CHB
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CHB
I would really appreciate it if anyone could share their upfront and honest views (+ve and/or -ve) on CHB. I would be grateful for feedback on all and any element of the school. I welcome responses from parents of the children who attend this school; parents who have just visited the school or anyone who has heard/read/seen anything from any other sources. Thanks in advance.
Re: CHB
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 8&start=10" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There are some questions on this stickie which relate to CHB and clear up some more common misconceptions.They are from fm and Mike1880 and appear on page 2.
There are some questions on this stickie which relate to CHB and clear up some more common misconceptions.They are from fm and Mike1880 and appear on page 2.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Re: CHB
Hello all, are there any parents here whose kids go to King Edward VI Camp Hill Boys in Birmingham and are willing to share their experiences?
Also, any prospective parents, who have been to their open mornings/evenings what are your views about the school?
My DS scored 240 and I am not sure where he stands with this score.
Also, any prospective parents, who have been to their open mornings/evenings what are your views about the school?
My DS scored 240 and I am not sure where he stands with this score.
Re: CHB
Hi, my oldest son goes to CHB. He is year 11 now. It is a great school but no jocking there. They push them so much, loads of homework from the start. So my son who was top in his primary school is now OK in CHB, well a bit better than OK, maybe one of the top 20%.
There are all sorts of extra curicular activities, Rugby, tennis, swimming, music.
My son loves it there but needs to work really hard all the time to maintain a good level.
However in GCSE we didn't have that big of a choice of subjects like other schools; there is no subjects such as photography, PE, drama or business like in BV or Queen Mary. We had only limited choice of either art, music or DT. Same with languages: only French and German available.
Excellent results in general in GCSE and A-levels.
Good luck to your DS
There are all sorts of extra curicular activities, Rugby, tennis, swimming, music.
My son loves it there but needs to work really hard all the time to maintain a good level.
However in GCSE we didn't have that big of a choice of subjects like other schools; there is no subjects such as photography, PE, drama or business like in BV or Queen Mary. We had only limited choice of either art, music or DT. Same with languages: only French and German available.
Excellent results in general in GCSE and A-levels.
Good luck to your DS
Re: CHB
JaneEyre has extensively written on CHB boys school in the past. Worth searching for her threads.. here are a couple
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 11&t=46223" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 85#p553185" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Our youngest also attends CHB and currently in Year 8. He is just getting on with it, and we have never heard him complaining about homework or doing it for that matter
And this despite the fact he travels from Wolves, catches a train at 7am and does not return until 5:35pm.
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 11&t=46223" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 85#p553185" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Our youngest also attends CHB and currently in Year 8. He is just getting on with it, and we have never heard him complaining about homework or doing it for that matter
And this despite the fact he travels from Wolves, catches a train at 7am and does not return until 5:35pm.
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Openminded
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:05 am
Re: CHB
My last son is in the Upper Sixth at CHB and we've been associated with the school since 2009.
It is a very academic environment, which means that there is some terrific teaching and academically-orientated opportunities e.g. chemistry olympiads, maths challenges (often to international levels, depending on cohort), chess etc. So for a lad who enjoys the academic aspect of school life and welcomes opportunities to stretch themselves beyond the curriculum, it is a fab place to be. There are many like-minded lads there also so someone like that will find a peer group. Boys who do very well academically are 'cool' at CHB. Of course, this who excel at sport etc. are also cool but it can be very reassuring to know that exceptionally talented academics are not seen as different (in a bad way).
The downside of the above, is that no-one can coast along comfortably at CHB and expect to do as well as they might have done at primary. This is uncomfortable for some boys and for their parents - it can come as quite an ego denting experience for some. Many encounter the issue in Year 7 or 8 and adjust accordingly. The mature competitive lads start to push themselves to be as good as they can be as individuals, accepting that it is in the nature of life that they may not be top in any/all subjects. These lads actually enjoy competing in a positive productive way with themselves and their peers. This is excellent preparation for university/life but it does require honesty and maturity in the boy and in their parents. Some lads find the requirement to continue to push themselves quite difficult for number of reasons - personality, maturity, underlying academic ability, underlying personal values, ambitions and motivation etc etc. I am not going to develop on this except to say that, in practical terms, given that many boys have substantial journey times, the academic demands my mean the lad needing to be very well-organised and disciplined with time management. The potential availability of parental support (e.g. to collect them from school on occasion, thereby reducing lost travel time at particular pinch points in the academic year) can be vital also. Otherwise, many of the extra-curricular activities, especially those undertaken outside school suffer. For those who have been very active extracurricularly prior to secondary school, at some point in the 7 school years at CHB some of these activities will need to take a back seat or even be dropped. That can be an issue for someone who is very gifted in a non-academic area and does not wish to give up the activity. Bear in mind also that, typically, in the teenage years the number of hours required to devote to the extra-curricular activity may rise e.g. competitive sport
Given funding problems in state schools, CHB along with many academically-orientated schools in the state sector will not be able to offer as many subjects as independent schools. Due to the nature of its cohort, and despite collaboration with the adjoining girls school for sixth form teaching, it does not offer some subjects that some lads and their parents may value. This should be considered when selecting the school, especially if the subject area is one that they want to take to GCSEs and also if they really want to stay in a single school for all 7 years. It is possible to move for the sixth form, and this is an option that some of my boys' friends took up with success because they wanted subjects that were not on offer at CHB.
Good luck with your decision. It is never easy and you will never be certain whichever decision you take will turn out right because your lad will grow up in his own way and in his own time. These are very unpredictable processes.
It is a very academic environment, which means that there is some terrific teaching and academically-orientated opportunities e.g. chemistry olympiads, maths challenges (often to international levels, depending on cohort), chess etc. So for a lad who enjoys the academic aspect of school life and welcomes opportunities to stretch themselves beyond the curriculum, it is a fab place to be. There are many like-minded lads there also so someone like that will find a peer group. Boys who do very well academically are 'cool' at CHB. Of course, this who excel at sport etc. are also cool but it can be very reassuring to know that exceptionally talented academics are not seen as different (in a bad way).
The downside of the above, is that no-one can coast along comfortably at CHB and expect to do as well as they might have done at primary. This is uncomfortable for some boys and for their parents - it can come as quite an ego denting experience for some. Many encounter the issue in Year 7 or 8 and adjust accordingly. The mature competitive lads start to push themselves to be as good as they can be as individuals, accepting that it is in the nature of life that they may not be top in any/all subjects. These lads actually enjoy competing in a positive productive way with themselves and their peers. This is excellent preparation for university/life but it does require honesty and maturity in the boy and in their parents. Some lads find the requirement to continue to push themselves quite difficult for number of reasons - personality, maturity, underlying academic ability, underlying personal values, ambitions and motivation etc etc. I am not going to develop on this except to say that, in practical terms, given that many boys have substantial journey times, the academic demands my mean the lad needing to be very well-organised and disciplined with time management. The potential availability of parental support (e.g. to collect them from school on occasion, thereby reducing lost travel time at particular pinch points in the academic year) can be vital also. Otherwise, many of the extra-curricular activities, especially those undertaken outside school suffer. For those who have been very active extracurricularly prior to secondary school, at some point in the 7 school years at CHB some of these activities will need to take a back seat or even be dropped. That can be an issue for someone who is very gifted in a non-academic area and does not wish to give up the activity. Bear in mind also that, typically, in the teenage years the number of hours required to devote to the extra-curricular activity may rise e.g. competitive sport
Given funding problems in state schools, CHB along with many academically-orientated schools in the state sector will not be able to offer as many subjects as independent schools. Due to the nature of its cohort, and despite collaboration with the adjoining girls school for sixth form teaching, it does not offer some subjects that some lads and their parents may value. This should be considered when selecting the school, especially if the subject area is one that they want to take to GCSEs and also if they really want to stay in a single school for all 7 years. It is possible to move for the sixth form, and this is an option that some of my boys' friends took up with success because they wanted subjects that were not on offer at CHB.
Good luck with your decision. It is never easy and you will never be certain whichever decision you take will turn out right because your lad will grow up in his own way and in his own time. These are very unpredictable processes.
Re: CHB
Excellent post Openminded! Quite true that children can't expect to be academically at the top, as they did in their primary. More of a challenge for children arriving from state schools as they would be in a minority at CHB. In our case, we found coming from an Ofsted rated "Satisfactory" state primary, children were not taught foreign languages or sciences to the depth one would expect in independent/prep sector. And this could seriously dent their confidence in these subjects when stating off in year 7.
Re: CHB
Must add that introduction of PP places in recent years might have balanced the intake between independent and state schools. I understand for PP there are 24 places out of 120 available at CHB. With the remaining, I believe more than half of the intake is still from private sector. I remember receiving this information from a trusted source few years back.
More than half of CHB entrants were from Indies - mainly just Hallfield, Blue Coats, West House with a few from Norfolk House and Ruckleigh's .
Just under half of CHG entrants were from Indies - mainly just Hallfield, Blue Coats, EHS and some from Ruckleigh's too.
Of the other pupils, they were mainly from very good state schools like Harborne, Hall Green, King David, Moseley CE etc. and not many inner state schools featured in the list at all.
More than half of CHB entrants were from Indies - mainly just Hallfield, Blue Coats, West House with a few from Norfolk House and Ruckleigh's .
Just under half of CHG entrants were from Indies - mainly just Hallfield, Blue Coats, EHS and some from Ruckleigh's too.
Of the other pupils, they were mainly from very good state schools like Harborne, Hall Green, King David, Moseley CE etc. and not many inner state schools featured in the list at all.
Re: CHB
Thanks Openminded. That was extremely useful. My son currently studies at an independent school and many of his teachers and the Director of Education have always told me that my son was a "typical" Camp Hill boy. The Director of Education said that my son would thrive there and fit in like a hand in a glove. He got Gold in the Primary and Junior Mathematics Challenge (in year 5 he got the joint top mark with a student in year 6). I've been told that my son has a very good chance of getting a scholarship at KES because his creative writing is very good. But I've been told that despite this, Camp Hill would be a better cultural fit for my son. Your post sheds a little more light on why they may think this. Thank you.