Sutton High School GDST - Academic Performance

@Lake9mo honestly the uniform of a school and things like this pale in comparison with things like pastoral care, behaviour in lessons, support in learning, feeling happy and safe at school, being stretched academically etc. if you are worried about pink hair over those things, the focus of your search might be wrong - visit the school and speak to the pupils and see what they are like. I would far rather my 11 year old had pink hair and was well cared for at school than the other way around, I’ve just looked up the article - DD is at the school and happy but I hadn’t seen it. The focus is on supporting mental health and allowing freedom of individuality - I think that is positive.

@Lake9mo
I’ve just asked my daughter and she said it’s mainly the older years where anyone dyes their hair and it’s just a handful of girls. (Lots of schools allow hair dye, but often just natural colours.) I really wouldn’t make it a deal breaker for the school, which is excellent in so many ways.

Thank you - that's really helpful. Maybe it's just me but the new code just seems a little too liberal to me especially with allowing any kind of hair dye and jewelry, to the point I might not consider the school now for my DD. Maybe I've become an old-fashioned and boring mum...But I would've liked the school to be on my side in preventing random hair dye and multiple piercings. Is there a minimum age for hair dye? I would've hoped that girls age 11 weren't allowed pink hair.

Google satin bonnet - very popular for keeping curls/coils/afro hair frizz-free.

Just curious, but what kind of 'bonnet' is the average 11 - 18 year old girl given to wearing at the school? I can safely say that I've never seen any schoolgirl in our neck of the woods wearing anything that could be described as such.

No expert, but I believe the under layer of a hijab can be called a bonnet.

Just curious, but what kind of 'bonnet' is the average 11 - 18 year old girl given to wearing at the school? I can safely say that I've never seen any schoolgirl in our neck of the woods wearing anything that could be described as such.

Not sure about the hair dye thing (actually, I think I am fairly sure about the hair dye thing...), but I think that it isn't uncommon for schools to allow clear nail varnish?

Hi Lake9mo
I’ve not heard of any bullying at all. It may happen but I’m sure the school would deal with it very well if so.

The school has adopted the Halo code which allows girls to express themselves with their hair and so they can dye it and also wear nail varnish plus subtle
jewellery. You can read all of this in the school’s online brochure. In my daughter’s year very few of them do this however and it doesn’t seem over the top or pressurised. I think a lot of the girl’s parents don’t let them!

Hope that helps

Reigniting this thread! Do you find there is any bullying at the school? I also read in the newspaper that they now allow girls to come to school with pink hair and nail varnish. Is this true? I wonder whether this is maybe too liberal and I could see it might exacerbate peer pressure.

I’d ask to be put in touch with the head of year 9 and see if you can find out which class she’s going to be in and if you make any connections beforehand. Good luck but I’m sure she’ll be fine.

Hi, thanks for all the positives on Sutton High. My daughter is moving from a state to Sutton high in September for year 9. I’m a little anxious about her starting again with new friendships. Has anyone experienced new girls joining at this stage? The registrar is not very friendly on the phone and she won’t be invited for an induction day which is a bit strange. Im just looking for reassurance that the move in Year 9 will be a smooth one for her. Thanks

I have a child at Sutton High and an older child at another more ‘academic’ GDST school and as far as I can see, there’s no difference in the teaching. Sutton is a fabulous school, and I concur with all of the positive comments of the others posters on this thread.
The reason for the higher exam results at some other schools is because they are so selective at 11+. It’s not that the school
is better and as far as I can see, Sutton is better and predicting potential and putting in individualised monitoring to maximise that. I am very happy with Sutton and a great fit for daughter.

@MaitreKarlsson Of course those pupils might have made great progress. You don’t know their starting points so their results could have been very good for them as individuals. Few schools can maintain the same level of results year after year. There are dips in recruitment and schools get a reputation for not being academic which is then self fulfilling. Brighter dc don’t go there and just use it as a back up if other plans go wrong.

I have noticed exam results are nowhere near as good as they were at our old school. The brighter cohort seems to have gone. I’ve seen parents on MN think it’s not a school for bright DC but value it for nurturing and arts. It takes a lot of effort and aspirational SLT to turn that around so more academic dc apply again. Where there is lots of choice schools are what their intake allows them to be.

Another Sutton High parent here with a daughter in Yr 8. I'd agree the focus is very much on the girls being individuals, and there is definitely a spread of abilities - in her class there are junior school girls, who didn't sit an exam, as well as 11+ scholarship girls. And compared to her very high achieving prep school, she has relatively little homework! However, academic standards seem high. They are all assessed early and set into tracking for subjects, then given support to reach their potential.
I would say though that the most recent exam results aren't as good as previous years - so this year they are a bit lower in the league tables. That's hopefully a hiccup.

I have a DD there in y11, joined in y7. We've been v happy throughout. The support fantastic - both practical (extra help if struggling with lessons/exams) and pastoral. Would we have been better saving the money and just tutoring? I'd say no - DD has learned to study rather just just get thru the exams (iyswim), and she's had support from the teachers who see her daily rather than aligning a tutors approach v her teachers approach. My DD is predicted 7+ in her subjects, which I'd say is fine on the academic front! She is staying for 6th form, as are the majority of her friends.

So no, it's not one of the "top" schools in league tables. For academically minded DDs there is plenty of challenge, the results reflect a broader ability range in the students. Like all school decisions, you need to be sure it's the right place for your child but I would not be concerned the academic level would be "low" for a bright DD.

i know a few parents with girls there, and what I hear reflects what @1forward2back said. Lots of pastoral support, excellent for girls with SEN, parents happy with academic results based on their individual children. I agree they lose a lot at 11+ to what are seen as academically stronger options, and again at 16 where I have heard some outgrow the small and cosy feel of the school.

The borough of Sutton has some excellent grammar schools, Nonsuch and Wallington Girls, which achieve some of the highest results in the country.

A fair number of Sutton High girls sit the 11+ and move to the grammars for secondary school. Similarly lots of girls at local preps (eg Seaton House) will sit 11+ and Sutton High entrance but will take the grammar place if successful.

I wonder if this means many of the highest achievers are bring creamed off by the grammars, which means Sutton High results, although good, would compare less favourably to local state schools, because those schools happen to be super selective?

Hi. I have a daughter at Sutton (and another holding an offer for year 7 which we will accept). Happy to answer any questions via DM.
with gcse results I think it’s important to know that SHS automatically allow all their own prep girls in to year 7 regardless of their results and they don’t sit an entrance - so half of my daughters year didn’t have to sit an entrance exam and this means it is really mixed ability and for 50% of the girls it’s sort of unselective. In my daughters case we like this - it means she is sitting at the top and getting pushed in al her chosen subjects - in another school she’d likely be middling and that would worry me. She also has a learning need and needs motivation. I can’t fault the support she has received. When I was looking (this time and last) I looked at value added for the exam results, but actually the letter we got from the GcSe results showed they were really high last year and having just started choosing subjects they really push the idea that add should choose what she loves and there’s a big open choice for her. I would never have thought she’d be choosing Dance GCSE alongside Computing!!
we were there for the strikes and pensions and no teachers have left that we know of and the teachers all seem happy to go the extra mile - lots of clubs, they are working with her one to one in some subjects at break (her send means she needs some help with memory and spelling) and she’s had the same teachers year on year in some subjects.
she loves school and I have no trouble getting her in and she seems happy and her reports say she’s on track to get all 7+ - and that’s from a cat4 of 114 back in prep.