Habs Girl Open Day
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Habs Girl Open Day
Hi all,
I am a new member and have been benefiting massively from the forum. Just come back from Habs Girl Open Day with mixed feeling. The school facilities are very impressive and the tour girl really represented her school well. A bit disappointed that there was no Q&A after the head teacher's speech as 'it is too big a crowd to do Q&A'. Also a bit puzzled that the head teacher did not bother trying to sell the school to parents and girls. It is more about 'enjoying the 11 plus exam and don't waste your money on tutoring'. The impression seems to be that we know we are good and we are already overburdened with recruitment... I wonder whether this is your feeling as well.
Many thanks
DKG
I am a new member and have been benefiting massively from the forum. Just come back from Habs Girl Open Day with mixed feeling. The school facilities are very impressive and the tour girl really represented her school well. A bit disappointed that there was no Q&A after the head teacher's speech as 'it is too big a crowd to do Q&A'. Also a bit puzzled that the head teacher did not bother trying to sell the school to parents and girls. It is more about 'enjoying the 11 plus exam and don't waste your money on tutoring'. The impression seems to be that we know we are good and we are already overburdened with recruitment... I wonder whether this is your feeling as well.
Many thanks
DKG
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Daogroupie
- Posts: 11107
- Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
- Location: Herts
Re: Habs Girl Open Day
Habs have 600 girls apply every year. They don't need any more and would certainly be happier if the numbers reduced as it is very costly to produce all those exam papers and run all those interviews.
They do know they are really good and 600 girls apply and that is too many. So why would they want to encourage more?
You are the parent and can investigate for yourself at the Open day if it is a good fit for your dd.
Why do you want them to sell themselves to you?
If you want a school that markets itself and its girls very strongly then NLCS would really suit you.
Habs is a bit old fashioned that way. They open their doors and expect the parent to be able to make the decision themselves if they are a good fit for their dd.
They do not keep telling you how wonderful they are. For this reason the type of parent who wants to be sold to tends to prefer NLCS. DG
They do know they are really good and 600 girls apply and that is too many. So why would they want to encourage more?
You are the parent and can investigate for yourself at the Open day if it is a good fit for your dd.
Why do you want them to sell themselves to you?
If you want a school that markets itself and its girls very strongly then NLCS would really suit you.
Habs is a bit old fashioned that way. They open their doors and expect the parent to be able to make the decision themselves if they are a good fit for their dd.
They do not keep telling you how wonderful they are. For this reason the type of parent who wants to be sold to tends to prefer NLCS. DG
Re: Habs Girl Open Day
This is the first year that they have tried to change the format of the day..Which may have impacted on their organisation.
Personally I wouldn't take their advice on the no extra work front as it is not worth the risk (competition is fierce, you only get one chance at it, and you have to give it your all as you will regret it afterwards if you decided not to work as hard as you could have and don't get the result you expected). I fell in that trap with my DD1 when she took the 7+ as teachers advised us that she "didn't need to" do any exam prep and is bright enough to get in to a highly selective school such as Habs or St Albans High. Those same teachers were "shocked" when she didn't get offered a place. We learnt a hard lesson there.. After extra work she passed the 11+ and has sailed through school.. just got a string of A and A* at GCSE.
Personally I wouldn't take their advice on the no extra work front as it is not worth the risk (competition is fierce, you only get one chance at it, and you have to give it your all as you will regret it afterwards if you decided not to work as hard as you could have and don't get the result you expected). I fell in that trap with my DD1 when she took the 7+ as teachers advised us that she "didn't need to" do any exam prep and is bright enough to get in to a highly selective school such as Habs or St Albans High. Those same teachers were "shocked" when she didn't get offered a place. We learnt a hard lesson there.. After extra work she passed the 11+ and has sailed through school.. just got a string of A and A* at GCSE.
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Daogroupie
- Posts: 11107
- Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
- Location: Herts
Re: Habs Girl Open Day
+1. Go and look on the QE results thread if you want to see the result of being out prepared. No school can control the amount of preparation done by applicants and no teacher should be telling any student not to bother to prepare. They are not qualified to comment on the level of the competition for the places.
It is all very well to be shocked when your advice turns out to be bad advice but it is the family not the teacher that has to live with the consequences. I don't see anyone on the QE thread boasting about getting a high mark without preparation.
There are students who prepared for the state selectives all through the summer and are now preparing for Habs, City ,NLCS and St Albans.
The schools all want the strongest academic candidates for their league tables. DG
It is all very well to be shocked when your advice turns out to be bad advice but it is the family not the teacher that has to live with the consequences. I don't see anyone on the QE thread boasting about getting a high mark without preparation.
There are students who prepared for the state selectives all through the summer and are now preparing for Habs, City ,NLCS and St Albans.
The schools all want the strongest academic candidates for their league tables. DG
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HotCrossBun
- Posts: 129
- Joined: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:24 pm
- Location: West Essex
Re: Habs Girl Open Day
I agree that you should prepare whatever the head says.
My husband took my younger daughter to see Habs. She loved it. She is very sporty and they let her try out Lacross, she thought it might be an acceptable substitute for hockey after all. After seeing their beautiful rolling grounds and new facilities she was blown away. I didn't go on this open day, but went a few years ago with an older daughter. My husband and I were impressed when we spoke with the teachers who clearly loved their subjects and were very sharp. I do agree that the head does not come across as being particularly charismatic. It's hard to tell how much that matters.
My husband took my younger daughter to see Habs. She loved it. She is very sporty and they let her try out Lacross, she thought it might be an acceptable substitute for hockey after all. After seeing their beautiful rolling grounds and new facilities she was blown away. I didn't go on this open day, but went a few years ago with an older daughter. My husband and I were impressed when we spoke with the teachers who clearly loved their subjects and were very sharp. I do agree that the head does not come across as being particularly charismatic. It's hard to tell how much that matters.
Re: Habs Girl Open Day
DKGDKG
I felt the same way. I wasn't looking for anyone to sell the school to me but we'd been to see Belmont (Mill Hill School) in the morning and it seemed the staff were more enthusiastic at Belmont. The ambience seemed better too. My daughter liked both school with a preference for Habs.
I felt the same way. I wasn't looking for anyone to sell the school to me but we'd been to see Belmont (Mill Hill School) in the morning and it seemed the staff were more enthusiastic at Belmont. The ambience seemed better too. My daughter liked both school with a preference for Habs.