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Original poster

SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc

167 replies

PForParent · 28/02/2025 07:56

I would like to get some thoughts on secondary state schools in the Wandsworth area.

We are ruling out single-sex schools, and super-strict schools like Ashcroft.
Private schools or moving to another area are not realistic options, for a multitude of reasons.

Our priority is to find a reasonable balance between a school which is reasonably rigorous, but not to the point that it crushes kids' spirit with petty, capricious, unnecessary rules and punishments. Eg think of the scandals at Holland Park School or Mossbourne, with well-documented cases of emotional abuse.

Our impressions so far:

Graveney: seems great if we can get in with the test (we appreciate it's not easy).

Chestnut in Balham: seems less academic than Graveney but still a reasonable balance.

Ashcroft: never ever ever. Detentions for cycling to school? Please. And the supposed "catch up" if you miss a day is bs: they simply put you in a detention room, there is no teaching. Way too much homework: the kids we know who go there have given up all their other activities, have stopped reading, that's really extreme.

Hurlingham Academy in Fulham: Impressions were good. Seemed a reasonable balance. Some doubts about the school not having sixth form.

Saint Cecilia: we know many families whose children are happy there. But it seems one of the least academic, and with very little homework (the opposite problem to Ashcroft)

Harris Wimbledon: very mixed feedback. Some say it's a very good and very academic school, some say it's far too strict.

Harris Battersea: very mixed feedback, but in the opposite sense to Harris Wimbledon: some say it's good, some say it's not academic enough.

Southfields Academy: terrible impressions. The kids seemed feral. It seemed the least academic of the whole list.

When sharing your thoughts, please:

  • respect our preferences. If Ashcroft or a single-sex works well for your kids, I am very happy for you, but don't try to convince me to send my kids there. If someone asks for a Chinese restaurant you don't tell them that Indian food is better :)
  • please try to take into account not just your personal experience, but how someone else's experience might differ. Eg our kids are reasonably happy at their primary, but I'll be the first to say it's one of those "my way or the highway" type of schools, and it's not a good choice for anyone with any kind of special needs

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks a lot!

OP posts:
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RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 10:20

Wimbledonmum1985 · 28/02/2025 10:14

2009? Are you having a laugh? Sixteen years ago! You have form for looking down on posters so I take all of this with a large grain of salt.

OP, I wouldn’t touch Southfields with a barge pole. CG has improved vastly and I know many people with thriving DC there. Harris Wimbledon also seems to be performing well. The DC I see around the place are always perfectly behaved which is not the case for students or other schools in the area.

Edited
Show quote history

I have stated the facts from an educational perspective, as I assessed them at the time. I doubt much has changed unless you can tell me that lots of Wandsworth schools have radically improved. I suspect not and neither have I made personal comments to be unpleasant on a personal basis.

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 10:20

RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 10:15

Very interesting that less than 5% of St Michael's children now attend St Cecilia's. It was very highly rated in Southfields when it opened but clearly has not lived up to expectations. I recall it had a very rocky start due to the appointment of a poor head. We had some friends with dc there in the early days and I understand there were significant issues with behaviour. It also sounded as though it was a bit of a tale of two cities with very different expectations for the two demographics in the school, the local dc v those who came in on the bus from other parts of the Borough.

It's still one of the main destinations, but a lot of children commute to LM and FBS. In terms of results LM is a no brainer.

SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 10:15

Very interesting that less than 5% of St Michael's children now attend St Cecilia's. It was very highly rated in Southfields when it opened but clearly has not lived up to expectations. I recall it had a very rocky start due to the appointment of a poor head. We had some friends with dc there in the early days and I understand there were significant issues with behaviour. It also sounded as though it was a bit of a tale of two cities with very different expectations for the two demographics in the school, the local dc v those who came in on the bus from other parts of the Borough.

Wimbledonmum1985 · 28/02/2025 10:14

RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 09:11

On the basis of your observations you have already narrowed it down to Graveney or Chestnut Grove so I don't really see the point of your post.

My information is out of date as we looked in 2009. My recollection from that time was that with the exception of Graveney (which for our child would have been a hideous journey( not a single Wandsworth School offered the quality of education we were looking for: three separate sciences, a classical language and a choice of MFL.

We applied to two state schools, neither were in Wandsworth and both were single sex and cofe.

I appreciate that isn't helpful but I suspect the quality if the education offered is just as bad as ever it was.

2009? Are you having a laugh? Sixteen years ago! You have form for looking down on posters so I take all of this with a large grain of salt.

OP, I wouldn’t touch Southfields with a barge pole. CG has improved vastly and I know many people with thriving DC there. Harris Wimbledon also seems to be performing well. The DC I see around the place are always perfectly behaved which is not the case for students or other schools in the area.

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 10:10

And St Cecilia

SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 10:07

This one is for Bolingbroke, some people succeed in securing in-year places in feeder primaries.

SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 09:58

RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 09:28

No classical language though. I can't recall their MFL provision. In any event, it wasn't a school we spent much time considering. I recall it being the backstop for families who didn't meet the church criteria for the church schools.

Show quote history

I feel like most children from faith schools in this area tend to continue in faith schools, and non-faith secondaries get everyone else.

SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc
RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 09:28

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 09:19

@RosesAndHellebores A. I think used to have 3 separate sciences for half? of their pupils, but now it tends to be only around 30% (3 top sets I heard).

Edited

No classical language though. I can't recall their MFL provision. In any event, it wasn't a school we spent much time considering. I recall it being the backstop for families who didn't meet the church criteria for the church schools.

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 09:19

@RosesAndHellebores A. I think used to have 3 separate sciences for half? of their pupils, but now it tends to be only around 30% (3 top sets I heard).

RosesAndHellebores · 28/02/2025 09:11

On the basis of your observations you have already narrowed it down to Graveney or Chestnut Grove so I don't really see the point of your post.

My information is out of date as we looked in 2009. My recollection from that time was that with the exception of Graveney (which for our child would have been a hideous journey( not a single Wandsworth School offered the quality of education we were looking for: three separate sciences, a classical language and a choice of MFL.

We applied to two state schools, neither were in Wandsworth and both were single sex and cofe.

I appreciate that isn't helpful but I suspect the quality if the education offered is just as bad as ever it was.

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 09:01

Personally, kids that gave us a tour of A. were lovely, but if the child is not very confident, he might not appreciate their approach to discipline.
Ours is not a troublemaker at all but we decided against A., though it would be very convenient for our family and the kids from A. I see around Putney are well behaved.

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 08:56

I have access to locrating, so if you want to know where people from particular primaries actually send there kids, I can post some screenshots.

WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 08:55

PForParent · 28/02/2025 08:29

What do you mean with "families like this"?

It was literally in your question
"Again, the question is not whether Ashcroft is a good school, but what schools you would recommend for a family who will never send their kids there (if yours are thriving there I'm very happy for you, but that's not the question)."

11plusinLondon · 28/02/2025 08:31

I know lots of children at both Graveney and Chestnut Grove. Both have routes in that don’t rely on distance (70 places for the academic stream for Graveney, 30 for ML and 30 for Art at Chestnut Grove). Otherwise both have tight catchment areas.

Local consensus (& the 2024 exam results) show the gap between the two schools academically is closing. Graveney has the selective stream but is a big school with a range of abilities.

They were state choice 1 & 2 for DD (she has an art place at Chestnut Grove and did very well in the Wandsworth Test) but she is going to a private school next year now. If it wasn’t for the fact that the school she is going to caters for a specialist interest/ability I wouldn’t have hesitated to send her to either school. DS who is currently in Y10 in a private school is looking at both for 6th form.

Original poster
PForParent · 28/02/2025 08:29

What do you mean with "families like this"?

OP posts:
WHM0101 · 28/02/2025 08:23

Families like this send to grammar, Graveney, Bolingbroke, then probably Chestnut or St Cecilia. Or Lady M. or FBS.
Kids from H. might be less feral then Southf., but still.

Original poster
PForParent · 28/02/2025 07:59

PS I appreciate that, on one hand, many families have been leaving London, many primary schools have been closing all over London, and this will have an effect on secondary numbers, too, while on the other hand the VAT on private schools is likely to mean more students going to state rather than private schools.

If the two effects will offset each other is anyone's guess.

I have also noticed that some past discussions on those schools got very very heated. I would like the discussion to remain civilised. Again, the question is not whether Ashcroft is a good school, but what schools you would recommend for a family who will never send their kids there (if yours are thriving there I'm very happy for you, but that's not the question).

Thanks!

OP posts: