St Helen's Northwood?

[Stmichaelsfan]

Would love to hear from anyone with personal experience of st Helen's. Dd was offered a place and she prefers it to St Albans High School for Girls which she also got. There's so much more info on SAHS on this forum, i would really appreciate any feelings about St Helen's particularly in relation to SAHS.

both are about the same distance to us and seem at par academically but i sense a preference here for SAHS and would love sone insights please.

[Middlesexmum]

Watching with interest. St Helen's is our first choice and will probably accept depending on what happens tomorrow.

Is anyone going to the meeting tonight for prospective new girls?

[Jojo2000]

Yes I am going although I still have not made up my mind if my DD will stay on at St Helens or not (she is currently in the junior school). She was called to sit the scholarship interview at SAHSG but sadly did not get it (which would have helped my decision greatly) but has been offered a normal place. I am having difficulty choosing between the two. Also waiting for the outcome of WGSG tomorrow.

Any advise to help me reach a decision will be greatly appreciated:?

[Stmichaelsfan]

We were not able to attend Middlesexmum, were you? What was it like jojo2000? Dd and i really liked St Helen's when we visited, but while i have 2 friends whose dd's attended SAHS and cannot recommend it enough i dont know of anyone who attended St H, which has given me a dilemna. If i listened to friends it would be SAHS but we loved St Helen's facilities and grounds were very nice, dd and i did not like SAHS having buildings spread accross the streets. The extra curricular activities also appealed v much to dd at St H.

What has been your personal experience of Little St Helens Jojo2000? Is there a particular reason you are considering moving Dd?

[Jojo2000]

I ended up not going as I remembered that I had been to a similar one sometime last year. My Dd really loves it at St Helens and you are right about the grounds as opposed to that of SAHS. I have a few concerns about St Helens which are personal and have no bearing whatsoever on the school. It is a great school and produces well rounded girls and the extra curricular activities are great!

I suppose I wanted to have options and I had always wanted DD to go to SAHS but could not get her into the junior school as they had no space at the time.

I now have 2 offers (SAHS & ST Helens) and waiting for WGSG today. The hardest part will be making a decision as both schools are equally good. Stmichaels fan, is St Helens your first and only choice?

[Middlesexmum]

I went to the meeting with dd and it reconfirmed my feelings that I love the school and can really see dd there. So much so that if she gets a place at Watford Grammar I will be disappointed that she won't be going to St H's!

My only experience of the school is my neighbour's daughter who went there from Year 7 and was very happy and did very well. She's now at Leeds University.

The school seems very nurturing, academic without the high pressure of Habs/NLCS, lovely grounds, facilities etc, fantastic extra curricular activities, the Year 9 girls we talked to last night seemed very nice and articulate and they clearly love their school...and for us the coach stops at the top of our road!

[Stmichaelsfan]

Jojo2000 ,St H is our second choice for inde, and St Michael's finchley for grammar school. Habs was our first choice on the basis of it being closer and cheaper by about £500 a term, but St H by far gave the best vibes of the 2 . We didnt get an offer after interview from Habs but post the initial shock and bruised ego, we are v happy with the St H offer. We have been offered St Michael's on allocation today but v likely will let it go.

Middlesexmum, what was the meeting like? Did u get an offer from WGGS?

[Jojo2000]

Stmichaelsfan, congratulations to your dd for getting into St Helens, it is a great school. We got offered a place at Parmiters which was our second choice, WGSG was the fist choice. Parmiters is about 5mins walk from where we live so its not too bad. I am just not sure about the school and wonder if anyone knows much about it? I think if we had been offered WGSG then we would have gone for it. We now have 3 offers and a decision to make. I am struggling as they are all good schools

[Middlesexmum]

I seem to have lost what I just typed! Anyway, the head gave a very nice speech as did the head of the middle school (years 7-9). Then the girls stayed in the hall to do activities with 6th formers and parents were invited to the dining hall for drinks and buffet food and opportunity to meet staff members and year 9 girls. Very pleasant warm atmosphere.

We didnt get WGSG, we were allocated JFS. Although I'mcurious to know where dd is on the waiting list.

Stmichaelsfan - where do you live? Will your dd get the coach?

[Harrow-Mum]

I do agree with Middlesexmum, we were there for the meeting and ws quite good. The staff ws quite helpful and nice. we were speaking to the year 9 girls and i was quite impressed. My only concern is travelling as there is no coach route for us.We visited St Helen's 2 years back and my daughter liked it so much ,waiting for the post today on the outcome from HBS.