Wiltshire grammar school. Honest views.

Beaufort or Perrins then Symonds are a better bet than South Wilts.
Kings and Westgate reflect their catchments after all

Please note that I didn't say that in grammar schools ARE resilient kids. I said that grammar schools are FOR academically great and psychologically resilient kids.
This is because the grammar schools receive less money per kid from gov than comprehensive schools. This affects pastoral care. There is an expectation that the grammar kids are more independent. In fact they are facing a lot of academic push and minimal mental health support.

If you put in School Parot names of few grammars you will see the main complain is about pastoral care and mental health.

I don't know if this is helpful as I'm not from your area but we were advised to opt for grammars for my kids. Like your dd, they would have both had extensive travel. They ended up going to comps that had good progress 8 (although not great OFSTEDs overall) and I can't imagine either of them would have done better in the grammars. Like your son, they were both in top sets. They are both older teens now and have done very well academically.

They moved into senior school with friends and were able to do a lot more extra curriculum because there was less travel. It was a real bonus for them to have friends from our area as well.

Our neighbours sent their eldest to a grammar and I used to see him coming back home at gone 5.30 / 6pm. They sent their second to the local comp. They said if they'd have known then what they know now, they would have sent both of them to the comp.

I would say the opposite, grammar school kids are often a lot more spoon fed at home and at school, and a lot less resilient than comprehensive school kids. If you child is resilient, grammar school won't make them less so

@Blewitt

has a bad reputation locally for the poor mental health of the girls and academia being the priority.

But that is the case with almost all grammar schools. Pastoral care is often a bare minimum and they push for academic results. I always say that grammar schools are for very academic and at the same time psychologically very resilient kids.

I'm in Romsey and a (very very) few children do go to the Salisbury grammars from here. tbh I have never quite understood why when we have two perfectly good comps in the town which are capable of turning out strings of grade 8/9s; people will have their reasons no doubt, and obviously single sex may be a factor for some.

I looked at this for my current year 7 and there were discussions about a group of local families getting together a minibus to ease the trains etc.
I personally feel the girls school is not worth the sacrifice of the time every day to commute, the friends being so spread out, and the pressured feel I got from it.
As you say the results aren't much different to upper achievers in state comp.
We are south of Winchester and our neighbours daughter got in (2012 being a big birth year) so I would think there's a good chance if it is a route you decide to go down?
It wasn't for us and our neighbours emigrated so their daughter only did 2 terms, but she wasn't loving it, however Every child is different.

Out of interest where did you move her to @Blewitt ?

Absolutely no regrets at all. She returned to her former self soon after. We thought she would thrive there but they just knocked the love of learning and school out of her.

My daughter attended the school you looked at for yr 7. It was a pretty dire experience and she left, along with a few others from her class. It has a bad reputation locally for the poor mental health of the girls and academia being the priority. Has a new head next year so things may improve. I would avoid it if you have got a good local school, the travel will get too much, especially if she wants to stay for after school activities, then she might be walking to the train on her own in the dark in winter. I feel it is a place to endure in order to get good results, rather than a school to enjoy.

Being in a different town to your friends is quite difficult as a teenager, so do think about that as well (and all the driving you will have to do to parties.

My DD is in a school in the next town for various reasons; she loves it academically and it has worked for her in many ways but even she says she wishes she had more friends locally. It also helps that lots of other kids commute in to it - if she's one of the few doing it that might make it even more difficult.

It still has an excellent rep locally.

If the results are no much different than local comprehensive then it is no brainer. It is not worth to commute long distance to a school that doesn't have significantly better results than your local one. Commute time adds to hundreds if hours per year.
Especially that your kids know children in the local school and there are many many threads here about kids having problems to develop friendships

Grammar schools are underfunded as they still exist because they are cheaper to run; the government gives less money per pupil for grammar schools than any other state schools.

Do you have a comprehensive school that you would be happy for your DD to attend, that she is pretty much guaranteed to get a place at? (It sounds as though there is a risk of your DD just missing out on a place at the desirable Winchester comps.)

If you do have a good ‘banker’ school, there really is no need to go through the 11 plus process if you are happy with all your other choices.

If you don’t have a ‘banker’ school that you’re happy with, and you would prefer the grammar over your banker school(s), your DD will need to do the 11 plus to hopefully be able to add the grammar to your CAF as a back-up school if she scores well enough.

What rep does Perrins have now? My knowledge is old, but it used to be talked about in equal terms to the winchester 3.

Hants publish a lot of data on school admissions, it’s on their website. I have a feeling the current year 5 is a lowish birth year. You should be able to work out what school you’re most likely to get and what the ‘worst option is.’ Plus potentially other options that you might not have considered.
It sounds like the commute will be over an hour door to door, I would work out exactly how long and include waiting at the train station, which would be over two hours out of your DD’s day. What is that worth to do you? What could/would she be doing instead with that time? What would her day look like with extra-curricular and homework at both options? Check out the progress at the likely options, what difference is there.
We’re Hants, and DD would have definitely been grammar material, not that we have one around here, but she is flourishing at her comp. She has a short walk, which enables her to keep up a variety of hobbies, interests and an active social life in the time she has. It’s idyllic to be frank when I compare it to my long commute, friends scattered all over all over!

Ah ok. Most Hants schools are pretty good, is there any issue with your catchment school if she goes there?

Definitely make your DD trek 20min each way, often in the rain, so you can say she went to a grammar school rather than a (gasp, pearl clutch) 'comp'.

(I've not heard anyone call the Winch schools this in the 20+ years I've lived here. If you live N of Winch you'll know their reputations academic and otherwise.)

I knew a very bright girl who went there after passing the 13+
commute over an hour
she was constantly tired and didn’t settle/found the atmosphere there unfriendly and competitive. She moved back to a well performing comp.

that is just one person though.

Honestly, Winchester comps are great and combined with Peter Symonds are pretty unbeatable. I think the chances of her doing better at SWGS are negligible.

The walk from the train station should improve once the road works on Fisherton Street and the river park upgrade is complete.... although it's been going on for ever.
SWG is often over subscribed anyway. If you're not blown away by it I wouldn't bother. But more importantly what did your daughter think?