Hi

My DD offered a place at Watford Girls on waiting list and we have a place in St Helens and wondering the difference between the two in terms of atmosphere, pastoral care, extra-curricular activities etc.

Please may I request any parents who have their DDs in both schools to share the experience or anyone who has information or knowledge on both, really appreciate your feedback.

Kind regards

Middlesexmum has a Y7 in Watford girls and had an elder dd in St Helens until recently.

I am sure if you sent her a pm she would respond.

Both great schools.

You can't go wrong with either of them so it would be personal preference. DG

Thank you DG

I have 2 girls at WGGS and friends with kids at St Helen's. St Helen's has much more space, lovely grounds, a different, wider range of sports and much better facilities as it is private. I have heard that their pastoral support is excellent too but have no direct experience of any of this.

I have been very happy with Watford Girls. They look after the girls well, however their SEN support isn't great. The teaching is generally good, however as with with any school there is excellent, good and not so good. The school lost a lot of senior staff a year or so ago when a new head joined, she only stayed a year but things have settled down again now after the deputy head was promoted into the role. There are lots of different extra curricular activities from music, sports, arts etc. The music provision is superb if that is something your DD is interested in. If you have any specific questions please ask by pm or on the thread.

Apparently the old SENCO wasn't very good, however the new one is excellent in my opinion so I think things are improving on that front.

They are both great schools but I will PM you with more details.

I'd like to second this. The SEN provision at WGGS has not been great in the past but the new Head has bought in a new SENCO and she is fantastic. She has made such a difference to my daughters with ASD.

Hi asv!

Isn't one big difference that Watford Girls is partially selective whereas St Helen's is fully selective?

I know parents at other SW Herts schools who chose partially selective schools only when their kids couldn't get in to fully selctive ones. They are concerned now about the behaviour of some of the kids at those schools and the impact of not having uniformly high academic/career expectations.

I live in SW Herts where there aren't any fully selective state schools. So unless you are one of those pushy parents who considers it essential to inflict a ridiculous commute on a child & send them to a neighbouring borough / county, the partially selective state schools are an excellent option.

I am sure many of the children who pass the SW Herts exams could easily gain places at distant fully selective state schools or indeed a number of private schools in the area.

I find the assertion that poor behaviour is the reserve of less academic children incredibly offensive.

So do I, completely agree. What a nasty post.

What a sneery post. Plenty of non-academic children are well-behaved and have high career aspirations. Plenty of very bright children can be horrors.