Streatham and clapham high school

Please can existing parents of DDs in SCHS advise on their and DDs experiences of this school?
I am looking at schools for my DD for y7 entry in 2017 and SCHS seems to tick a lot of the boxes including its location as it is only 20mins by bus from our home. My DD is in the top set of her prep school and is particularly strong in maths, science and art. SCHS seems to offer generous scholarships (doubt we would qualify for a bursary) so this makes the school seem even more attractive, albeit on paper.

I am particularly interested in the standards of teaching (are teachers engaged and helpful?) and the overall school culture/ environment.
Many thanks in advance

Hi there, been lurking and reading with interest, I will be looking for DD soon. Just to throw another GDST school in, what is the general feeling about Croydon high school?

Noit's - you may call the primary that you describe 'non-selective', I don't believe that there is a selective primary unless you are referring to a prep school.
If you are referring to a state primary then it sounds 'self selective' and clearly a privileged intake. My daughters primary was 3 form entry and she was the only one applying for independant schools, sounds like a different world to me!!!

Absolutely sure .. These were academic scholarships and they weren't just 10% either - quite a bit more than that. Some of the girls also got offered scholarships at schools generally perceived to be more academic but not all. The primary in question is non-selective and it wasn't just this particular year group it happened in either.

As I said, the girls dd knows who've gone there are very happy but they were not in the top half of the cohort. So I'd agree that it would be a strange decision to turn down a place at somewhere like SPGS as there just wouldn't be a large enough group of similar ability...

I don't think that's ever been literally true and it really doesn't even work as a rule of thumb now.

Plenty of good candidates offered fee places at all their choices, and conversely some girls getting multiple scholarships.

Atmosphere, ethos and logistics all matter too. SCHS has always struck me as warm, friendly and with staff who really know their pupils. Results seem to be on the up. But that's true of all London schools - a result of more selective intake (as they can be ever pickier as the number of children in London rises, but the number of private school places doesn't keep in step) rather than anything the school is doing differently.

A few years back, the rule of thumb used to be a regular fee place at JAGS/Alleyn'/G&L=scholarship at S&C/Emanuel

I agree it's not typical, but a) it could be just that particular year; b) they are probably rarely taken up so they are over offering in the hope of attracting at least 1 or 2 from a full fees place at a first tier school?

I would imagine that they offer at least 30 (probably more) scholarships across all disciplines (we are talking 10%+ not 30-50% of which there would be fewer) so 10 going to a particularly academic year in a particular school where almost all girls sat the S&C exam is possible.

But probably not a regular occurrence.

I'm just surprised that for a school that probably has no more than about 10 or so scholars (all disciplines) per cohort offers nearly all of them to pupils at one school.

Even allowing for normal over-offering, I suspect that's not typical.

This could easily be 10 scholarships - I think I know the local school in question. They also got several scholarships to Alleyn's including several Saddler Scholarships (of which only 6 are awarded to the year group, I think). Our school also gets regular scholarships to Streatham and Clapham and Emanuel - at least 3-5, including 30-50% at SCHS and Dacre at Emanuel. Not once a Streatham and Clapham Scholarship has been taken up - girls invariably go for a full fee place at JAGS or Alleyn's. Emanuel scholarships have been taken up (although not all). So scenario described by noitsnotteatimeyet is totally feasible.

That is not to say that Streatham and Clapham is not a good choice, but I have never heard about it being first choice for an academic girl (the kind who'd have JAGS or WHS or Putney as first choice). For this type of profile, it's a back up. For an academically bright girl but not in top 10-15% (so top 25-40%), it is indeed often a first choice because JAGS is very aspirational (even on a good day). For an average girl, it used to be a safe bet, but not any more.

The demand for private day school place is growing across London so the absolute standard is growing everywhere including Emanuel and Streatham & Clapham so the GCSE grades are likely to go up.

However, if a girl is holding an offer from SPGS and JAGS and choosing S&C is a weird one for me - if she is of SPGS calibre she simply won't have enough peers/stimulation, even in the top set and will quite possible become bored quite quickly.

As well as academic scholarships, they have awards for music, art, drama and sport. I doubt they have 10 every year, though I suppose they might if there were two for each type. And of course it might look a bit higher if you count ones which were re-offered if original girl turned it down (normal practice) or if they risk over-offering.

I'm surprised that so many would go to one school though.

Really, noitsnotteatimeyet? 10 scholarships offered to girls from one school? Blimey! Are you sure some weren't bursaries? Hefty scholarships are only awarded to those very talented girls who would struggle to pay the fees with the usual 10-20% (usually in conjunction with a means tested bursary to top that up). With regards to being easier to get in to, anywhere is compared to JAGS and Alleyn's but I wouldn't count on the ease anymore. I know of siblings being turned away last year.

mummyinatizz - don't panic! The school is approachable and welcoming but worth checking when their cut-off is in terms of numbers as like Emanuel, they have had to implement the guillotine! Not sure if it's been oiled for this year yet....

SCHS was oversubscribed for 2015 admissions (in the sense that it was turning down pupils that would previously have found offers well within their reach).

Also, it has a guillotine on applications (about 300 or 350?) but has never had to use it in previous years.

Anyone known if it has been used this year?

It is still much easier to get into than other local schools though - at dd's primary it was the school of choice for the less academic girls and the back up for the more academic. All the girls in her year got offers - around 10 from her school got scholarships, some pretty hefty, but rather tellingly none of them was taken up, with several families choosing full-fees places elsewhere.

Yes it's definitely improving but it'll be a long time before it's a destination school so I don't think there's any need to panic just yet. The girls dd knows who've gone there have all been very happy though so if you're after a smaller, quieter school it would be a good choice

thanks 2soups, that has put the frighteners on me and made me fill in the form quick!

Nice post 2Soups!

Oh my. Interesting reading. Long after the thread started...! SCHS is now overly subscribed with many panicking about whether their bright little ladies will make the cut and be offered a place. No school is absolutely perfect, even when you're paying good money in fees; there will always be a quibble somewhere along the line. However, generally speaking SCHS is a lovely, friendly school which turns out lovely, well adjusted, articulate and bright young ladies. The new (ish) head is turning the place around: oil tanker springs to mind but he's "on it". 3 or so years in... he may travel a lot but he is definitely creating his legacy and he upped the ante on requirements to get into the school the minute he started. No longer is it the back-up school and hasn't been for a few years. DD had 5 offers including the competitive Dulwich schools and we chose SCHS for its less hothouse approach and far fewer alpha females (dd bright and extremely conscientious but shy). Furthermore, I've yet to meet a SCHS older girl who I found to be anything less than delightful, polite, confident yet modest.

(Pretty much all schools, independent or state, are guilty of focusing more on the überly brightest stars or those with SEN so the upper middle - lower middle, which forms the majority, can be left to trundle along wherever but this is a different debate!)

Overall, SCHS is a great and solid choice. It is a happy place - I felt it was like something from a fairytale when I first went a few years back as everyone was so smiley! A bright girl will do well there. Watch the grades and leavers' destinations over the next few years as Sachania's selections start coming through..... Those so quick to put SCHS down may eat their mortar boards.

You actually think a school deliberately holds children back so that they don't pass the 11+?

I have two dd attending GDST schools and they have done since reception and I think you will find that in the junior school they very much allow the girls to coast and they do not push them at all. IMO its so they don't lose the girls to other schools (because unless you tutor them they wont be able to pass the 11+) However when the girls go onto the senior school you will find that the girls are really pushed as they have GCSE results to maintain. Its not ideal but having been through this twice I have seen the same pattern across the schools.

I think you get posters who say positive and negative things about the school on every thread like this. That's their value.

(And I have seen ones which really do look like concerted PR from people associated with the school).

The description of what was said by lower school parents is exactly how it was described to me. And NC, if it makes you identifiable, is normal.

Not all schools will suit every girl. If this was your fallback school and you're not wild about it, then dealing with the negative is better done early on.

It is likely that this will become a more sought after school if the head proves over time to be as good in practice as he is in presentation.

This thread caught my eye as I have a friend with a dd at the school - and she couldn't have been happier, and her dd has done really, really well in her GCSEs.

I think there is a sound of an axe being ground on this thread, and curious that at least two posters have the same technique of testing a NC with a random 'test' post on an irrelevant random thread.

CarrieJane - Is that your real name? If so, your post is very identifying of you and your DD.

My DD started SCHS Senior School in September and loves it. The school seems well run, the head master is wonderful and all her teachers seem amazing. I can't understand the comments about it being full of average girls who can't get in anywhere else as this really isn't the case at all. My daughter got 6's in her SATs and is around the top half of most of her classes. There are some very bright girls there indeed. Homework is around 1 hour a night which isn't too bad with no holiday homework so far.