Whitgift, Trinity or Emanuel?

@IvyLynn. That’s so lovely to hear, it sounds like your son is really thriving… and happy (which is what would really matter most to me at end of the day). Thank you so much for coming back to share!

@IvyLynn we have the same dilemma at the moment choosing between the two schools and came across your post. Curious to know which way you went in the end?

@NoMoreFries I am not sure your post was a response to mine?
If so, I do not have his CAT score ( what is it? He is i state schools and will do SATA soon- excuse my ignorane!)
WEe applied for grammar scholls and he passed all the Sutton Grammars including Wilsons. So probably VR and NVR are high.
We are not a family of early birds I am afraid and yiur DS souds pretty much like mine... I struggle to get him up and out on time by 8.40am so the idead of a bus at 7.15am is dreaful...but some neighbours do the journey and they adapted to it.
Our local is Dulwich College, but not sure if he will get a place ( 50/50) and academi cscholarshio is more far fetched.
We like Emanuel when we visited though. I just had to narrow down to 4 choices. Journey was easier in terms if transport but ot much less in terms of time. Good luck!!!!

What's your DS's energy levels like? If he's high energy, doesn't need loads of sleep you could go for W.

If he's naturally a bit more lazy and genuinely needs more down-time to process, think, needs more sleep and falls on the lower side of energy, I'd go for the local school E.

Journey times do matter depending on your physicality, stamina etc.

For us DS is lower energy and needs processing, quiet time. We will probably discount W & T for that reason and only apply to E. He needs a shorter journey so as not to become overwhelmed.

And yes although parents evenings are now often online - you do still have to go to things so you'd better also be comfortable with coming home from work, or possibly going straight on from work to an event at the school you have to be at. They don't happen all the time - but I find it annoying! I'm glad my DC that is at secondary - that it's not too far away.

Well done to your DS. I wonder what his CAT scores were like with a flip-like profile like that? It describes my DS very well, he flips all the time. We can't work out whether there's more to him or not. Fingers crossed! Your post gives me hope. :)

Interesed in this thread as my son was called for academic interviews for both T and W ( did ot apply to E). Still waiting to hearf the offers will come through but I am trying to understand more about the schools. Had a good chatwith the TRinity head that we really like. I also like Coed 6th frm at Trinity. Whtgift is slighlty nearer and easier to get too but they are ot trek on the public transport so will ned the school bus. My son loved W as he had an enrichment day instead of the academic interview and that was fun. He si sporty and very academic, outgoing, makes friends easily, state school educated. I am sure both schools are gret but wonder if he will thrive more in one than the other. Fingers crossed we wil get offers!An insights from current parents are very much appreciated!

Hopefully all the schools have good food. Whitgift does put on a good spread on open days and assessment days. But to be honest every day is a good food day. I’ve got no complaints when they provide parents with food on match days. Desserts aren’t bad too!

Re journey: as others said do consider this. My son has a 45 min commute door to door. At the moment he’s enjoying it. He gets on the train with a group of friends and more pile on nearer Croydon. It’s this bit he loves.

He doesn’t love it as much when trains are cancelled after a training session and he’s getting home at 6.30pm though. That’s when he wishes we lived nearer. He’s happy to move as long as a train journey is involved. He likes the social aspect where he’s having fun with friends or doing their homework in the way home.

Also, he’s learnt to navigate his way through Croydon whether by bus or train now. But on most days he’s home by 4.30pm.

My son had a 50 to 60 minute journey to school. He is an adult now and says he would never send his own kids to a school with that commute time. Makes me sad really, it was a lovely school and he did well there. I never realised how much he resented the journey.

DS has been at Whitgift for three and a half years and loves it. He's not particularly sporty or academic; he's very quiet and gentle, and I worried that Whitgift would be too much of an alpha male environment for him. But he fell in love with the place and I have to say it has been great for him. The other boys are kind and friendly and the pastoral care has been brilliant.

Having said that, I would be reluctant to give a kid a long commute. I really think there's a lot to be said for going local.

I meant I agree with Walkingtheplank comments about lunch

I agree with the lunch comments at W . My DS has allergies and is a fussy eater but has never complained about the food and leaves home early in the morning so he can have breakfast there

I'm going to have to disagree on the lunch comment - DS is at Whitgift and boasts about his lunch every day. He is very happy indeed with his lunches.

@IvyLynn, It's a really difficult decision. Did you visit these schools during a normal 'working day'? We found that to be the deal breaker when we chose T after being offered W and a couple others as well.
You really get a feel of the children and see them in their social groups.
We were initially concerned when we heard that lessons at T are only 35 mins long, but this really seems to work and they have a good range of subjects to choose from
My DH trawled through their websites, sporting fixtures, and social media feeds to gain more insight.
Emanuel was boys only around 20 years ago and produced great sporting talent, especially in rowing as previously mentioned.
We found that in the top sports such as rugby T @ W do particularly well, as there is just a wider talent pool to chose from.
My DS has a friend at W and he said that the best food was laid on for the open days and they don't get food like that on regular days

My DS is a sports and academic scholar at Whitgift. He is exceptionally quiet but does very well and is respected for being an introvert. At primary I was constantly told he was too quiet.

Contrary to reputation we have not found that sports is shoved down the boys' throats. Natural talent is always identified.

We turned down a Scholarship at Trinity.

My DS came in one sport and given a scholarship for that sport but they have identified that he is good at others too.

There are so many clubs that all personalities, interests are catered for. Many boys from DS's previous school did choose Trinity because of the supposed better pastoral care and rigorous academics.

But I couldn't be happier with the academics. The work is rigorous and the boys are well supported. He is getting very good grades.

I would go with what your DS wants as he'll be the one that needs to be motivated to go there.

"Don’t they have to travel from Emanuel to sports facilities for lots of sports anyway?"

Nope Emanuel site is 18 acres (big for central London) and most sport is on-site (everything in the sports hall, fives courts and swimming pool, plus Astro and grass pitches for rugby/cricket, some hockey and hard netball courts. Overspill is at Blagdons (20 mins away) and Barnes, which is also where their boathouse is.

They produce national standard players in sport - notably in rowing. I wouldn't write the school off as non-sporty

Seeline, it’s always done in a supportive way and I feel it is only done to extend the boys and avoid complacency. We love Trinity but to shine you have be exceptional. Just being top at whatever primary you are at doesn’t guarantee an easy ride. It’s to the school’s credit but if you son would find being a small fish in a big pond then maybe not the school for him. My DS has a scholarship offer from Kings college Wimbledon so is quite strong on exams etc but finds a lot of the work at Trinity a stretch which is a good thing. If you are able they push you along.

My DS went to Emanuel and did very well there, getting top GCSEs and A levels. Boys from his Prep went to other schools that involved awful journeys, incl. Whitgift and Hampton. In both cases, the Mothers later admitted to me that the journeys were not worth it and their sons grew to loathe the time spent travelling. As it happens, my DS got the best A levels of the 3 of them and had a more enjoyable time, even though theoretically Emanuel is rated ‘‘Lower’ than the others in the London Independent schools pecking order!

Don’t they have to travel from Emanuel to sports facilities for lots of sports anyway? So either way some travel time involved, but I appreciate not quite as regularly. The boys I know at all three of these schools socialise in Clapham / Wandsworth - flip out v popular and compared to the Whitgift centre in Croydon I can see why..!

It's a tough decision. My DS gets two trains to W and gets home at 5 apart from when he has training. In terms of sport I agree with others that in W the A teams are usually filled with scholars or those in academies. Although my eldest had never played rugby and ended up in the A team and stayed there. So they pick out natural talent too. My youngest played club rugby, school football and club cricket and isn't in any of the top teams. However he doesn't mind as the teams are A-E and there is opportunities to move up. Anyway we will all have positive stories about each of the schools and it might be worth you going back round for a look, trying the journeys to the school using public transport and see how you get on.

I have to say I don't agree with wobble about pressure at T. Yes, every boy is encouraged to be the best that he can be, but in all areas. Such academic pressure to constantly push for a higher grade is not something that we have experienced at all. Staff are very supportive, and willing to offer help to individuals when requested. The school is very aware of the need for pastoral care, mental health issues etc. There is emphasis on the whole person, and producing well-rounded individuals.

There are some very bright boys, and some very conscientious boys, who I can imagine put a lot of pressure on themselves, but it's not something we have experienced.

Whitgift is a super sporty school with sone excellent sportsmen. Definitely something to check out.

One last thing about the importance of the school journey - from another thread on girls sw indep:

I'd echo what others have said about GO LOCAL!

We had the option of JAGS (lovely school) for DD but it would have involved the dreaded Thameslink. Brilliant when it works but when it doesn't it's a nightmare journey for us.

Much better to go for a local bus and/or walk. Think carefully about relying on school buses as well, expensive and quite restricting.

That's my two pence worth done on this. It's a very important factor, and one parents don't fully understand the extent of until it's too late. Best of luck OP on your decision!

There are lots of other evening events that parents need to get to / get back from. Not everyone wants to get a school bus. Public transport is good, but can still be a long journey depending on where you live. I've got two DC at schools where it is one public bus journey, max 30mins d2d (and also train and tube options if the buses are delayed and not working). I can easily get to concerts, talks etc from work after school by public transport. Everyday I think how life enhancing the easy journey is for all of the family.