Harris Westminster Opinions ?

Hi guys!

I study at Harris Westminster Sixth Form. The school is not a place of making students depressed. That's the first thing I would say. They offer workshops for people who are stressed and you have form three times a week, and you literally discuss half the time how to manage your time and all that. In addition to this, every Year 12 student at HWSF gets a Year 13 parent. They are students who help you get through the school work because they know how hard it can be. Finally, we have an amazing staff who sends out emails to every student every so often to encourage students to be positive at all times. They give numerous tips on how to relax when you have too much work load etc.

tbh, if a sixth form college is not pressuring their students to some extent, then you will never achieve your As and A*s.

1) The workshops only started recently.
2) It’s not the “amazing staff” that sends emails, it’s only Ms White who only sends them
3) We only met up with our year 13s twice this year
4) I don’t think it’s fair to say that the school’s not got elements of depression, I’ve spoken to a few year 13s when it comes to dropping a subject, some of them actually put in the work and are on like As but want to drop a subject to focus of the rest to bring them up to A*, but of course the school won’t let them until it gets to the point where they’re bringing in doctor’s notes and letting the water works flow?
5) Don’t catfish these prospectus students and say that literally all you do in tutor time is talk about how to manage your time, it’s not all that.

So can I ask how tutor time is spent?

1) The workshops only started recently.
2) It’s not the “amazing staff” that sends emails, it’s only Ms White who only sends them
3) We only met up with our year 13s twice this year
4) I don’t think it’s fair to say that the school’s not got elements of depression, I’ve spoken to a few year 13s when it comes to dropping a subject, some of them actually put in the work and are on like As but want to drop a subject to focus of the rest to bring them up to A*, but of course the school won’t let them until it gets to the point where they’re bringing in doctor’s notes and letting the water works flow?
5) Don’t catfish these prospectus students and say that literally all you do in tutor time is talk about how to manage your time, it’s not all that.

So overall do you like the school / would you recommend it ?

If you can firm the system, I would recommend it since the school does make your ucas look good and has a quite a bit to offer - societies, connections and such. There’s a lot of room for improvement though.
But it’s just that I’m sick and tired of people building up this image that the school is heaven, when quite frankly, there’s a lot of unnecessary pressure and it’s overhyped - there’s a reason why people are leaving bad reviews of the school and I think that putting the blame on the students that aren’t working hard enough is unfair because there are students that actually put in work and dedicate their time but are still put down by the school. Imagine you in that position but your claims are your own “fault” since apparently your not working hard enough.
I do like SOME teachers, SOME of them are good and are passionate about what they do and know what they’re talking about and come from prestigious universities and there’s a lot of time for you to go seek out guidance when you’re stuck.

I suppose that not every school is perfect. Why do you think the school makes everyone do 4 A Levels?

Well you can still drop an A-level but one of the reasons why they don’t allow it is because it gives the student another shot of getting a good grade even though you might be flopping your other subjects.
4 A*s look better than 3, it’s all for the stats, which is also why they don’t let students drop when they’re predicted As.

If you can firm the system, I would recommend it since the school does make your ucas look good and has a quite a bit to offer - societies, connections and such. There’s a lot of room for improvement though.
But it’s just that I’m sick and tired of people building up this image that the school is heaven, when quite frankly, there’s a lot of unnecessary pressure and it’s overhyped - there’s a reason why people are leaving bad reviews of the school and I think that putting the blame on the students that aren’t working hard enough is unfair because there are students that actually put in work and dedicate their time but are still put down by the school. Imagine you in that position but your claims are your own “fault” since apparently your not working hard enough.
I do like SOME teachers, SOME of them are good and are passionate about what they do and know what they’re talking about and come from prestigious universities and there’s a lot of time for you to go seek out guidance when you’re stuck.

I am in year 12 at harris westminster and can say I wish I had gone to another sixth form. the quality of teaching is quite good but not amazing (depends on the teacher, like everywhere I guess) and if you're a person who is easily overwhelmed by (unnecessary) pressure to do well and a huge workload, it is not the school for you. my whole further maths class is constantly making comments about wanting to drop out and a lot of people i know share these views. However there are upsides to it ie great selection of books in the library, lab talks - though most aren't interesting, teachers who are passionate about their subjects, lots of societies and clubs which my secondary school had none of, and i'd assume there is lots of support for getting into good unis but I can't speak from experience. I feel like I expected a lot more freedom but am basically still in secondary school whereas I have friends who have much more free time which I envy a lot aha (if you're someone who is planning to work during sixth form its virtually impossible to find the time), that only cares about getting good grades from its students. The workload is huge and we have been given questions on our assessments which teachers have admitted they didn't expect any of us to be able to answer (ie in further maths and maths) which i think is a ridiculous way to test students. Though there is support available if you seek it out. Plus we have assessments every half term (my last assessment week was 2 weeks after we got back from the christmas holiday, which may be an upside to some people?). If youre good at handling stress and time management then you'll probably do well. I know I complained a lot but I've just come to realise there is truth to not every student being right for a school. Oh and everyone at the school holds themselves in way too high esteem, it gets a bit irritating sometimes.

I am in year 12 at harris westminster and can say I wish I had gone to another sixth form. the quality of teaching is quite good but not amazing (depends on the teacher, like everywhere I guess) and if you're a person who is easily overwhelmed by (unnecessary) pressure to do well and a huge workload, it is not the school for you. my whole further maths class is constantly making comments about wanting to drop out and a lot of people i know share these views. However there are upsides to it ie great selection of books in the library, lab talks - though most aren't interesting, teachers who are passionate about their subjects, lots of societies and clubs which my secondary school had none of, and i'd assume there is lots of support for getting into good unis but I can't speak from experience. I feel like I expected a lot more freedom but am basically still in secondary school whereas I have friends who have much more free time which I envy a lot aha (if you're someone who is planning to work during sixth form its virtually impossible to find the time), that only cares about getting good grades from its students. The workload is huge and we have been given questions on our assessments which teachers have admitted they didn't expect any of us to be able to answer (ie in further maths and maths) which i think is a ridiculous way to test students. Though there is support available if you seek it out. Plus we have assessments every half term (my last assessment week was 2 weeks after we got back from the christmas holiday, which may be an upside to some people?). If youre good at handling stress and time management then you'll probably do well. I know I complained a lot but I've just come to realise there is truth to not every student being right for a school. Oh and everyone at the school holds themselves in way too high esteem, it gets a bit irritating sometimes.

So if you were predicted AAAE, for example, would they consider letting you drop?

Depends if you fight for it, a lot of students start bunking the lessons for the subject that they want to drop. My year 13 friend started bunking lessons and the teachers supported her dropping but Mr Grant still didn’t allow it.

Yeah I see what you mean the school does seem very prestigious and they make it sound like it's impossible to get in even when their progress 8 score is below average.

But from the open evening, interview and from knowing some people who currently go there the students are really nice /theres a nice vibe from the school because of how friendly the students were on the open evenings , interviews etc.

What subjects do you do ? and also is there a lot of pressure from the teachers/the school on students ( is it a stressful environment )??

( thanks for answering by the way its really helpful )

Ah, the notorious Mr. Grant. I wonder what he's like...

He’s so patronising and will tell you that your own unique way of doing things is wrong, pull out a psychology study from god knows where as “evidence”.
He covered a maths lesson even though he’s a history teacher and spent the whole lesson screeching that music doesn’t help you study.

Loool. How are his assemblies?

Well I zone out during assembly but they’re alright, he doesn’t do many since the assemblies are on rotation

I believe there is at least one on every floor. There was definitely one on my way to the hall, and one on the floor my interview room was on.