leh or spgs?

The leh junior school is very big on taking responsibility for yourself too (don't know about the seniors yet)... From day 1 the girls get themselves around the school for lessons, they have to go to the senior school for music without being reminded, sign up for all the clubs without parental knowledge etc

The new leh head seems amazing, although I can't compare her to the old one.

Sometimes in tutor time thepupils are asked to write down all their activities eg before school practices, lunch time activities (lunch is 75 minutes), after school etc & if it seems too busy a tutor will ask a pupil if she thinks she is taking on too much. Tutor group size is about 11 so they get to know each other quite well.

Thank you WorkingItOut and Eastpoint - sounds really reassuring! I am also on the other SPGS threat and I feel more positive now about the school.

DD also plays 2 instruments, swims, sings, is member of an acting company and loves reading and hanging out with friends, all with a a passion, resisting my attempts to slow her down. I was worried she'd do too much and exhaust herself, but she only seems unhappy when she's NOT doing five things a day, so I just ask her to prioritise (which she does with varying success).

Learning to "work hard play hard" but take responsibility for getting the balance right is something I learned too late in life. What I like most about your posts is the idea (apparently embraced by SPGS) of taking charge and being accountable for one's own choices. Too many schools are so worried about "discipline" and behavior that they take responsibility away from young people. Growing up, however, means (gradually) taking on responsibility for your own actions, weighing up consequences rather than obeying blindly. A good school allows for failure rather than preempting it, whilst also protecting students from harm and guiding them to make sensible choices. Not easy. Glad I can offload some of THAT responsibility to someone else (-:

My dds are similar - one plays two instruments, co-wrote a play, acted in another play, does LAMDA classes, is in a major sports team & plays cricket. The other is doing her grade 8 in an instrument, works on plays, still does 2 ballet classes a week out of school, was a sub-editor on a magazine, helps run a science based lunch time club for younger pupils & volunteers out of school. She has gone to a party tonight but won't be back late as she has to be somewhere at 8 tomorrow morning. My school days at a GDST school were very similar, the activities are too much fun to miss out on.

Oh and she's an avid reader so am sure she read lots too.

But think there will be very little difference amongst the schools you list to be fair - all have a work hard play hard ethos!

Hi intrepid just saw your message. There is another thread on SPGS at the moment which might be helpful too. Let's make no bones about it there is I think more homework than my DDs friends at other schools seemed to get - and most evenings she will spend a couple of hours on it whereas some of her friends were getting it all done on the bus ride home from their schools.

But to give you a sense of extra curricular feasibility - last term my DD who is quite normal and does what she enjoys (no pushing from us) did the following:

• acted in two plays
• performed in two concerts
• took part in two sports including lots of Saturday fixtures and training
• took grade 8 in one instrument
• studied for a drama qualification
• saw her friends, went to parties, watched a full box set of Downton Abbey, watched her football team play regularly, played with her siblings, painted her nails...

Hi WorkingItOutAsIGo, I'd love to hear more about SPGS! There are so many negative comments but DD and I really liked it on visits and during DD's interview. My main worry is that she'll have so much homework there won't be time for extra-curricular activities and just having fun, reading etc. Myth or truth? Our local alternatives are Godophin and Latymer Upper, plus CLGS (much further but close to my work).

The leadership can change.

I'd go for the one with the easier commute tbh. A clever girl will thrive at either, and come away with strings of top grades. The question is then which will she be happy at, and I'd definitely include length of day (including stresses of travel) in that.

Eastpoint's advice is good but I would add that it is also important to look at the calibre and reputation of the leadership of each school: this will affect its atmosphere and its direction while your DD is a pupil there.

When you get the offer letters let your daughter write a list with the pros & cons for each school & work it out for herself (unless the fees at SPGS are too much of a deciding factor). She is bright & is the one who will be going to the school.

There are negative stories about all the schools but the majority tend to like their own school best. Some teens can have deeply troubled back-stories which are rightly not widely known but this is not the fault of the school or the child.

If your DD likes LEH and its close to you then go for it - apart from anything else I spend a lot of time driving there to collect my DD from all the after school stuff and that will be even greater for a music scholar! The new head is great and the majority of girls are lovely good luck to you both whatever you decide

My DD loves Spgs and has enormous fun there - but if your DD has a gut preference for LEH AND it's closer then it's a no-brainer! We all fret so much about minuscule differences and forget that all these schools are fantastic and will give most children a great education. I don't think the choice matters too much.

Hear hear need more sleep

Enjoying the secondary experience is a key reason I am willing to pay. I don't doubt Dd1 would get great GCSE results in our local outstanding secondary. I did. However it wasn't fun. At all. One hard battle slog.

Schools are also very good at picking girls who will thrive in their particular culture. I recall one absoutely brilliant girl who did not get a place at SPGS. Her parents were livid with the prep, yet seeing her thrive at the top of the year group at a GDST school, I am not sure she really missed out. She was quiet and needed a bit of nurturing. Secondary school is not just about grades but about making good friends and developing self esteem and resilience.

So don't worry too much if your daughter does not get any further. She has done very well to get to interview. Also though SPGS has a good contingent who, say, come in on the tube from Richmond, they are inevitably much more "Chelsea" than LEH. Add in the lack of school uniform and you get some seriously sophisticated and confident girls. (One friend of DDs ended Yr 7 with over 30 pairs of shoes.) This is not a problem if your daughter finds a friendship group she is comfortable with, and she enjoys academic competition. However, as we get towards the end of the process, I am increasingly convinced there are advantages in being part of a wider ability intake, where qudos can be gained from sporting, artistic, and musical ability as well as from academica. Put into context, selective schools in West London are all very good and will get bright students to the right places. Enjoying the secondary experience as well as learning to respect the different abilities of others are also important life skills.

Having said that clearly some of the pressure at SPGS does come from the school. When the GCSE grade deflation first hit schools a couple of years ago (and IGCSEs and private schools were affected too ) SPGS were the only West London indie to insist pupils who missed their As retake them. The other schools trusted to the unis (the top ones to that point had been expecting 10As from pupils at these schools) to understand what had happened, and indeed that has been the case and universities more accepting of inconsistencies.

Completely agree.

Wait until after the interviews and you may find the gut feel has intensified, my DD came away quite sure she preferred LEH over SPGS. Inevitably there will be a little niggle about turning down the name / academic record, I am sure there are deranged parents who would think you were mad. However it is about where you think your child will be happiest and succeed and in that respect both schools offer an environment that will best suit certain personalities (as indeed will most West London private schools), and have pupils who are very happy there and do well. Conversely both schools have problems with some girls who find the pressure of being in very selective schools (though the range will be wider at LEH) and amongst girls who tend to be quite competitive difficult to handle. I'm not convinced the pressure always comes from staff. LEH does have that problem too but perhaps in the new Head leadership in seeking a supportive ethos, the signs are there in actions as well as talk (though the Heads of Year /year groups have always been excellent)

And geographical proximity is definitely an issue too, an hour or more freed up across the day through less traveling is significant in reducing tiredness, having time for other things.

LEH.

I revisited it a couple of years ago, having left many years ago, and was taken around by the last of the teachers who knew me (and she did!) - it was AMAZING. I almost wished I could go back! Just for their music and theatre rooms, tbh.

And as the Sunday Times found recently, SPGS's fees have risen at a faster rate in the last five years than those of any other school in London. That's not much "fun" for parents.

Gohalep, do you know if a music scholarship comes with any obligation, such as participate in ensembles, pick up a new instrument etc

Sounds an easy decision to me!
You would need a strong preference for SPGS imo to overcome gut feel, travel ease, extra fees etc...