Part 2: SW London Girl's Indies 11+ Pandemic Panic!

@mumster007 sorry I misread your earlier message. Hope you get a place at FHSS very soon.

@mumster007 glad to hear that you were offered a place at your first choice. Thanks for sharing your views on SHS and Sutton High.
I will definitely attend the Sutton High offer holders event before I make any decision.

thank you @Corblimbea.

I will also attend the Sutton High offer holders evening to get a feel for Sutton High.

I know league tables does not say much but SHS' GSCE and A results seems slightly better than Sutton High. However, I really liked the vibe of Sutton High as it seemed more friendly and less corporate.

Thank you so much. Really helpful!

I've also followed this thread for a few weeks. We had offers from both Sutton and Surbiton but declined Surbiton. Now also unexpectedly a waitlist place for Francis Holland. So now have to wait to pay the deposit for Sutton until the deadline . FHSS was our top choice going into this (and still is) but have realised that Sutton would also be a perfect fit for DD. Loved Surbiton but felt it's too big for our DD. She is the anxious type so the size was a major factor for us. She absolutely loved the art department though when we saw Surbiton. She is into swimming so the pool vs no swimming at all also weighed up our decision.

@Flossietea thank you so much for sharing your insights. It really is appreciated.

It is also good to hear that your friends with DDs really like the school. My DD is not in to arts and sports. She took her skills or the lack thereof from me :)

@daysem we have an offer from Sutton High and really like it. Waiting on state grammars as not near a decent comp, sadly. If we don’t get grammar we will go with Sutton and we have turned down KGS. Didn’t apply for Surbiton so can’t help there, sorry,

@daysem, @sophmcc51, I looked around Surbiton for my DD (went in year 5 so pre-pandemic) and really liked it. They seem super good with the pastoral side of things and the extra-curricular offerings are the best I’ve seen. DD spent ages going through the clubs catalogue finding things she wanted to do.

The reasons why it wasn’t our first choice are mainly that I didn’t like that it has a major road running through the middle of the campus. Unlike other schools you don’t get that “bubble” feel because the buildings are spread out on either side of the road. I also worry that the intake is large. I think they have 160 in a year which is massive. But I have friends with DD there who say it’s a benefit because you can always find like-minded friends and everybody finds their ‘gang’. And then though they year group is large the class sizes are comparable to other indies in the area.

In general though I really liked it. It was DD’s second choice after LEH (which we’ve accepted) because she loved all the pre-exam zoom taster sessions they did. I think they did give a really good feel for the place. They have obviously worked incredibly hard on making their selection process as child- friendly as possible in these unusual circumstances, and I think that speaks to their focus on the pastoral and well-being side.

I have several friends with DD there and they absolutely rave about it. Oh, and the art department is far and away the best I’ve seen. Not sure if that’s of interest to your DD but it’s a huge lofted space at the top of the school and it’s messy creative heaven which just made me want to sit down and pick up a pencil and get stuck in.

@Flossietea and @PatoPato with SHS, I meant Surbiton High. Sorry I realised there was an error in my earlier message, to clarify my Dd has offers from both SHS and Sutton High but we are considering SHS for the time being.

I second @sophmcc51 could somebody please give some insight into SHS and ascertain the academic value of SHS apart from the extra curricular activities?

Thanks

Hi - I’m interested in this discussion too. We have an offer from Surbiton High school- but live next to Waldegrave an outstanding state school. I’m trying to ascertain the value add of sending her to Surbiton High. She’s very sporty which was one of the attractions but can’t decide whether it’s worth £20k a year! If anyone can offer any insights Into Surbiton High I would really appreciate it! Thanks

I think SHS stands for Sutton High School?
If so, there is a great thread on it here @daysem
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4145831-Sutton-High-School

@daysem can you clarify what you mean by SHS? I usually read SHS as Surbiton High School but you say SHS and Surbiton so I assume not? I loved Surbiton and only hear good things about the school from friends with DDs there.

Hi ladies,

I have been following this thread for the past week or so.

It seems that most of you have received several offers. Many congrats on your DDs . We only applied to 3 independent schools and got an offer from SHS and Surbiton High.

I was wondering whether anyone is considering to accept the offer an offer from SHS? We have received an offer but no scholarship.

My DD is also likely to be offered a place at an outstanding state comprehensive ( Coombe Girls' School) and paying for SHS is going to be a financial stretch for us. What are your thoughts on SHS, is it worth paying ? I am aware that SHS may not be as selective as some of the schools that your DDs got offered. Do you think SHS can add extra value compared to an outstanding school?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

We have put location and ease of transport ahead of any other criteria due to experience with older DCs. And their journey is not even that long, 35-40mn. But for them it's too far. It's not just the day to day journey which is the issue but socializing with friends as it means their friends are potentially 45-60mn away, and teenagers can be quite lazy... They are also dependent on public transport delays and risk being late to school.
All the schools being mentioned on this thread are top schools and very similar (+ they've all made massive improvements in pastoral care over the past 5-10 years). If there are differences in position in GCSEs/A levels league table, it is usually 1) by a very small margin and 2) usually a function of selectivity at entrance.

@HappyDads, thank you so much, that is really helpful. So much to consider.

@PatoPato rainbow order made my lol!!!
Tough year to decide especially when you haven’t seen the schools.
I also think a journey of 40-45 mins is not too bad. Beyond that potentially problematic

Just hopping on with something to think about ...I have 3 DC at 3 different schools! Don’t underestimate the distance from school. In hopefully the not too distant future we will again be able to go into school for parents evenings, concerts, performances and sports matches! Most of the schools mentioned in this thread are all excellent. If I could go back in time I personally wouldn’t go for the school an hour away if you have the option of one 30 minutes away. I speak from experience as DS is at a school an hour away and it’s honestly quite painful especially when we drop him off for Saturday matches. DDs are both at schools 15 / 30 minutes away and I definitely find myself attending more events... For those with PHS offers, I have said this in the thread before. But of the 3 schools my DCs attend it is by far my favourite. My DD loves it and has been encouraged to try so many new things and academically she is set to probably get the best results out of my 3 DC (and was on the WL so we were lucky she got in. Hang in there @Trialsat11 DD is cruising so WL means nothing!) I don’t know how the teachers do it but they really seem to get the best out of the girls. From rowing to house drama to debating. They girls seem to want to try everything. The head is also formidable and very approachable. Someone on a previous post mentioned a real sense of community and it was a very accurate description.
Good luck everyone! I pop on here once in a while as I am reading a GCSE thread in the same forum so this thread pops up once in a while nearby!

Hi all, and congratulations to all your DC for your offers! DD did well and we got offers from LU, PHS and Surbiton High (now declined), WL from G&L and WHS and waiting for TGS results.

We are now trying to decide what to do. One big consideration is journey time. For us LU, G&L, TGS are all 40-45 min journeys with PHS around 30 min and WHS a 10-15 min walk.

Is 40-45 min journey on public transport too long? How does it weigh on the family and the child in the weekend for sport event?

@starlilly88 I'm with you here and we have 3 offers. Husband likes Francis Holland Sloane Square and I prefer Streatham and Clapham High and both are easy to get to. Francis Holland will probably have a few of her friends as well but I like the GDSTs a lot Waitlist preference is Putney High where she is likely to have a few friends. But DD says she wants a Co-ed and Ibstock Place is the only offer from a mixed school - a school neither accessible or known to me as we were unable to visit 😱

StirCrazy I’m afraid I haven’t been following people side of it, other than watch a few online videos from them. I love your list a lot and may use it! It’s perfect as a list.

What do you do when you have a big spreadsheet on the schools and still can't decide?! One is slightly more nurturing and the other is slightly closer. But not enough to be an issue either way and that's the only difference. I genuinely cannot decide and neither DD or myself has a preference. Going round in circles every day and have no idea how to choose. Would have loved to visit again

Ohh and many congratulations @PatoPato your DD sounds like an absolute star! Lateral thinking indeed

[Ooops, I meant 'paywall' before, haha!]

Morning, glad the decision-making idea was helpful at least! I forgot to say I also had 'diversity' in there as that's important for us too. I'm not sure if you can use that method for making a final decision but for me it just helped to organize my brain a bit better!

For the LEH crew, here is the Good Schools Guide write-up (look at the third tab along, 'review' - no firewall as I think it's being used as promotional material):
www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/schools/100629/the-lady-eleanor-holles-school/ADF3F8D#sch_tabs-2

And for the Putney crew:
www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/schools/putney-high-school-london/AD8EF8A#tab_review

Thanks @HappyDads really helpful info there.

@Normalisboring (and @Yellownotblue)
"Are there any current LEH parents here? What is the pastoral side like? There has historically been a reputation for being very ‘driven’ shall we say. Very competitive and perhaps a bit less gentle. I don’t get that feeling from watching the Q&A or the open day. Is the over competitive reputation unjustified? I felt that Mrs Hambury seemed very inspiring and down to earth."

Well ... I have a daughter in Upper 6th who has been at LEH from juniors so I know the school quite well now . I think it's part of LEH that it is competitive, but that simply comes from the girls themselves, not parents in general. Most parents are really down to earth and not pushy/tiger parents at all. The "hothouse" image has imo always been a bit of a myth even under the formidable previous head, and now under Hanbury. Given the nature of the girls I'm not sure LEH will ever be "gentle" ... perhaps it's better to say I have seen it become an ever increasingly more supportive environment?

Heather Hanbury has put a huge effort into improving pastoral care and after initial reservations on changes I have been so impressed by her care for the girls, and the many small changes she's made to reduce pressure. The last year or two, I have been totally won over - her communication (weekly) to parents in these chaotic CoVid times has been amazing - genuine, comprehensive and re-assuring.

Perhaps the best example I can share is that the school very recently announced a timetable for a set of CoVid-delayed mock exams for the Upper 6th that had the year group in uproar. Almost all the girls - and quite a few parents (!) - wrote letters to say the timeline was unfair, created huge extra stress, went totally against the girls own well-being, and that how the mock results might be used in A-level evaluations wasn't clear.

She obviously listened and she came back to the U6 and parents within 2-3 days clarifying key points, and said (summary version) "Look, we hear you, we understand, and we'll find a way to move the mock dates" (The dates have been moved). For me, that's inspiring senior leadership - listening to the girls, having an openness to admit your mistake, and moving fast to make a change.

I really hope this helps and you, please do feel free to reach out if you want to know more!