Aldenham School

[Cloud nine]

Hi, my daughter is in year 5 & in an independant school however shes never been happy there we've had a fair amount of friendship problems & her school is a sports school she isn't in the top teams... We are going to view Aldenham school for year 7 does anyone know much about the school I've been told its not a sports school, whats the ratio of boys and girls? I'm in a stew and don't have much experience with choosing the right school what sort of questions should I be asking? Thankyou in advance

[Goodheart]

...what sort of questions should I be asking?

You may have already come across it, but there's loads of advice at http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... g-a-school and http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... -questions

[silverysea]

What is attracting you to this school in particular?

[Cloud nine]

A couple of siblings at our current school attend Aldenham & Ive been told that they are very happy , its also not a sports school .

[silverysea]

My dd2 got a 100% clean break for secondary to a different school. That plus learning to deal with nasties in year 6 has given her a good start.

I wouldn't stress about sports, at secondary lots do all sorts of activities and can opt in or out- no one really cares if someone doesn't join the teams there are limited places anyway
. Also depends on. Chance you can get a nice or nasty bunch of kids at random in a year. Many do no activities with school at that stage, but May have interests outside. My dd 1 now 15 is a regional level and silver medallist fencer among other achievements but has kept it secret from school as they were not friendly in year. 7.

[Daogroupie]

Aldenham play plenty of sports. Our school has fixtures with them all the time. You can go to a school that plays Sports and choose not to become involved. DG

[Cloud nine]

Its very competitive and the girls in the A & B teams are very spiteful although I guess this happens right across the board... I've also heard that our local independant strives on sport and if its your weakness or you don't have a scholarship your pretty much excluded .
Does this really go on ?? My child isn't one of the top academics or any good at sport but I'm pretty worried about what to do... My main concern is her happiness its not all about academics..

[Daogroupie]

I have this feeling you might be talking about St Albans High School for Girls who do very well in Sport but Music and Drama is also very strong and academia is highly prized.

I know lots of girls at this school who are very happy yet don't play any sport at all. I would be happy to introduce you to them.

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this school and do all the time. DG

[Cloud nine]

So went to see Aldenham school & were pleasantly impressed with the facilities that they have .. The girl that showed us around was very informative but the only thing I'm not keen on is the long day which finishes at 5.30pm ..

[silverysea]

One think that put me off a little a couple of years ago was it seemed to be boy-heavy on paper, but I never visited and otherwise it sounded lovely. Not necessarily a problem anyway.