SPGS vs CLSG

Abricotine thank you so much. Yes I know that this year will be somewhat different but I really wanted to know (this is my first 11+ ever) the type of questions that can be asked at 11+ interviews, obviously apart from the academic ones).

@wondergirls this year’s interview will be completely different from past years. Previously candidates were called on the basis of their performance in a day of written assessments. Consequently ours was very light touch, about interests, general questions etc. As your daughter won’t have sat a written exam I would imagine you should expect a more academic and longer interview but really only the school can tell you what will be in it because this year really will be different from any other. Good luck.

Hi Moni5

Please would you be so kind enough to give me so feedback or advice on what kind of questions your daughter was asked in the SPGS interview as my daughter has an interview there soon. Thanks 🙏🏼

@Moni5 I have pm’d you.

Oddly the two girls DD knew best, who were unhappy at SPGS, were both very very bright, almost certainly close to the top of their year group. They both transferred to (different) co-Ed’s where they seemed much happier, and did very well.

A lot is about fit. Thinking about it perhaps bright girls do competitiveness differently than bright boys - which may explain the slightly lower results that boys schools and co-Ed’s get. And for some girls a slightly more laid back approach suits better.

Obviously each child is different, and those who love SPGS seem to really love it. What does your daughter think. She, after all, is the one who will be making the journey and attending the school. From a parental perspective there is advantage in factoring in their views. 10/11 year olds often get strong vibes from different schools, and absence of where they will fit.

Travel time is very important. In terms of academic progress a bright motivated child will do well at either. Mental health and eating disorders are a particular risk for this group of girls so i would personally be looking at pastoral care and ethos when choosing between 2 such schools.

Itinerant42 that’s so interesting- what would you say is a north east ethos compared to a south west one?

Second a lot of the points here about SPGS. I know girls there now who are very happy, but also some who have left and didn’t fare so well. Sensitive characters may feel inadequate in such a robust ‘best’ environment

I would say the schools have slightly different ethoses. Massively oversimplifying, but CLSG skews more North/East London - www.clsg.org.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=599&type=pdf and its ethos reflects that, and SPGS is more South/West London. So City is more Islington and Highgate and SPGS more Chelsea and Putney (although obviously many travel from all over to both schools).

Interestingly, I’ve come across a number of SPGS graduates in my professional career and in personal life. Some girls do stand out but many are just ordinary characters without any drive or ambition and fewer still appear entitled just due to the fact that they went to SPGS, having achieved nothing in life whatsoever. Most parents clearly drink the SPGS kool-aid (as seen on this forum) and proclaim how unique the school is, but let’s be realistic - life doesn’t stop at 11+ exams and there are many challenges ahead that girls will need to deal with to become successful individuals. SPGS sets them up well, but so do many of the top schools in London, incl. City.

Hmmm I'm not so sure. SPGS is truly unique and there is room there for many different types. They don't have rankings or real streaming. Girls don't even get graded for the first 3/4 years or have formal exams. Their exams are more practice for exam taking rather than anything else. In year 8, there 3 different maths groups, but it's not a big deal and everyone ends up doing well regardless.

Admittedly lots of schools have issues with mental health so it is not reserved for St Paul’s.

Personally I think pupils are generally happier if they are in the top half ability wise in a school. While this can be hard to gauge, I think parents should be very honest with themselves as to where they think their DDs will fit. If they have only scraped into St Paul’s, they may have a far happier time at a ‘lesser’ school and will probably come out with the same results.

@jeanne16 that is indeed sad to hear. Was this several years ago now? I think the pastoral care is meant to be much better now with a lot more awareness of mental health issues?

We have an offer from St Pauls, which clearly said that the offer is contingent on DD living with us in London during term time, but not with a specific limit/threshold.

We were in the same position last year and chose SPGS as we thought it would suit our DD best and we have had no regrets since then.
Of course a shorter journey to school would be a big advantage when facing busy before and after school activities. However as long as your DD is happy with the school and ready to put in effort to make friends, then those things will subsidide the travelling distance.
We have not heard or experienced any difficulty in terms of mental health yet (touch wood) but to know that someone is having trouble keeping up with the fast pace at the school, we believe the pastoral care team will step in and help as they have been doing well so far.
Go with your gut feeling, OP and we wish your DD all the best.

We have an offer from St Pauls, which clearly said that the offer is contingent on DD living with us in London during term time, but not with a specific limit/threshold.

While SPGS may be wonderful for most of their girls, there are many casualties unfortunately. My friend’s DD ended up in the Priory in her GCSE year. She couldn’t cope with the stress . Apparently there were 16 girls in her year alone with serious mental health issues.

Why do people keep saying that SPGS require a max commute time? There are at least three girls in my daughter's year that live over 50 min away. They are all happy and join in on clubs and social events. If the school thought your daughter was too far away then they would have said something. Btw congrats! It is a unique and wonderful school.

I don’t understand, you said your commute was 1hr 10mins in your OP.

SPGS require a MAXIMUM travel time of 50 mins.

I think your answer is there.

I had a long commute by car each day to secondary school. It gave my mother uninterrupted time to nag and lecture me. It was exhausting that I went school all day, followed by team practice, and had no free time except for dinner and a bit of time with my grandmother in her side of the house. The shortest commute is the best.
CLSG has a uniform, which is a great savings in the long run. School authority is perceived as more evenhanded and easier to accept. It also means no arguement S in the morning. Not wearing makeup young means a better complexion later on.

Just a word of caution with the:

"with a culture which develops the strongest, most rounded, assertive young woman"

An environment of confident, ferociously bright, and assertive teenagers can produce some casualties. DD was not at SPGS but knew three in her age group who did not last because they were seriously unhappy. Equally though she knew some that absolutely thrived and emerged ready to take on the world.

From the application
”Girls are required to live within a reasonable distance of the school and should not be travelling for more than 50 minutes each
way. We may decline to pursue an application where in our opinion it may require an unrealistically demanding journey for the girl“

SPGS insist that the commute is under 1 hour.
Did you not read that on the application form?