Chesham Grammar - anyone?

[haveagoharibo]

Please can anyone with any experience of Chesham Grammar tell me how they find this school.
Is the teaching good? How is the behaviour of the children?
We had a look around and liked the school and feel it would be a good fit for our daughter (she is bookish and shy), but would like an insiders view.

[MillyMollyMama]

If you are a Bucks residents, you will not have a wide choice of grammar schools and this is probably the only co-ed one. I know several young people that went there and were perfectly happy but not the brightest in the school. It used to be a bit less "academic" than the schools in Amersham/Little Chalfont but obviously it is high achieving. Most grammar schools don't have many challenging pupils and you would expect good teaching, as it is a grammar school with a reputation to maintain. I am sure other posters will sing its praises shortly.

[haveagoharibo]

Thanks MillyMollyMama, glad the children you know who went there were happy with the school.
Anyone else have experience of the school?

[notquiteruralbliss]

It's OK - It is a bit rigid in its approach and over focused on exam results but my DCs have been reasonably happy there and some of the teaching is really good. If you live in the catchment and want a mixed grammar, it is the only option anyway.

There has been a lot of unrest this year following a decision to cut drama and tech subjects at A level which was announced very late in the year and an unusually large number of teachers left at the end of the year (which may or may not have been connected). I am not sure what is happening longer term but it is sad to see a narrowing of the curriculum.

I would say that all the local grammars are much of a muchness these days. A bit rigid but very good at getting good results. From what I've seen they are great for for bright, straight down the line children but less sure what to do with those that don't quite fit. Chesham used to be seen as the more relaxed option, but I wouldn't say that was the case these days.

[haveagoharibo]

Thanks itsnotquiteruralbliss, that's very interesting. How have you found pastoral care in the school and do you think discipline is good in the school?

[notquiteruralbliss]

Pastoral care seems fine. They have a house system with mixed age forms which seems to work well. The kids are generally pretty motivated and well taught. Relationships with staff seem good on the whole, despite some petty rules. Overall I'd say it was a good school. Certainly on a par with the other local grammars.

[notquiteruralbliss]

Oh and meant to say, if (given your questions about behaviour and pastoral care) if you are worried about bullying, I wouldn't. From what I have observed, one of the really good things about the school is that bullying or picking on kids because they are different isn't tolerated. If they see any of the younger ones being bullied or teased, the older kids will wade in and sort it out long before the teachers have to get involved.

[MillyMollyMama]

Chesham Grammar is a very good school, but academically it is not on a par with Dr Challoner's High School. Dr Challoner's A level results, as given in the performance tables on the Government's web site, are noticeably better with pupils attaining higher grades overall. Progress is not as good at Chesham either. It used to be the case that the Amersham grammar schools are full after the allocation of pupils after the 11+ results so Chesham tended to take the children successful at appeal - my neighbour's children. It is the case that more parents now choose Chesham as their first choice but years ago the brightest Chesham children went to Dr Challoner's Boy/Girls.

[notquiteruralbliss]

I'd agree with MillyMolyMama re grades at DCHS being a bit higher overall and re Chesham taking more children on appeal. It also takes in a significant number in year 8 post 12 plus.

It is (by most standards) a very good school. I think it is unfortunate that it is becoming more like the other grammars, and starting to focus a lot on league tables. But that might explain its increased popularity.

The problem with Bucks is that (unless you live on the border of another county and have access to a proper comprehensive like Lord Williams in Thame) there is no real choice in schools.

[haveagoharibo]

Thank you very much itsnotquiteruralbliss and MillyMollyMama. I think it will be a good fit for my dd. I am not too fussed about schools such as DCHS being higher in the league tables. I do want a friendly school and I am very pleased to hear that bullying is not tolerated at Chesham as that is important too. I really liked the vertical tutoring system. Obviously narrowing of the curriculum is not great, unfortunately schools do seem league table driven these days. Many thanks again.