KEHS vs Camphill Girls CHG - urgent

[cooljsn]

All,
I know this question would have been asked many times in this forum. I searched and couldn't find much.

Please help me with your views (based on facts / your observation of schools / current or ex pupils or anything else)

KEHS vs CHG which one?
I understand it is down to personal choice etc but couple of visit to their open day doesn't tell you much infact it could be totally opposit to their real characteristics.

• I understand that money is a big factor. I can't afford full fee but assuming we get a decent bursary from KEHS and end up paying what is within our limit.
  Logistics to and fro KEHS is usally bigger challange as they don't have green bus but assuming we managed to work round this issue

If teher are old post on similar topic then please point me to that
Any stats on results etc will be helpful
Keen to know the science and music side of it
how school and pupil look after kids (mainly new joinees)
how they help developing the kids.

I gathered from some other posts that both are equally good but sometime CHG will feel the pinch on fundings but you as a parent will feel the pinch in case of KEHS

Thanks for reading

[Petitpois]

Coolsjn, I would not do this to yourself. Forget it for now, and focus on all the good things about KEHS and how it best fits your DD. If you get a an offer, then go for it. The CHG is a bridge than you cannot cross till 1/3 or to reverse look at it, you cannot turn it down till at least 1/3.

So don't waste your time, do everything you can to get KEHS in the bag and make it an easy decision to drop CHG. If you change your mind and eventually go with CHG no one but you will ever know, but don't muddle your thinking about KEHS without good cause

[cooljsn]

Coolsjn, I would not do this to yourself. Forget it for now, and focus on all the good things about KEHS and how it best fits your DD. If you get a an offer, then go for it. The CHG is a bridge than you cannot cross till 1/3 or to reverse look at it, you cannot turn it down till at least 1/3.

So don't waste your time, do everything you can to get KEHS in the bag and make it an easy decision to drop CHG. If you change your mind and eventually go with CHG no one but you will ever know, but don't muddle your thinking about KEHS without good cause

Thanks.

My DD is keen on CHG cause few of her friends going there but tbh they are senior and in reality she will see them only 5 - 10 minutes a day max as everyone will be busy with their class / activity etc.

End of the day no matter how much financial help KEHS offers it will still be expensive and bit tougher in terms to daily commute to school. from this point only CHG outweights KEHS however I know KEHS will have loads to offer than I think and I am trying to find out more about it.


thats why I set CHG as a benchmark to see what extra we get from KEHS

[Petitpois]

It is a difficult one. All I was trying to say is, if you know you have a CHG score and you kept up the tutoring etc, then your DD will have done well. So they know she is good enough for the school already. So all they know want to know if, how committed are you to the fees and can they get you into a situation where the fees vs value added work for both sides. Since CHG is free and and in the bag, I personally think that might colour things too much. So try and at least do a first pass in judging kehs it without considering CHG, otherwise it will be too easy to rule kehs out.

Well done BTW, there are very very parents that are in your position across Birmingham, so I am chuffed your hard work has borne fruit.

very best wishes and congrats

[quasimodo]

Logistics to and fro KEHS is usally bigger challange as they don't have green bus but assuming we managed to work round this issue

I don't know the general area where you live but there are school buses which run to KEHS.My eldest,her cousin and friends used to catch them several years back.One of my youngest dd's close friends is coming back by school bus.It arrives in Walsall around 1700 hours.Others will give you better and more up to date information.There may be information on the school website and the school can give you that information when you have the results next week.You know about the green buses to KE Camp Hill Girls.

Good luck and I hope you get to choose between two very good schools.

[crazycrofter]

That's right, there are school buses from Walsall and Solihull. I think the Solihull one goes through Hall Green, Moseley etc. With the school being on the Bristol Road and on a train line I can't imagine there's many places it's inaccessible to. Where do you live? The school buses are run by Centro so you just need a basic bus pass to travel on them - £25 a month, much cheaper than the green bus which I understand is around £800-900 a year!

[cooljsn]

That's right, there are school buses from Walsall and Solihull. I think the Solihull one goes through Hall Green, Moseley etc. With the school being on the Bristol Road and on a train line I can't imagine there's many places it's inaccessible to. Where do you live? The school buses are run by Centro so you just need a basic bus pass to travel on them - £25 a month, much cheaper than the green bus which I understand is around £800-900 a year!

Thanks good point
The solihull route suites us however being a parent I am not able to imagine dd goes in public transport in her own as I believe these buses are open to public etc. And not sure how many kids uses this service and if they look after each Other very well or not. Another good point is that green bus had only one service while kehs bus have couple of runs.
Now I realise that going to secondhand school is a big jump for the kids if they are going to gs or likes of kehs

[crazycrofter]

My daughter took the Walsall bus for the first half term, until we moved house. To all intents and purposes they are school buses. She once mentioned that a member of the public had got on the bus and they were all very surprised! What's more they drop off at the school. There couldn't be a much safer option really. My daughter now goes on her own by train. It's a shorter journey but she misses the fun and banter on the bus a bit.

[hermanmunster]

A few decades ago the "special" bus from Acocks Green took the No. 1 route with KEHS on the front and it was purely girls doing homework, violin practice, debating politics, playing games, doting on pop stars or staring into space. Quite a community of its own.

on the way home, once it reached the county ground it changed the name on the front back to "1- acocks green" and at each stop as girls got off, members of the public got on. Brave souls. Having said that it was probably good for us to get used to being on normal buses sometimes

[pickle123]

My daughter is currently Y7 CHG and I am ex-CHG (a very long time ago...). I have been really impressed about how the school brought the kids together from the outset e.g. residential trip to Anglesey at the end of September. There have been no major problems in settling her in. Induction certainly wasnt like that when I was there!

Music teaching has really impressed me and all Year 7 get the opportunity to learn an instrument if they choose. Science seems solid and varied. The teaching style is mixed and inclusive, good balance of practical and theory. They have had lots of trips throughout the first term and there seem to be alot of extra-curricular things that they can get involved in e.g. the school has had several theatre trips available at subsidised prices open to everyone.

I cant comment on KEHS, but I feel really confident in how my daughter has settled, made alot of new friends from quite diverse backgrounds. The Key Stage 3 Coordinator really knows the girls well. They have a lesson called 'Form Time' with her once a week (separate from the form tutor) where they talk about interpersonal issues and any difficulties in settling in etc etc

CHG really surpassed my expectations, I had read about a lack of pastoral care on this forum - that certainly hasnt been our experience.

Hope that helps - happy to answer anything else you might want to know.