11 Plus Exams Forum

um wrote:I think in any school it can really depend on which friendship group you join.
So some comments above - such as apple phones, ski-ing and Caribbean holidays - I don't recognise as nobody dd knows has done that!

My daughter hated primary school - from Reception through to Year 6, (where she left early) and was bullied; even at age 10, she would cry and cling to me when she had to go in.
I was therefore initially very worried about her joining CHG but she has been very happy, and has become far more confident, which has been super.
She has a group of friends who she is happy with. Her friends are not wealthy. She even once said she was a bit embarrassed about all the special stationery I'd given her as some friends were looking through it and couldn't have those things. I was relieved as they seemed more grounded and less spoiled and materialistic than the girls in her primary school (state school/wealthy families in general) had been. She has a cheap and completely smashed phone and given that she still keeps dropping it, I've no plans to repair it!
She is also, while able, not a massively high achiever and is a 'summer baby', yet still seems happy enough without being top of the class.

Dd is only in Yr 10 but generally I've had no problems communicating with the school.
It seems as though the leadership is very good/organised and that teachers monitor her well.

I do feel that girls benefit perhaps more than boys do from being in a single-sex school; research shows this to be the case, particularly with science and technology progression. I think she can be a bit timid and having to try and express herself in lessons and push forward in subjects such as Science, would have been harder for her with boys around. As FW is majority boys, I don't think it would have suited her as much. Plus she has four brothers so was already sick of boys . She has taken part in quite a few Science and Engineering activities with CHG, which she has really valued.

DIY Mum wrote:

Raven07 wrote:I'm probably being a tad optimistic here but just in case my daughter scores well enough for Camphill Girls, I was hoping anybody with a daughter there already would be able to say whether they recommend it at all please. The reason for asking is that we both loved KEFW but the distance would be an issue for us. The Camphill open day last year that we attended was a bit manic and as it was her first open day, she wasn't confident to ask questions and a friend of mine mentioned that there may be problems with bullying there.
Do the leadership tackle any bullying swiftly? Is your dd happy there etc?

My dd hasn't always been happy at her primary school so I'm concerned that similar issues don't happen again at secondary school. I don't want to push her to go a school where she might not be happy purely for convenience sakes and KEFW seemed to tackle such issues better and had a lovely, happy feel to it when we visited.

Any advice or opinions would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Out of curiosity, why does your friend feel that there maybe bullying issues at Chg?

Friendship groups do change a lot and this exists in all schools. My own dd1 was bullied in her primary school and one of the girls in that group went off to Chg in y7. When dd1 joined Chg at sixth form, the relationship with this girl had completely changed!
I know my dd1 has only been there for over a year and previously, we used to hear negative views from dp with girls there. But personally, I really like the staff at Chg. My dd1 has health issues and they've been very warm and supportive of her needs.

Bullying in my experience (I don't have a dc at kefw but I have dc in all the other KE schools) is dealt with quickly by staff. There was an incident with dc5 that could have led to long term bullying. He was slapped in the face by another boy on the green bus. Thankfully, his sibling was there too and reprimanded the boy, reported it to the driver and told me too. I also contacted the school who dealt with it swiftly. As soon as my dc5 reached school, the boys were seen and situation resolved.
No issues followed after that.

OldTrout wrote:Just agreeing with Um - I think no matter how good (or indeed bad) the school choice may be - so much will depend on their circle of friends your child develops and as parents, we have to accept we have very little control over that.

Also just to stress - in terms of the gadget show-off girls/ kids going on amazing holidays - both are a very small minority - and really by late Y7 it was no longer an issue. Just wanted to explain that although we've not experienced bullying there has been a bit of very minor (in my opinion) showing off/ teasing/ bragging. (Again, this absolutely depends on what personalities end up in your DD's form - and as parents we can't do a lot about that - my view is to see some of the behaviour as funny - and I'm afraid when news reached home that show off girl lost precious and expensive device at school, I found it funny - and totally justified my 'NO WAY am I spending that much money only for you to lose or break it!' views. PS the device was eventually located & returned to owner).

In terms of proximity - having a shorter commute does mean that there's more time for homework/ relaxation/ outside activities. If your child is musical/ sporty and involved in a lot of things outside of school (possibly also likely to join in these types of activities at school) - a shorter commute is a factor, in my opinion

Also agree with Um - my DD has felt able (and encouraged) to speak up more in class and has found at she's rather good at things she never expected. Not sure about the research side of single sex education myself - but know that my small fry is gaining in confidence (whether that's the school/ the single sex side of things - or a mixture of the two - I couldn't definitely say) - which really pleases us.

OT