80% bursary at Godolphin & Latymer or Tiffins girls school?

I know, us too! It was v weird getting the offer through and thinking 'well, we don't want it'.

Congratulations to your daughter. May she have a happy time at school! And both of them have done so well to get a place - very stiff competition and it is far from easy.

Hope your girl is very happy - mine is!

We did too, Piggy. We are going with St Paul's, though.

How did it all go with Tiffin Piggy456??

We were once shown around a school by a girl who when DH asked what her experience had been said, “I don’t know why they asked me to show people around. I have been really unhappy. I have clinical depression and I’m on medication. Some of the girls have been horrible to me but some have been ok.”

We always ask, “what have you liked best? What could have been better?” Of course I suspect most kids are wise enough to pick something not too bad unlike the poor girl above.

Also that she had had trouble with friendship groups in her class that she was in the whole of her first and second year and had all her classes with. Think that is quite a common issue that girls have generally, TBQH, whichever school they're at!!

Kiko is a make-up shop. Not particularly expensive. Italian brand, fairly new to UK. Popular at the moment.

Letbygones-she said the sport was stronger than the music although that seemed to be changing with a new head of music. Also that she had had trouble with friendship groups in her class that she was in the whole of her first and second year and had all her classes with. She said it had resolved since then but it had been tough to be stuck in that class

Princess - what was her answer?!

Piggy- ‘what questions do we ask on tours’- today we went back to g and l on a decider tour- my q’s were all surpassed by this amazing dad who asked the year 11 girl to sit down briefly with the 5 of us on the tour (3adults and 2 kids) and give us as honestly as possible the things that she wished could have been better at the school. He asked so politely and calmly that she gave us a straight answer. After a gazillion tours where all pupils tell you the school is great/ no bullying/ everyone loves it etc etc we finally got a fantastic open answer to a q.
I ask all the usual normally- pastoral care, streaming subjects, how many per class/how long are they in same class/ how much homework/ mobile phone policy/ drus policy/ what languages. Sports for the less sporty kids. Anyhow, all beaten hands down by the dad today. Well done him.

Piggy Can your DD do a taster day at school? I can’t comment on the particular schools but thought I could chip in with some experience of state and Indy in my family.

Things the Indy does better in our experience:

Better food, more of it, better organised lunch times with sittings and staff eating in dining room.

Better healthcare, nurses fantastic at assessing and treating minor ailments (maybe because it’s boarding and day?). Local state can’t give a paracetamol.

Calmer. Calmer in class. Smaller school with more quiet spaces and calm activities at break and lunch (may not matter to your DD but great for my DC).

Better singing and music. The state school has great music groups too but relies more on teaching arranged by parents I think.

Exercise and sport- much more on offer for everyone and just more PE in the timetable.

Can teach off national curriculum.

Homework better planned and teachers reply to emails from DC if clarification needed.

Fewer supply teachers.

Loads of high quality clubs and activities. We are spending much less money on extracurricular stuff for DC in Indy than we did on DC in state. You may find you will claw back some of the 5k in doing less.

My nephews are at SS grammer my SIL gets frustrated that they feel they are bad at subjects that they aren’t best at when actually they are good.

Does the bursary cover trips? We told our DS that he couldn’t go on expensive trips. He looked at website and noticed that few people go on the exotic trips. We just couldn’t afford expensive trips on top of fees whereas the DC that went to state did do school skiing etc. So far he doesn’t mind and there are plenty of families that have same approach as us.

Oh if you are H&F I’d go G&L all the way. Girls do go there from all over but there is a concentration around W London. Local friends are so important. I didn’t have that at G&L because my commute was so long. It was definitely an issue - no local friends when you want to meet up at the weekend. Particularly as you get older and more independent.

Potentially freeing up a place

If you're based in H&F, OP, I would agree that G&L would be the better option. I don't think the journey to Tiffin Girls would be very easy at all in comparison. Plus you would be freeing up a super-selective place for a girl who hasn't got the luxury of a private school bursary .

I would lean towards G&L in your shoes because of the ease of the school run, and therefore the greater potential to loaf with your mates on a journey home you have plenty of time for. Even if that loafing is in Kng Street (though it's a very good Primark, and there's a Kiko)

Sorry! I do think there are nice bits of Hammersmith! But King Street is not one of them.

I am not going to be choosing based on coolness either.

@Heliophilous you have successfully offended all of Hammersmith with your comparison to Hounslow . We definitely won't choose a school on whether the high street is "cool" or "buzzy" but based instead on commute times and how much we like the school. I'm obviously biased towards my borough .