Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
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Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
Hi,
I am posting it first time so please bear with me. I got queries about what are our options for grammar schools vs comprehensive (TGA).
DD's Score: 222 outside catchment for all grammar schools. If I am understanding it right then she will be in Cat 5 for all grammar schools?
Our DD got 222 for 11+ so based on last year it looks like Handsworth Grammar for girls are currently most likely option for us (if we get the place that is).
We are based in Shirley.
Commute:
Handsworth Grammar : Greenbus 1.15 minutes each way. By car is going to be difficult on daily basis as its otherside of town.
Tudor Grange: 30 minutes walk, 10 minutes by car.
We like the idea of Grammer school (Handsworth Grammer) but our concern is that DD would not get time and energy to do other stuff (for e.g. sports, drama etc) during the day after school. What happens when she has to stay longer at school (there is only one green bus in the morning and the evening - to and from school). Also all the worries/hassle around missing bus, heard about kids not behaving on greenbus etc. not sure if these concerns are unfounded.
Does anyone here have any experience of TGA? Is at par with Handsworth grammer school (or any other grammer school for that matter) in terms of GCSE/A-Level?
Could she still get into Camphill with 222 or it's ambitious ?
Apologies about too many questions but we are first time doing this with lots of worries (like lot of other parents).
Thanks in advance for taking time to read and answer our queries.
Ric
I am posting it first time so please bear with me. I got queries about what are our options for grammar schools vs comprehensive (TGA).
DD's Score: 222 outside catchment for all grammar schools. If I am understanding it right then she will be in Cat 5 for all grammar schools?
Our DD got 222 for 11+ so based on last year it looks like Handsworth Grammar for girls are currently most likely option for us (if we get the place that is).
We are based in Shirley.
Commute:
Handsworth Grammar : Greenbus 1.15 minutes each way. By car is going to be difficult on daily basis as its otherside of town.
Tudor Grange: 30 minutes walk, 10 minutes by car.
We like the idea of Grammer school (Handsworth Grammer) but our concern is that DD would not get time and energy to do other stuff (for e.g. sports, drama etc) during the day after school. What happens when she has to stay longer at school (there is only one green bus in the morning and the evening - to and from school). Also all the worries/hassle around missing bus, heard about kids not behaving on greenbus etc. not sure if these concerns are unfounded.
Does anyone here have any experience of TGA? Is at par with Handsworth grammer school (or any other grammer school for that matter) in terms of GCSE/A-Level?
Could she still get into Camphill with 222 or it's ambitious ?
Apologies about too many questions but we are first time doing this with lots of worries (like lot of other parents).
Thanks in advance for taking time to read and answer our queries.
Ric
-
hermanmunster
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Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
Hi Ric, welcome to the forum
Here are the scores from waiting list for the last couple of years https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 11&t=62628" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
TBH I suspect that the 221 for Camp Hill was an oddity - I think many people simply did not put it on the CAF and when it came to the waiting list the places went lower than expected - there was certainly someone with 224 posting on here kicking herself that she had not applied.
Not much of Shirley is in TG catchment - are you sure that you are?
Yes she would be Cat 5ric1982 wrote:DD's Score: 222 outside catchment for all grammar schools. If I am understanding it right then she will be in Cat 5 for all grammar schools?
Our DD got 222 for 11+ so based on last year it looks like Handsworth Grammar for girls are currently most likely option for us (if we get the place that is).
Here are the scores from waiting list for the last couple of years https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 11&t=62628" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
TBH I suspect that the 221 for Camp Hill was an oddity - I think many people simply did not put it on the CAF and when it came to the waiting list the places went lower than expected - there was certainly someone with 224 posting on here kicking herself that she had not applied.
From experience travelling too far is awful, much nice to have friends nearby and quicker journey to school - midwinter in the dark is not greatric1982 wrote:We like the idea of Grammer school (Handsworth Grammer) but our concern is that DD would not get time and energy to do other stuff (for e.g. sports, drama etc) during the day after school. What happens when she has to stay longer at school (there is only one green bus in the morning and the evening - to and from school). Also all the worries/hassle around missing bus, heard about kids not behaving on greenbus etc. not sure if these concerns are unfounded.
Not much of Shirley is in TG catchment - are you sure that you are?
Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
Thanks,
Yes positive. If we wont get into any of the grammer then TG is definitely there.Not much of Shirley is in TG catchment - are you sure that you are?
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hermanmunster
- Posts: 12901
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
- Location: The Seaside
Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
In that case put the schools in the order you really want them which sounds like Camp Hill first - after that it is really between TG and Handsworth.
A long time I lived near where you must have live now (still had grammars in Solihull), however I went to KEHS which was a great school but what a trek! and I had few local friends and that became more of an issue at sixth form level when just about everyone went to the 6th form college.
I decided I would never let kids go that far to school.
Tudor Grange is a fantastically good school and the results are excellent considering it is a non selective - the only reason Handsworth get better is because they have a selective intake - there would seriously be something wrong if they didn't produce better results at GCSE etc
A long time I lived near where you must have live now (still had grammars in Solihull), however I went to KEHS which was a great school but what a trek! and I had few local friends and that became more of an issue at sixth form level when just about everyone went to the 6th form college.
I decided I would never let kids go that far to school.
Tudor Grange is a fantastically good school and the results are excellent considering it is a non selective - the only reason Handsworth get better is because they have a selective intake - there would seriously be something wrong if they didn't produce better results at GCSE etc
Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
Personally speaking the commute to Handsworth would be a deal breaker. 2.5hrs a day- and that journey time probably doesn’t take into account traffic jams etc.
After school clubs would be impossible unless public transport/ you collect. The other thing to bear in mind is the green bus routes. As more years are made up from catchment area children they may decide that the route is no longer viable.
A school 30 mins walk away is, to me, a no brainer.
After school clubs would be impossible unless public transport/ you collect. The other thing to bear in mind is the green bus routes. As more years are made up from catchment area children they may decide that the route is no longer viable.
A school 30 mins walk away is, to me, a no brainer.
Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
Many years ago I used to go to Handsworth Grammar for Boys, travelling from the Shirley end of Hall Green, just off the Stratford Road and literally a stones throw from the Shirley border.
I had to catch two busses, the number 6 then the 74 (which the girls for KE also caught). At the time there was no dedicated bus and it took about an hour.
In hindsight while I certainly don't regret going to a Grammar school the distance was certainly an issue and if I was to "do over" with hindsight I think I'd pick TG (or TGA as it now is) which would have been for me then a 30min bus/50min walk/15min bike ride.
No one from school lived nearby. My nearest friend at school was in Moseley with the next nearest in Edgbaston. Meeting up with them would require multiple busses (or meeting in town). This is only going to be worse now with the catchment areas.
When it came to which school my children would go to I discounted my old school (and Aston) on the basis of distance, I just didn't want them spending hours travelling a day and be miles away from any of their friends.
As for after school clubs, you can easily catch the 74/6 back from school to Shirley but while the girls (and boys from HGS) catching their respective busses are safe at home time due to the numbers I certainly wouldn't be happy with my daughter catching a bus from Handsworth after an afterschool club without that protection of a group of other school children, it was pretty scary through Handsworth as a young boy. Not to mention then catching the bus out from the City Centre.
There is also the issue with the bus passes. IMO the Green bus while convenient is a massive rip off, when I was at school we'd get the term or term plus bus pass from West Midlands Travel, this would give us the freedom of the city (albeit not to start with at 11!). The National Express West Midlands Term plus these days is £85/term (£255/year) and again would give them the freedom of going where and when they wanted. The Green Bus pass is £895 if bought early and allows them on one bus and one bus only. That's a 1/3 again of the price of an adult bus pass for all of the West Midlands! It wouldn't be quite so bad if it included travel on normal busses but if they miss it and need to catch a "normal" bus they not only have to pay but also need a PAYG or similar. Equally in reverse while you used to be able to use a PAYG on the Green Bus they now just say that "Single Tickets can be purchased through our app" and take you on a loop back to buying a full pass again with no information about this mystical "app".
I had to catch two busses, the number 6 then the 74 (which the girls for KE also caught). At the time there was no dedicated bus and it took about an hour.
In hindsight while I certainly don't regret going to a Grammar school the distance was certainly an issue and if I was to "do over" with hindsight I think I'd pick TG (or TGA as it now is) which would have been for me then a 30min bus/50min walk/15min bike ride.
No one from school lived nearby. My nearest friend at school was in Moseley with the next nearest in Edgbaston. Meeting up with them would require multiple busses (or meeting in town). This is only going to be worse now with the catchment areas.
When it came to which school my children would go to I discounted my old school (and Aston) on the basis of distance, I just didn't want them spending hours travelling a day and be miles away from any of their friends.
As for after school clubs, you can easily catch the 74/6 back from school to Shirley but while the girls (and boys from HGS) catching their respective busses are safe at home time due to the numbers I certainly wouldn't be happy with my daughter catching a bus from Handsworth after an afterschool club without that protection of a group of other school children, it was pretty scary through Handsworth as a young boy. Not to mention then catching the bus out from the City Centre.
There is also the issue with the bus passes. IMO the Green bus while convenient is a massive rip off, when I was at school we'd get the term or term plus bus pass from West Midlands Travel, this would give us the freedom of the city (albeit not to start with at 11!). The National Express West Midlands Term plus these days is £85/term (£255/year) and again would give them the freedom of going where and when they wanted. The Green Bus pass is £895 if bought early and allows them on one bus and one bus only. That's a 1/3 again of the price of an adult bus pass for all of the West Midlands! It wouldn't be quite so bad if it included travel on normal busses but if they miss it and need to catch a "normal" bus they not only have to pay but also need a PAYG or similar. Equally in reverse while you used to be able to use a PAYG on the Green Bus they now just say that "Single Tickets can be purchased through our app" and take you on a loop back to buying a full pass again with no information about this mystical "app".
Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
So, if DC walks to the local comprehensive it's an hour per day, if she heads to the grammar, it's 2.5 hrs per day. So an extra 1.5 hours per day, 7.5 hours per week.
That's 7.5 hrs per week for her to do with as she/you please, whether that be extra study, activities or just time to relax... and her friends will be more local.
For me, the comprehensive would have to be really quite awful to make the commute to grammar worth it. My daughter has been at secondary for 6 weeks; we've already had a day where she wouldn't have been able to get the bus...open evening, school finishes early, then she went back, and then collection late in the evening. Just wouldn't have been possible for her to be a full part of the school with a long commute.
That's 7.5 hrs per week for her to do with as she/you please, whether that be extra study, activities or just time to relax... and her friends will be more local.
For me, the comprehensive would have to be really quite awful to make the commute to grammar worth it. My daughter has been at secondary for 6 weeks; we've already had a day where she wouldn't have been able to get the bus...open evening, school finishes early, then she went back, and then collection late in the evening. Just wouldn't have been possible for her to be a full part of the school with a long commute.
Re: Handsworth Grammer - Girls vs Tudor Grange Solihull
One thing I forgot. The recommendation (and certainly what KEFW is aiming for so I presume they'd be the same) is for 1.5h of homework *per* night. Now it's a bit hard to compare with my memories of school but it seems a *lot* more than I ever had. As this is the Government recommendation TGA could well have the same.
Now obviously it depends on what time you're letting her go to bed (as well as how good she is with getting on with it) but having to get up early is going to mean it's not going to be that late and that is barely going to leave her with any free time in the week (or have to spend most of the weekend doing homework).
Now obviously it depends on what time you're letting her go to bed (as well as how good she is with getting on with it) but having to get up early is going to mean it's not going to be that late and that is barely going to leave her with any free time in the week (or have to spend most of the weekend doing homework).
