawn, the furthest being Birmingham. There are twelve people in my year 9 child's year who reside in Leamington and 15 children are from Daventry in Northampton! There are many extra curricular activities that your child can join in year 7 and 8, like Badminton club, Gymnastics club, Netball, Football, Rugby, Basketball, Book club, Art club, Drama Club, French club, Textiles club, Humanities Club, Scratch programming club and many more. Many of these clubs run at lunchtimes. Ashlawn's a great place to make friends, it's so big that you're bound to make some friends. When my son started in year 7, I was terrified that he would find it difficult to socialise and make friends as he was the only child from his primary school to go to Ashlawn, and within two days of starting, he made some great friends and he's still best friends with these people today! I suppose that you just have to start a conversation and you can make lifelong friends. I definitely recommend the school as it's great!

[jmc]

Hi, just a note from the parent of a "new" RHS girl. My daughter was unfortunate enough to experience some unpleasantness in the first couple of weeks with some of the older girls. And yes, this could happen at any school. I was extremely impressed with how quickly the school dealt with the problem, the communication with me about the situation, and the fact that the older girls later came to her and apologised. My daughter is loving the lessons, thinks her teachers are fun, feels she can approach them, and has made a great bunch of friends already. I think we will always wonder whether we/our children made the right choice, but she is so much more confident already.

[guest201]

Everyone has different experiences, my daughter started this year and is really enjoying it, maybe she has the right type of personality! She has made friends and likes the fact that there are no boys there, but is in no way uncomfortable in the presence of boys, she has a brother maybe that makes a difference, and she has plenty of contact with boys socially outside school.
I am not sure I agree with the comments about a certain type of personality, there is such a wide variety of girls there. Maybe the girls you see helping out on Open Days etc. are the confident outgoing ones, but they are certainly not all like that. The girls that went up from my daughter's primary school were such a varied bunch from sporty outgoing to shy bookworm, and they have all found new friends and are enjoying the experience.
Remember if they don't like the school for whatever reason you can always move them to another school. The member whose daughter went to RHS and "hated every minute of it" could maybe have moved her to another school, or perhaps she would have hated that too. Who knows.

[ginx]

Interesting views. I have found the pastoral care excellent at Rhs. My Dd has made two very good friends. I wish she wasn't in the same class with the same girls for virtually every subject because some of the girls are really not very nice.
I feel my Dd would be happier at Ashlawn but she doesn't want to leave so it can't be that bad. She does No homework (at home) apart from art yet is doing well. She enjoys subjects Ashlawn don't offer , Latin, Philosophy. Her friends at Ashlawn in the grammar stream do seem to get lots of homework but having had 2 children at Ashlawn, I feel Dd's work is perhaps done in greater detail and perhaps Rhs have higher expectations.
But when my son got his Gcse results at Ashlawn this summer, many had sheets of As. If a dc is going to work hard, they will do well at either school. Living a few miles from each school, we are lucky.
I would choose Ashlawn if I had to do this again, because it is co ed, and dc are streamed for each subject and have the opportunity to mix with more dc.
My Dd at Rhs insists she is happy - I am just not totally sure. She is certainly doing well and has two good friends, and goes to school happily enough.
Interesting opinions. I have another son to do the 11+ in two years. It would be interesting to have a similar thread about Las.