Tiffin girls

[Journeytolight]

I'm looking at this school for DD2.

Opinions on it please.

Is it an exam factory? Are girls happy there? Etc.

Anyone's opinion appreciated.

Wow reincarnated, I didn't expect that. Regret putting it on CAF form for DD1 but thankfully really low down the list. I wonder if this is the case for lower years. If you don't mind me asking reincarnated, did your DD do well in A Levels/GCSEs?

Yes she got all A/A at GCSE but not as many A as she would have liked. She was distraught on results day as horror of horrors she got a B due to a disastrous controlled assessment which was marked as a D. She had one of the papers remarked and it went up to an A luckily. She was quite lazy then but that really spurred her into work. She should get 2 A* and likely an A in the 3rd subject. She only needs 3 A's for her university course.

I really don't know if it is the same for the lower years. A colleague at work has a niece at the school, I think in year 9, she dislikes it as well. I think sometimes it is luck if you get a year with a group of nice girls. Dd does have some nice friends but was a bit unlucky on the whole with the girls in her form. Distance also made socialising hard in the younger years. For that reason alone, I definitely think a local school is better.

I must say that the school are making more of an effort pastorally as I think a lot of parents raised this as a concern. They also have drop in sessions for parents to go and speak to them about anything. If your DD does get a place don't worry, I am sure she will have a more positive experience. I also believe they mix the classes up more in the younger years.

Do the girls swap forms every year or is it the same throughout their whole time at Tiffin? Sorry for asking so many questions!

I think they still stay in their form but their teaching classes are more mixed up - sure I read that somewhere. Dd was mainly taught in her form group until GCSE. There used to be one form group per house, but as there is a five form intake now they are in mixed forms - not sure if the house identity makes a difference. It seemed quite partisan in DD's day. Mrs Ward also created "family groups" - vertical groups across all years - not a great success I believe.

I've asked so many questions, sorry. How much homework do the girls get?

In the lower years relatively little. Definitely less than an hour a night. Many nights 20 mins or half an hour if that. Even in year 11 DD rarely did hw at home - finishing it at lunchtime etc -apart from art GCSE coursework which took an extraordinary amount of time. I noticed my younger dd in a comprehensive school had much more homework. At a Tiffin they tend to work them harder in class and move at a fast pace.

If they have activities during lunchtime, do they do it at home?

DD1 is in yr 10 & is extremely happy at TGS. It suits her really well. She doesn't seem to be under particular pressure for homework. She seems to get most of it done at lunchtime and has time for out of school clubs and activities 4 days per week, even though the bus journey is about an hour. I can't comment on sport but music & art are very strong and have a high profile in the school.

DD1 says she's not encountered bullying but says other classes have had issues with cliques. Her friends are lively sociable girls from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. Her experience is of a very friendly and caring group of girls who have a strong supportive network.

Thanks wilfer, I think it's time to close the thread, thanks for everyone's help!

DD1 attends tiffin girls and she absolutely hates it, In year 7 and 8 she enjoyed school thoroughly but after year 9 it turned into an exams factory and although she is very intelligent (she seems to know everything about everything and is always keen to lean) her assessment results connately came back as Cs and Ds. This completely demoralized her and she was convinced she would attain Cs and Ds in her GCSEs. The school did nothing to reassure her except take her into 'clinic' in every subject which made her feel like a failure. She completely gave up and did no work for her GCSEs but came out with a set of straight As and As! DH and I were shocked as we had braced ourselves for Cs across the board and enrolled her in esher college! Tiffin demoralized her and destroyed her self esteem and mental health for no apparent reason! We were so ecstatic with her results that we convinced her to go back to tiffin (though in hindsight this was the worst decision we could have made) we were convinced the school had done something to turn those Cs into As so we hoped for the same for a levels. As it would turn out, DD1 was just smart and the school had done sod all to help her! Her mental health took a turn for the worst and now she is in an awful place and is on medication for her depression (the school took the same approach yet again of giving the girls Cs the whole year!). I thought she was anomalous but upon speaking to her friends found out that tiffin has been doing the same to all of them! Taking in bright girls and giving them Cs on tests which should be graded as As in a bid to make them work harder to ensure they got the A*s! It is completely unfair to manipulate girls like this! DD1 blames us for sending her back to tiffin for sixth form and our relationship with her is dwindling ... DD2 attends a local comp, she is much much happier there and whilst she is not as smart as DD1 she is treated as if she is a genius. This pushes her harder to achieve better and get more praise. At the moment she is predicted higher than DD1 achieved and i am convinced this is simply because the school motivates her to do well. Not because she is better academically than DD1.
TLDR: If I could do it all again I would not send DD1 to tiffin girls and most parents I talk to seem to agree. Years of her childhood have been stripped off her due to exams (11+, GCSEs, a levels) and her self esteem is non existent.

I am sorry to say that I completely regret sending my dd there. She has recently been diagnosed with a serious mental health condition and is a completely different person since joining the school. She has received no support from the school whatsoever, she is just told that 'everyone experiences stress' and is forced back to lessons. The majority of the teaching is also abysmal, as she spends hours at home teaching herself in order to achieve 'pass marks' in the test, otherwise she is given a detention and forced to retake it. The homework seems to be set just to fill a quota, and is hardly ever looked over in the lesson, although they are expected to spend hours at home each night studying (according to their homework timetables). Every pupil in her year seems to be constantly on the edge of a mental breakdown and completely exhausted, and I am horrified at how the school brushes it off as normal. I sent her there to receive a high quality education in a supportive environment, but of course the school will get good results with intelligent girls with motivated parents and extensive testing. A lot of my dd's teachers just print off worksheets for them to do for the full hour in almost total silence, which I don't think anyone can consider teaching. She is often told to go around and help the class or explain at the front, a job which I think should really be the teacher's. In recent years they have cut down on trips, immersion days and bonding, with every focus on exams. Additionally, she recently received a commendation for maths in which she was congratulated for succeeding on a topic she supposedly 'found extremely tough'. However, maths is her best subject and I know she found the topic quite easy, she was only given it because she asks questions in the lessons. Most of the girls are afraid to do so because of the judgement they face from the teachers, which I sadly understand.
The girls themselves are lovely, I have never heard of any bullying and they support each other, but I struggle for any other positive words about the school. It is certainly an exam factory; they seem to care about nothing else, and I strongly believe that if every student was questioned about their mental health the majority would have a serious problem.
Ultimately, the school cares more about handing out detentions and homework than the actual wellbeing of their pupils, and I would encourage one to avoid the school unless left with no other choice.

Reading the comments above make me glad we never put DD forward for the Tiffin testing and sent her to Coombe Girls instead. Still very high standards in the top sets without the intense pressure and pushing down the science/ medical route. I'm sure the wonderful drama department helped her gain her place in the sixth form at Brit School. I don't think Tiffin would have encouraged her to apply at all.

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