QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

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Lcwic1
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:44 am

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by Lcwic1 »

My views on Sports in QE are based on feedbacks received from my friends/colleagues whose kids are studying there. While sports is a big thing in many good selective grammar schools, they say that QE focuses more on academics.
DG was correct, sports at QE plays an important role. They stress on sports just like the academics. (Well in year 7 so far) I have a son in year 7 at QE, and sports is very important. If you are in a sports team, you need to stay for after school practice and if you are not so good in sports, you need to go for their fitness club which is compulsory (during lunch time) They make a lot of emphasis on sports. Only thing they don’t do is play football as a sport nor they have a sports team for football. They played football couple of times for this year.

We live very close to the school, 10 mts drive. So my son does his homework, as soon as he comes come so he has free time. They do give a lot of HW and has tests to study for, so I believe if you have a long drive, your son could be very tored by the end of the day.

There are lots of rules but they are all seasonable. They motivate boys alot, gives merits for working hard and on achievemts. Lots of the boys work hard to get merits. At the same time, they give bad notes too, but if you abide by the school rules, it’s easy to stay away from bad notes. My son has lots of friends and enjoys school very much.

If you are able to move closer to the school, I think your son would be able to make the most of the school. But otherwise I think Reading would be a better option.

Hope you will make the right choice.
WrS
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:03 pm

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by WrS »

Hi, our DS have scored high enough in both QE and Reading Boys. We live in Reading and in same dilemma as several others may be in the past of which school to choose.

Academically, QE is on top. We toured both schools and facilities seem better at QE.

I am bringing this thread up again to seek opinion from parents who were in similar situation and:

1) Relocated for QE: Are you happy with the decision and consider it to be worth?
2) Stayed with Reading Boys: Are you finding Reading Boys as good as you hoped? Or wished you had favoured QE?

Thanks,
WrS
mad?
Posts: 5621
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:27 pm
Location: london

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by mad? »

WrS wrote:Academically, QE is on top.
I can't help you from experience but I'd ignore the above. Both schools' results are largely a reflection of their intake, rather than the schools themselves. Being 'top' does not mean you DC will do any better at one or the other.
mad?
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by Tinkers »

A colleague made this choice a few years ago. Loved in Reading, would get a place at either.

Decided to stay in Reading. His thought process was he wouldn’t need to move, less commute. His son could stay in contact with primary friends etc. he decided the difference between them is tiny and didn’t warrant the upheaval. His son will have just left and he’s not regretted that decision.
aks
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:13 pm

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by aks »

I think, there will be hardly any difference between these schools. As far as Oxbridge success is concerned(including LSE for that matter) IMHO grammars put one in disadvantage due to contextual offer (and relative evaluation).

Though they tend to do well in UCL/Imperial/Warwick/Durham/KCL etc.. It will be interesting to see how many get accepted in courses like Comp science/Mathematics/econ etc.. in Oxbridge than a figure of say 40 by QE as acceptability rate differs by great extent across courses.

QE provides perfect regimented studies and brings the best out of them. I think those who leave QE in sixth form, is a blessing in disguise as they tend to do better than they could have done at QE.

A talented child will do equally well in any fine state school. Not every one is privileged enough that their parents take them to coaching center for 1/2 years every weekend.

Oxbridge admission makes it equal ground.
Berkshire
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:18 pm

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by Berkshire »

We are in exactly the same situation as you WrS. While we have spoken to many parents, I just do not see the benefit of moving that far for what is predominantly a difference in infrastructure. In terms of teaching methodology etc, would you want a regime or some flexibility and co-relation with real life and some creativity/innovation?

I will say, stay local , put him in Reading, the minor difference is just not worth it.
tfp_sa
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:18 pm

Re: QE Barnet or Reading Boys??

Post by tfp_sa »

Hi, I just stumbled across these forums because I’d applied (more or less blind) to a grammar school that’s five or so miles away from where I live and wanted to gain a slightly better understanding of what I’d be getting into.

I must say I’ve been staggered by many of the posts on these various subforums – the same questions come up time and time again, almost always, and I hope this doesn’t sound patronising, by posters who seem to have a pretty sketchy understanding of what matters and what doesn’t in the UK education system.

The main question is a variant of: “Please tell me, is it worth uprooting my entire family and/or committing my child to an absurd multi leg daily commute so that my child can attend a high[er] ranked GS?”

The answer to this question is always the same:

(a) *maybe* if your local comprehensive options are bad;
(b) *no* if your local comprehensive options are average or good, and
(c) *never under any circumstances* if you’re already close to a GS and are only talking about your child getting into one that’s higher in some league table or other.

Grammar schools are **nothing like** universities, where say attending one of the top two ranked universities [Oxbridge] gives you vastly more options than say the 10th or 20th or 50th best ranked universities. Oxbridge is flat better than the ranked universities which are ranked 10+ places below them in the tables. It’s, honestly, flat better than even the 3rd and 4th etc best universities. For starters, the tutorial system means you get way better quality teaching. An Oxbridge degree involve much harder work and academic rigour than a degree from any other university. It gives you far better job prospects [a number of really top tier employers have very strong preferences for Oxbridge] and also far better prospects for getting funding for postgraduate study. The cost of living is often lower because you’re likely to be given cheap on-campus accommodation for all years of your degree and it’s possible to get small prizes and grants etc for books etc which don’t exist at the lesser universities. I could go on. In summary, Oxbridge is flat better. No matter where you live in the country, be it the home counties, midlands, up north, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, it’s always worth moving to attend Oxbridge.

Grammar schools are **nothing like this at all**. The difference between attending the 1st best ranked GS and the 10th or 20th or 50th best ranked GS is **nothing**. It has no implications whatsoever for a child’s future employment or higher education prospects. None. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. There’s a near-perfect correlation between GS league table performance and how competitive they are to get in, i.e. how hardworking and/or bright their intake is. All state schools, including GS’s, have the exact same budgets and teach the exact same content at GSCSE and A level – nothing at all like universities, who all have their own bespoke courses for everything. The **only** reason why say QE gets more Oxbridge students than say Reading is that it attracts this harder working and/or brighter intake.

I’ve in my time done quite a bit of work recruiting graduates, and the idea of showing preference to candidates from a top university is very real indeed. The idea that an employer would, say, show preference to a candidate who’d attended QE over one who’d been to Reading is almost surreal.
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