Wallington County Grammar School (WCGS)

yearofthedragon I'm really sorry your son had a bad experience at Wallington, having a son that attends the school I'd strongly diagree with your assertion that it doesn't produce boys who have integrity. The school isn't without fault but the integrity comment is a huge generalisation. Also I'd have disagree with your view that the staff aren't prepared to offer help outside of school hours- we don't have the income to afford tuition and there've been teachers that kindly provided my son with a lot of extra help outside of school hours, which was invaluable, but not something we had a right to expect or that they had any obligation to provide.

Yes I know as I said we did apply there. I’ll guess everyone knew what I meant anyway but for the benefit of doubt i’ll re-phrase that to ‘unless the non grammar state option is awful’. Hope that clears up any confusion!

unless the state option is awful.

Whether it is worth travelling half way round Greater London to get to is one issue - but WCGS is a state school, just like the OP's local comprehensive.

No I 100% would not do it, not unless the state option is awful. I live around 15mins from there drive, but for me children to get there in rush hour traffic / buses / cancelled trains you’re talking 60mins at least.
My son didn’t pass the second test for Wallington boys / Wilson’s. He wasn’t tutored. He sits his GCSE’s next summer and is currently predicted 8’s across the board (possible 9’s depending how others do). A friend’s son got into Wilson’s and he personally didn’t like it, she’s been trying unsuccessfully to get her son into my sons school, he would have got in on catchment but there were no places. She’s not going down the grammar route for her younger children.
Yes he / she may commute in the future but don’t make them start at 11. How will they socialise with school friends when they live miles away. I think there should be a catchment if 10 miles or less as it’s not fair that kids spend so long commuting. Grammar schools aren’t the only way to good GCSE’s

Oh, do you have a younger sibling to consider? In terms of back-up comprehensive options, Wallington or Carshalton Beeches might not be the best option. Carshalton, Sutton of Cheam will have better catchments.

@Auar good luck with the move. The areas near the school are very nice places to live.

@Auar it's brilliant that your son was offered a place at a highly competitive grammar school and you should be proud. However, with the support and love of his clearly loving parents he will achieve great things wherever he attends. If he is self-driven, he will achieve the best he can anywhere. Just because a place is hard to gain a place, doesn't mean it is the best. I can speak from experience of WCGS - the school does not tackle bullying at all - that is a huge problem in the school; it relies on parents providing private lessons to top up learning; and the majority of lesson time is lectures from old-school teachers - they don't teach - they also love "flip learning" and they have no "expectation that any teacher should teach outside lesson time" . It has a very poor reputation locally. Anything it does achieve, is mainly down to the fact that it has very active parents driving their child's education. It definitely doesn't produce boys with integrity and if they do have it, there is an element of fear if anyone speak out. I would not want any good child to go there. Please feel free to message me. I don't know the other school your son has the chance to go to, but I do know he will thrive there. My child attended a large non-selective school after leaving WCGS mid-year due to the bullying atmosphere and said there were far more intelligent people (academically and socially) at the non-selective. Quite telling really. The real problem now with grammar schools is the expectation of private tuition. My child said that teachers at the huge comprehensive gave hours of their time to any child that wanted to learn. At WCGS that was hugely frowned upon and as a student, unable to access. My child was called "cheeky" for trying to get "free" lessons . The main reason for removing my child though, was the bullying atmosphere. It was very definitely tolerated.

@Auar good luck with everything including a move.

That sounds sensible and what I know a lot of people do (as I said DS and DD both have two friends in there year who moved due to the older siblings getting into Nonsuch and Sutton Grammar) if you can commute into London it makes sense

Doing the journey a couple of times (and possibly not at rush hour), is not the same as the reality of doing it routinely, with all the transport travel hiccups that will be thrown up.

@Auar did you make your decision?

My son was on the waiting list for one of the Surrey grammars, he got offered a place on the second day of 1st term when a boy who had been commuting in from Virginia Waters pulled out after just one day at school.

DD's at WHSG and has just finished year 7. Of the girls in her form, one commutes from Hampton Court area every day, a couple of others from Richmond/Twickenham. Most others from Sutton and Croydon boroughs. The ones who travel furthest don't do any extra-curriculars after school, whereas DD (who has a 10 minute walk to get there) has been doing 4 after school clubs a week all year without any impact on school work.

Wally Boys seems to get about 90 minutes homework a night, btw, judging by what friends with boys finishing year 7 have said. So you need to bear that in mind when looking at the commute times.

FWIW, I wouldn't even consider it. We discounted Nonsuch, let alone Tiffin, based on commute times, and we live in the same borough :o

The irony is that many of the DC in grammar schools continue to be tutored, so their results aren't just the product of a superior (or perceived to be) super-selective grammar school education, or inherent intelligence but also due to continued parental investment by parents in their DC.

“Apparently he was often late though.”

And how stressful is that for a child?

Stress, commuting exhaustion , lack of social and extra curricular opportunities, long days away from home : how does all that support academic achievement?

OP, friends become so important to young teens.

However will he socialise if he lives 1.5 hours or more away from his school friends?

A few from my area of S London go to Sutton Grammars: they meet up and travel together.

Your boy would be on his own, on packed tubes and trains, in the dark for 2/3 of the school year for 3 hours a day.

What on Earth is wrong with the great comprehensive school nearby that you would subject him to this? Comprehensives have highly academic top sets, you know!

Either send him locally or if the Grammar School Bug has such a hold over you, put your money where your mouth is and move nearby.

DC1 said they had one pupil from West Hampstead in their year group (otherwise all localish) but looking at the map that would be a more straightforward journey - on Thameslink - than from Harrow. Apparently he was often late though.

I also think that the grammars are hot on parent involvement. The further away a family lives the less likely they are to get involved in the school community and giving back.

Its interesting because the boys is very different to the girls. Girls have far less out of catchment places (you have to include local boroughs as Nonsuch is on the border)

Nonsuch top 85, 110 catchment then 15 sutton

Wally Girls top 100 then 110 catchment

Boys though is interesting Wally Boys has a top 110 then just 15 catchment places

Wilsons is just in rank order until the end where living near helps

Sutton Grammar is 75 catchment 60 any

So its all different - Wilsons could have a lot out of catchment compared with the others

Oh and several girls on the X26 coming from Hounslow. That bus runs only twice per hour so I doubt more than 10 girls in total attend from that far away.

I also know a number of families that moved into the area when children were in Years 3-5 with the view to applying for the grammars.

I’d say most children in the Sutton grammars are local, ie not too far from their chosen school. But that includes Croydon children at WCGS or Wilson’s or Kingston or Epsom children at Nonsuch (all commutable on a short bus journey). There are some families that apply from very far away and then move into the area (I’ve met several of those). The furthest away children that I’ve come across were from zones 2-3 SW London but then it’s an easy train journey for them.

And more to the point, how many neither come from Sutton nor the neighbouring boroughs.

It would be interesting to know what % of the Sutton grammars' pupils live in-borough.

Kingston (Tiffins) now pretty much does have a catchment area. For girls it’s postcode and boys it’s distance (I think)

Sutton are also now top 85 then next 100 in catchment so moving more towards living near. I suspect it may shrink in the future as sutton is very short of school places

Toomanycats yes very happy, and also for my far less industrious (so lower set) but bright DS. And Ds2 hoping to go next year cos of all the sport. Whilst their school is successful at sorry they also run non selective sports clubs, knowing several children at grammars extra curricular sport is only for those who are able yet if you are able but don't want to join in you are made to do it anyway.

And the grammars in question no doubt push for academic continuation at university, little no talk of alternatives you would be expected to leave at 16.

There is an important distinction between these grammars that admit from far and wide outside of LA and are highly highly academic and competitive (and cut-throat, no qualms about chucking you it if standards decline as plenty others to take your place) and those in counties that use the grammar system. Have experience of afew grammars in coastal Kent which Annie's just from catchment and effort still selective and achieving good results seem far more holistic that Sutton /Bromley/Kingston ones. So please don't think I'm tarring all grammars