St Albans HS v Laytmer

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vinb7
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:14 pm

St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by vinb7 »

Hi All

We have an offer from St Albans and was really looking for advice from other parents who have DDs here on what this school is like please? we live in Barnet and would use the coach service provided by the school.

Our other options are Latymer school (although this is a 30mins drive) and Palmer Green independent school.

My DD is fairly academic, loves drama, so-so at sport, Shy but confident. We just want to ensure she goes to a school where she will fit in and grow in confidence with the opportunity to get involved in a host of activities. We are looking for a friendly environment not too pressurised. We find she does go into a shell if not happy.

Overall - we had a good feel when we visited St Albans and got the impression the girls enjoyed the school. Laytmer we hear is also a good school but came across a bit run down due to funding issues? The lady who took us around (not sure if she was a teacher) was quite down beat about the school and came across as things were going down hill? Area is also a concern for DD travelling by bus?

Financial commitment is a big decisive factor and my preference would be for the Grammar. We have asked to see Laytmer again before we make a final decision but any advice from current parents would be appreciated.


Thanks
copella
Posts: 1200
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:51 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by copella »

I don't know anything about St Albans girls only know the boys school and friends who send their children are very positive about it.

My DS is in y12 at Latymer and very happy. Not sure who took you around but I wonder if they were trying to be downbeat to deter exam tourists. I know the league tables aren't e erything but this year the school was 14th in the country, 6th in London and top co-ed according to the Times. Which I think is pretty good.


The school encourages the development of all round skills not just academic. The pressure is not too strong. They try and settle years 7 to 8 who get limited homework. There are also fewer problems in the local area so your daughter should be safe. Most children leave together and the bus stops are close by. Lots travel in from the Barnet area so she shouldn't be on her own if you get a place in March. Nearly everyone stays on in the sixth form which I think says a lot about the school.

I can't agree that the school is run down but then again we weren't ever looking at independents. THe school has spent a lot of money on the infrastructure and I think looks pretty good. Not sure what bits you saw. However it is a state school with state funding and as such will have limited budgets and cannot be compared to an independent. Parents are requested to support and most do but again no pressure is made to do this.

If on the 1st March you are lucky enough to have the choice good luck. I am not sure if the school allow additional visits. They didn't use to, but this May gave changed.
vinb7
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:14 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by vinb7 »

Thanks for the insight Copella.
llhj
Posts: 206
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:47 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by llhj »

Again, only anecdotal but a friend of mine had a daughter at each, her second daughter didn’t pass Latymer. She is thinking of moving her older dd for sixth form. She hasn’t been unhappy but just no where near as nurtured as her younger dd has. Her younger dd really has blossomed and slotted in so beautifully, the pastoral care is superb. I think Latymer requires a degree of resilience and feistyness that not every pupil has developed. It’s a great school but only you can know if your dd would benefit from the fairly intense atmosphere. It’s highly competitive after Year 9 and quite scrappy for postition. This is why I didn’t choose it for my dd, she’s better suited elsewhere. My friend’s dd is there though in Year 8 and thriving but she loves the thrust and drive of the place and is very independent and quite strident.
llhj
Posts: 206
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:47 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by llhj »

I don’t mean strident in a negative way btw. Just confident and assertive.
katt20
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2022 1:58 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by katt20 »

vinb7 wrote:Hi All

We have an offer from St Albans and was really looking for advice from other parents who have DDs here on what this school is like please? we live in Barnet and would use the coach service provided by the school.

Our other options are Latymer school (although this is a 30mins drive) and Palmer Green independent school.

My DD is fairly academic, loves drama, so-so at sport, Shy but confident. We just want to ensure she goes to a school where she will fit in and grow in confidence with the opportunity to get involved in a host of activities. We are looking for a friendly environment not too pressurised. We find she does go into a shell if not happy.

Overall - we had a good feel when we visited St Albans and got the impression the girls enjoyed the school. Laytmer we hear is also a good school but came across a bit run down due to funding issues? The lady who took us around (not sure if she was a teacher) was quite down beat about the school and came across as things were going down hill? Area is also a concern for DD travelling by bus?

Financial commitment is a big decisive factor and my preference would be for the Grammar. We have asked to see Laytmer again before we make a final decision but any advice from current parents would be appreciated.


Thanks
Hi

We have also been offered St Albans and are likely to be offered Latymer. Could you tell me what you decided in the end and if you are happy with the decision.

Thank you in advance
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by scary mum »

I think you are unlikely to get an answer as the poster last visited the forum in 2019, but someone else may be able to give you some insights.
scary mum
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by Daogroupie »

St Albans is a lovely school and I know of lots of girls who love being there. I know of 16 girls who applied this year and 15 were offered a place including 2 scholarship offers. It is a lot easier to gain a place than Latymer and there are a lot of preps who joined the school at 4 and have not sat any exams since. This has an impact on the school.
Westminster are now making their preps sit every single part of the 11 plus exam as they recognise that preps who have not prepared for the highly competitive 11 plus will not be at the same level as the 11 plus students. My niece loved St Albans but did complain a lot about the lower level of the preps and another prep class has been added since she was there. St Albans is not in the top 100 of schools ranked by Oxbridge entrance and Latymer is usually in the top 30. Latymer had 2484 apply for 192 places with exams in GL MC VR and Maths and standard format English comprehension and Creative writing.
St Albans had 400 application for 60 places. St Albans uses just the ISEB and a creative writing which apparently was not marked??? So no writing to check that students actually can write. No written comprehension. Sport very good at St Albans, they have won the National championships in Netball and they also have strong swimming and Lacrosse teams. It really depends what your dd's interests are but I have known over 100 girls go to St Albans in the last 15 years and all of them have really loved the school and very few move at 6th form. I am sure your dd will love it if she goes there.
Personally both of my dd's were offered a place but we felt they needed somewhere with greater competition so we chose DAO. We are not in Latymer catchment.
DG
FAC51
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:38 pm

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by FAC51 »

Daogroupie wrote:Westminster are now making their preps sit every single part of the 11 plus exam as they recognise that preps who have not prepared for the highly competitive 11 plus will not be at the same level as the 11 plus students.
In recent years, Habs and MT have moved away from forcing their prep students to sit the 11+ paper.

They acknowledge that the newcomers will be ahead in Maths and English, having prepped extensively. But those coming up from the preps will have spent more time on other subjects.

Daogroupie wrote:St Albans uses just the ISEB and a creative writing which apparently was not marked??? So no writing to check that students actually can write. No written comprehension.
'No writing' doesn't seem to bother QE, Habs boys, or the schools in the London 11+ consortium.

At St Albans, one assumes they at least looked at the creative writing before sending out interview invitations.
nyr
Posts: 1166
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:39 am

Re: St Albans HS v Laytmer

Post by nyr »

At the risk of derailing the thread ...

Since Sept 2012 (for Sept 2013 entry) QE has only used a single round of MC English and Maths and it's interesting to note the consistent improvement in the percentages of GCSE A* (9/8) grades in English Lang., Lit. and History (and almost everything else) since Sept 2018.

Back to St Albans HS v Latymer
Last edited by nyr on Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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