Topic ID 6032
Hi to any parents of 11-18 year olds out there... I'd like to gather some opinions on the choice of these two secondary schools for my daughter. Would anyone recommend Presdales or Simon Balle and why? I've heard good and bad about both (but not much good about Presdales I have to say...) but I'd like to get more views on the academic, sports and social/behavioural aspects. Anything is of interest. Thanks for any comments.
Reply ID 81745
I think we are very lucky to live in this area, as all our schools are good. Presdales & Richard Hale- Good for the academic, not so great for the grey children. Simon Balle- Good all rounder, but get the feeling that the Head Teacher only knows about 10% of the kids. Chauncy - Amazing head, but I bit to layed back at times. Gets good results. Sele- Great school, and getting better all the time. It will all depends on your daughter. When I took my sons they seemed to come to life on one school, so that's where they went. Friends have told me they could see a difference in their kids (one school, from another) also.
Reply ID 81747
"Grey children" ?
Reply ID 81748
To be honest I wouldn't send my daughter (now year 10) to either. I'm not saying they are "Bad", just not suitable for her. We are lucky to have the choice we do here. For her the idea of a girls school would be a living hell so Presdales just wasn't an option. I went to Simon Balle myself and really enjoyed my time there but now it is so big that we felt she would just fade into the background. We went there last year to show my son around, my daughter came with us to be nosey and one of the teachers seemed to think it was normal to ask if she went there too, proof that they don't know have their pupils. As Witch of the North said when you go around the schools you and your daughter will probably get a feel for the one that is right for her. My best advice is to go with your instincts, we did, for us Sele stood head and shoulders above the other two and it has proved to be one of the best decisions we ever made.
Reply ID 81749
I wouldn't expect some of the teachers to know all the pupils. Some teachers only teach a specialist subject or only to certain age groups and therefore do not come into contact with a large percentage of the pupils
Reply ID 81750
Very interesting. never thought of Sele actually. More thoughts on Sele welcome.....
Reply ID 81756
quote:With number of pupils they have at Simon Balle it is understandable that the teachers don't know every pupil I know, but IMHO I feel that it is an issue. I know all the teachers at Sele know all the pupils, whether they teach them or not, it is one of the benefits of going to a smaller school.
Originally posted by dutch knight
I wouldn't expect some of the teachers to know all the pupils. Some teachers only teach a specialist subject or only to certain age groups and therefore do not come into contact with a large percentage of the pupils
Reply ID 81757
quote:As you will probably have gathered I can't praise it highly enough. My daughter had a hard time at her primary school, she never really fitted in and had a lot of trouble with bullying. I can honestly say that within the first six weeks she was at Sele she was more settled that in the six years she spent at her primary school, turned her around completely. The staff there are fantastic, very caring and dedicated. The communication to the parents cannot be faulted, as soon as there looks like there might be a problem they let you know and they are also quick with praise when things go well. They are very hot on respect and give as much respect to their pupils as they expect from them. Having said that it is done in a very friendly manner. We will be going through the choosing process this year for my son, needles to say it will be our first choice for him. Many people do dismiss Sele but usually because they they don't know it, they think it for the less academically inclined which totally untrue. Once again I would advise that you look around all the schools and see which your daughter feels is the one for her, at the end of the day children do best where they are happiest IMHO.
Originally posted by Rosalind Gray
Very interesting. never thought of Sele actually. More thoughts on Sele welcome.....
Reply ID 81758
It is too long ago that I went to Presdales to really be relevant with current standards of teaching etc BUT I would say do consider carefully if an all girls/ all boys is right for the child in question. I feel I would have been better if I had gone to a mixed one. Whenever I have been to Sele either for work or in relation to my niece who is a very happy pupil there ( Gemipicorn's daughter), as has been said before everyone is always very helpful and friendly knows what's going on and all the teachers know all the pupils by name. The pupils also seem to be more curteous than at some others I have been to ................but I may be biased on that!
Reply ID 81759
My son attends RH but we moved from Wareside to Hertford last Summer and onto the Sele Farm as the location perfectly suited us (school for son, trains for me and Other Half works in Stevenage). My biggest fear on moving onto Sele Farm was whether my son would get any bullying because he went to RH and I thought most neighbours children would attend Sele but I have to say, we have not had one issue at all. The kids all seem to mix and where they attend school appears to be completely irrelevant. I think this speaks volumes about (both) the schools attitudes and how they teach the children respect for others and communities. I am very happy with my son at RH but if I wanted to move him, Sele would most definitely be on my list.
Reply ID 81776
Another vote for Sele. Smaller than SB, not single sex (why deprive a child of an early understanding of half the population?), inclusive of varied aptitudes and uses limited resources to provide a disproportionate range of activities. SB is very good if your child is slightly above average and self sufficient.
Reply ID 81803
quote:Grey children - Not very academic, They don't stand out because of negative behaviour or because of some extreme talent. They just seem to blend into the background. Sad but true.
Originally posted by Frenchie
"Grey children" ?
Reply ID 81805
Have a really good look around all of them and then go with your gut instincts. Visit in year 5 and again in year 6 (especially for Presdales where you get no "thinking" time before you have to put in your choices). We asked each other which school we would rather teach/ work in for the next 8 years and the choice was clear for us - we chose Simon Balle. All of the schools we saw (RH, SB and S) had good points but at the end of the day we chose SB because - 1. We preferred mixed schools 2. Sele had great provision for children who need extra help but not a lot for the academically able. If you are academically able, you can be top of the class by yourself there but miss out on the challenge of working with a larger group of able kids. 3. Our children play musical instruments and SB is fantastic for them. None of the others came close in matching the department. Good luck
Reply ID 81807
quote:I totally agree with you Newgirl on your advice to go with your instinct and choose which suits your child and glad that SB suits your children so well. Your point about Presdales "short thinking time" is also very well made and like you we have looked at the school with our children in year 5 to take the scarey factor out of it for them and give then 12 months to get used to the idea. However I must TOTALLY disagree with what you have said about Sele. My daughter is very academically able as are most of her friends, they are all inspired and challanged to work to their full capacity. It is exactly that sort of unfounded comment that misinforms people about what Sele is really like, leading them to judge it based on rumour.
Originally posted by newgirl
2. Sele had great provision for children who need extra help but not a lot for the academically able. If you are academically able, you can be top of the class by yourself there but miss out on the challenge of working with a larger group of able kids.
Reply ID 81808
Thanks for all these comments so far, really interesting. I think we'll have to visit them all and get a feel for each. I get the feeling that we can't go horribly wrong with any of them. Pretty lucky area aren't we? (smugly thanking lucky stars). I was worried about bullying/bitchiness at Presdales after having heard one or two unhappy parents talk about their daughters' experiences there. No one mentioned that so far here tho. Also I wonder if girls at all girl schools get a bit competitive with each other (in a clothes and hair kind of way) and do they get a bit 'strange' about boys after a few years of not interacting every day? Don't shoot me down, just a question. Academic progress is important but so are the social aspects of school, wouldn't you agree? The size of Simon Balle doesn't worry me at all, nothing wrong with teachers not knowing every pupil. At primary school that community feel is nice where everyone knows everyone but I think my kids will be more than happy to leave 'the village' concept behind when they're 11. And large hopefully means good facilities/clubs? Sele - still not too convinced that my kids would be academically challenged enough there. Also doesn't its location/catchment area give it a socially biased intake? Just looking to be informed here..
Reply ID 81811
quote:Thats fine you need your children to go to a school you and they are happy with but can you clarify what you mean by socially biased intake.
Originally posted by Rosalind Gray
Sele - still not too convinced that my kids would be academically challenged enough there. Also doesn't its location/catchment area give it a socially biased intake? Just looking to be informed here..
Reply ID 81812
No offence intended here at all but Based on comments above, can we expect Sele's tally of GCSE results to dramatically rise in the next year or two then? There are great things about Sele but academic achievement across the board is not one of them. You might think if your child is clever, they will be ok anywhere, but who knows what they could achieve with a class full of other kids all seeking the challenge and competition? Also, there seems to be a lot more group and team working going on in secondary schools nowadays and children often end up working in small groups to complete projects. I know its all part of the learning process but that can be extremely frustrating for able kids unless there are enough kids to group together similar levels of ability and enthusiasm. I have to say that the thing which really brought this home to me was the display in the English department at Sele about how they aim to have some percentage of the kids achieving SAT level 5 by the end of year 8. A large number of children in Hertford primary schools are already achieving this when you look round in year 5 ! On the other hand, the kids I met there were friendly and well behaved (though I don't suppose any school puts its rogues on door duty [;)]). You need to match the school with the child definitely.
Reply ID 81814
Our daughter will be starting at Presdales this September. It was our first choice. For us the modern language teaching is very important and the range of options available is impressive (something a certain local private school should take notice of). Interestingly the maths/science departments push extra hard to do well also.The final factor for us was the self confidence of the girls we had met from there. The single sex question is, I think something of a red herring. Girls can be bitchy in mixed schools also and I don't read any concerns for half the boys in town going to a single sex school.
Reply ID 81815
quote:It may be true that Sele does not have as high a number of GCSE results than the other schools and if that is anyone's main criteria for comparison then it understandable why people stick to their preconception's of Sele. There are a number of reasons for their league table results including the size of the school and the range of abilities of the pupils they cater for. However just because they do well with children who are less "academically able" does not mean they do not push the more academically inclined pupils. Personally I do not use the league tables as a basis for comparison as they only tell half the story. To me it's not so much about how many children get how many grades compared to other schools, it much more about the grades each child gets against what they were predicted to get, ie how much of their own potential they have tapped. We are very happy with the decision we made. Rather than thinking she would do well anywhere, our main consideration was to choose a school that would not only challenge her but where she would be happy. As I have said before children do best where they are happiest.
Originally posted by newgirl
No offence intended here at all but Based on comments above, can we expect Sele's tally of GCSE results to dramatically rise in the next year or two then? There are great things about Sele but academic achievement across the board is not one of them. You might think if your child is clever, they will be OK anywhere, but there is no saying what they would achieve with a class full of other kids all seeking the challenge and competition. I have to say that the thing which really brought this home to me was the display in the English department at Sele about how they aim to have some percentage of the kids achieving SAT level 5 by the end of year 8. A large number of children in Hertford primary schools are already achieving this when you look round in year 5 ! On the other hand, the kids I met there were friendly and well behaved (though I don't suppose any school puts its rogues on door duty [;)]). You need to match the school with the child definitely.
Reply ID 81816
Shame no-one has invented a foolproof way of matching a child to a school but, until they do, I have to base my decisions on published information (Ofsted and league tables) and whatever I can glean from the two hours spent in each school in years 5 and 6. The good news is that we do have a real choice here and its all about what is the best rather than which is the least worst. Some of my Haringey friends had to resort to moving house or remortgaging to pay private fees. They were very envious of my choice "predicament". [^]
Reply ID 81817
That is very true we are very lucky that we have a choice of good schools, I have a friend in Essex who had a similar problem and paid for private education until a place was found for her son.