G&L, CLSG, SHHS, Highgate? Your honest opinion is needed?

Every one helps! I think the pandemic has really highlighted how much more flexible and adaptable independent schools can be and the value that they can add. It may well make people who can afford it thing more seriously about going down that route.

@stokey actually just heard tonight of a third kid who isn't taking up his Latymer place (has chosen a different grammar instead). I know it's only tiny shifts here and there but still...

Yes good point. I'd have thought fewer people choosing independents but actually friend who works in a top London private said they'd had record numbers of applicants this year so who knows. Best of luck anyway.

She's early 300s, so would have got a place in 3 out of the last 4 years. Just not sure whether the year we've had will have any effect on people choosing grammars over independents or vice versa.

Thanks @stokey and all the very best to your DD. Where is she on the list? I know there was a fair amount of movement last year. Latymer sounds like an awesome school - we know lovely students there who are very happy. In the end DD decided she just couldn't face the journey (would have been an hour each way for her) otherwise we'd have taken it like a shot.

Thanks @deathbyprocrastination and congratulations to your DD. It's a weird time with everyone finding out where they're going over the next few weeks. For the waiting list places we have no idea whether or when we'll get closure. Am hopeful we may get a place by the end of the summer term but will just accept our second choice in the meantime & wait and see.

@stokey - to clarify, I don't mean that we put it first on the CAF and will turn it down after offers day, I mean that we didn't put it first on the CAF but instead chose the closer school where she has a guaranteed sibling place as her preferred option on the CAF.

@stokey my DD isn't taking up her place at Latymer - hope that helps. I know of one other child offered a place who definitely isn't.

Thank you Utility for your input
She loves music and that’s her passion.

Humblemumble: What is important to your daughter? Academics? Sport? Music?
Compare the two schools in those terms.
NHEHS' building projects have resulted in superb on site facilities eg. the swimming pool. FHSS has more limited on site facilities, but plenty not far away.
And what about the 'vibe' of the school? FHSS central, more international etc. NHEHS more suburban(!), leafy etc.

Can I be nosey and ask if any of you have also got provisional places in the selective grammars? DD is on the waiting list for Latymer (Enfield) and would like a sense of how many end up accepting independent places rather than grammar.

We live in West London so both are a tube ride away albeit FHS is closer. Don’t want my daughter to feel out of place ....

NHEHS is a terrific school with a great headmaster. Very forward thinking. Your daughter has done brilliantly to get in.
FHSS is also excellent. But obviously much more central and with a very different vibe.
Most importantly, where do you live?!

Would live opinions of Francis Holland Sloane Sq vs Notting Hill and Ealing HS. We have offers from both but more sure which to go for? Worried the FHS parents will be too “rich and label type” sorry for the generalisation but I do like the vibe from the headmistress. Anyone have a first hand experience ?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

SHHS is one third Jewish, quite a few Asian, very few black and many European parents. It is noticeably less white than Highgate or Channing but not as diverse as City.

The head is wonderful. Sensible, articulate and interesting but not woke.

I would say CLSG is the most diverse, followed by G&L, then SHHS then Highgate is the least by a mile.

@uk2020 I echo @afewtoomanychoices and would add SHHS is same as Highgate is described above from what we noticed when we visited. CLSG also attracts from all over London.

I would say City is very culturally diverse, considering the girls come from all over London and surrounding areas. NLCS is also diverse with a lot of Asian families, Jewish etc and it's a good mix. Same goes for Habs.. Highgate has never been as diverse in my opinion.
Not sure about GandL

uk2020 - see this post:
06/02/2021 13:15, from user149799568.

May I know how I should rank these schools in terms of cultural diversity?

I would imagine that all the popular private schools in London are under tremendous pressure to conform. I would assume Highgate is on the bandwagon, etc. (I mention them specifically because the tinkered with single sex bathrooms a few years back.)

@Greygreygrey Well done for the comments. I have always been interested in these insiders. Although anecdotal, it is still good to hear. The competition among the top schools is immense and the direction given by the head is important.

mumsrule20 there really isn't any need to be aghast, if nothing else it isn’t worth the energy! Obviously I wouldn’t reject a school on one stranger’s opinion of one paragraph but, to me, it’s useful. It may also compound an opinion I’d already formed....
But many thanks for the advice that there are a number of other factors to take into account. Without that goodness knows where I’d be.

@Ohtobeasausagedog am rather aghast that you would decide a school isn’t right for you based on a MN poster’s view?! Surely hers is subjective and also just to say those are the current school’s agenda issues, doesn’t mean to say that is their way forward and what defines them as a school???

Surely there is a bigger picture to be considering and based on many, many other aspects and most acutely in best fit for your child and where would she thrive and not based on anecdotes?

greygreygrey that’s very useful. I am not at all up for the whole “woke”, emperors clothes style ideology that seems to be popular now especially as it seems to dispense with any need or desire to discuss and debate. It’s interesting to her CLSG has gone that way - that’s definitely not the right school for us in that case.