WHS - Will my DD fit in

[PollyPutTheKettle]

I am seriously considering sending DD to Wimbledon High is she passes the exam or Halls School if she doesn't due to the lack of decent secondary school places available to us . We can manage the fees and expenses by me working full time and savings. But we are not rich. We love in an ordinary 3 bed house in an ordinary area. Will she feel left out? I went to state school as did DP so I am not sure about all this.

No not at all. DDS at a nearby selective girls' school and people are from all sorts of backgrounds. Yes some parents are very rich but plenty are like you stretching themselves to give their daughters this opportunity, and quite a few pupils will be on bursaries, though you may not know which ones.

We had similar fears but my DD has settled in brilliantly to Putney High and there are girls with a variety of backgrounds, houses etc. 2/3 of the class go skiing every half term, we're not one of them, but it has never been an issue.

My DD goes to one of the S London girls schools - we live in an ordinary house with a loft conversion (!) and I'm always putting in extra hours to pay the fees ... incidentally she's been in private school since she was 5 ...so it's a situation I'm well used to ... although there are some very rich parents there, we are certainly not the only ones stretching ourselves ...

Polly, there are many families exactly like yours at WHS. Don't worry. The girls don't judge each other on how 'wealthy' their family is, so your DD will be fine. Any parent who might want to be snobbish isn't worth you being friends with anyway, so grab the opportunity if you get it! It's a great school. And there are a number of girls in each year on bursaries, so there will be quite a few families worse off financially than you are. Nobody knows who, and nobody cares

Thank you all.