KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
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Re: KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
Ooh yes, I am so enthusiastic about KEHS, I had forgotten about the lunch system. Yes that was a change for the worse for us too . Perhaps we all need to grumble to the new head in September.
I have been happy with feedback and dd seems to know where she's at. At parents' evenings I always feel teachers know dd and her strengths and weaknesses really well. I do not miss NC levelling from state school; DD2 always complains she is " levelled to death"
.
I have been happy with feedback and dd seems to know where she's at. At parents' evenings I always feel teachers know dd and her strengths and weaknesses really well. I do not miss NC levelling from state school; DD2 always complains she is " levelled to death"
.Re: KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
I agree about NC levels; government-mandated box-ticking in general, and the NC in particular, was the single biggest reason for choosing KEHS over CHG (who really emphasised the box ticking twaddle at open evening). And I agree that they seem to have a pretty good handle on our daughter when we actually talk to them - but reports etc. are really very vague and woolly and a bit of a waste of paper. We used to get better reports from primary tbh.
It's a pretty minor set of complaints overall and it was a bit of a struggle to think of things that could be improved. OP didn't ask for the positives; that would be a much longer list of far more important factors.
Mike
It's a pretty minor set of complaints overall and it was a bit of a struggle to think of things that could be improved. OP didn't ask for the positives; that would be a much longer list of far more important factors.
Mike
Re: KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
Thank you all for taking the time to post. It has really helped to clarify a few things.
Hope you guys don't mind, but as mike1880 pointed out if I had worded my original post better, for parents with DDs at KEHS already, what are the main positives that you feel you are getting compared to the free Grammars?
Hope you guys don't mind, but as mike1880 pointed out if I had worded my original post better, for parents with DDs at KEHS already, what are the main positives that you feel you are getting compared to the free Grammars?
Re: KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
That is tricky to answer when I have no experience of the free grammars. All I can say is that I cannot imagine my daughter having had a happier or more fulfilling secondary education than she has had so far at KEHS.
Re: KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
Positives for me are:
1. Solid, traditional education but delivered with enthusiasm and with a real sense that it should be an enjoyable process, and with the emphasis on developing the whole person, not just on passing exams.
2. Latin is a compulsory GCSE (not something I'd have enjoyed myself, but ideal for someone like our daughter who seems to have an innate love of words and language in general).
3. The school is sensible, practical and down to earth. They know that not everyone there is a bottomless money pit, so the uniform is sensible and is reasonably priced (unlike one or two of the GSs), with good second hand sales as mentioned already. Trips are fairly frequent but not extravagant, usually somewhere local (e.g. local synagogue for RE).
4. Discipline seems to work by actively promoting and encouraging responsible behaviour rather than by telling the girls what they're not allowed to do.
5. As alluded to, semi-detachment from the posturing of Michael Gove and his predecessors of all political shades. The school doesn't have to dance through whatever hoops the government of the day chooses to scatter, doesn't have to react to every latest fad and whimsy and doesn't have to worry about whether it's going to meet some ludicrous and irrelevant target or not.
Mike
1. Solid, traditional education but delivered with enthusiasm and with a real sense that it should be an enjoyable process, and with the emphasis on developing the whole person, not just on passing exams.
2. Latin is a compulsory GCSE (not something I'd have enjoyed myself, but ideal for someone like our daughter who seems to have an innate love of words and language in general).
3. The school is sensible, practical and down to earth. They know that not everyone there is a bottomless money pit, so the uniform is sensible and is reasonably priced (unlike one or two of the GSs), with good second hand sales as mentioned already. Trips are fairly frequent but not extravagant, usually somewhere local (e.g. local synagogue for RE).
4. Discipline seems to work by actively promoting and encouraging responsible behaviour rather than by telling the girls what they're not allowed to do.
5. As alluded to, semi-detachment from the posturing of Michael Gove and his predecessors of all political shades. The school doesn't have to dance through whatever hoops the government of the day chooses to scatter, doesn't have to react to every latest fad and whimsy and doesn't have to worry about whether it's going to meet some ludicrous and irrelevant target or not.
Mike
Re: KEHS or Handsworth Girls?
Spot on Mike, all very good points. A real positive for me is the excellent staff-pupil rapport, helped by smaller class sizes and the fact that behavioural problems are few and far between.
No complaints about compulsory Latin in our house either; dd really enjoys it.
No complaints about compulsory Latin in our house either; dd really enjoys it.
