Ss John Leatrherhead or Epson Collage

[Dominica1971]

My daughter has been offer place at st John and Epsom. I'm new to this part of London and new to secondary education. I'm looking for an advise/ comparison. My daughter is a bright and sporty girls. In the right school she will do well. She is not particularly academic , but she likes learning and normally applies herself to school life and working hard. I’m in 2minds as both school are very comparable.
Thank you for all you help D

Congrats to your dd, she has done really well and must be academic to get these offers! Visit again to see which you prefer, I am familiar with both schools & if I had to make your decision would probably go on journey times as they both have long days, Saturday sports fixtures & Saturday school at Epsom from Year 9 (not sure about St J's sat school). If you are using the school bus system it's always helpful if your dc can walk to and from the bus stop to home. If eventually you want boarding Epsom has the more established boarding houses with oversees students.

Thank you D

The journey is the same, perhaps Epsom is closer a bit. Is one of the school more academic? Don’t know why some parents prefer St John and some Epsom. I’m in the middle of it and change my mind daily. My daughter ( due to us moving a lot ) went to 4 schools -girls only and not always found the movies that easy. Now , I would like to settle her in the best co-Ed environment where girls are equal to boys.

D

How far away from Epsom are you? Congratulations to her. I also recommend visiting the school once more. If you are thinking of boarding then Epsom college is the best option. International pupils attend the school as a boarder.

Take a look at both websites and also email the school. Trust your gut feeling. Will you drive her there or not?

Don't underestimate the number of times you have to drive to the school especially on Saturdays & at St Johns there is the chapel service on Sundays. It really influences people's decisions. St. John's has a lovely feeling with the quad & super lower school building that I found missing at Epsom. Also the head at St Johns is approachable whilst I have friends with more than dc at Epsom who have never spoken to the headmaster.
For logistically reasons we didn't choose either in the end.

Thank you . I live in Wimbledon Village with the school bus on the top of our road.
Both schools are quite far but I I don’t think boarding is an option for us.
I will look again and again... 🤪😉

Ask both schools how many children in the first year (age 11) are currently using the bus from your stop to school? (It won't be many). It will give you an idea of how many dc are travelling from Wimbledon to each school.

PoppyRed 25 what school did you choose?
My daughter also got Surbiton but don’t think the urban settings will be suited for her ... but it is closer. Thanks again D

OP, I looked at Epsom / St J for my ds but have a dd at SHS. There will be many more dd at SHS from Wimbledon - like a whole class of them. PM me if you want more info ( you have to send via a computer not the app).

Thank you I will compare/ visit st Jonh to Epsom again. I’m simply terrified to make the wrong choice and probably overthinking it.thanks again for your posts!

I think that Epsom consistently seems to get better GCSE and A-Level results than St Johns but I don’t think they necessarily have a brighter intake. In fact it appears like it’s harder to get into St Johns than Epsom (at least for boys)....although maybe we haven’t seen the results of St John’s more selective intake yet? I’d be interested to hear from parents with DCs at St Johns currently to see if they thought the school was changing under the helm of the new headmistress?

Thank you so much for your post. I have done some more research and inspite of the different school ranking Epsom(67) and St johnn (98) in Sunday times, I had more positive feedbacks re St John. Lots of happy parents with bright children achieving great results. Epsom also all good, but somehow less enthusiastic parents. New Head in St John was a deputy in Guildford , I thought she was very inspirational and forward thinking. I feel like my daughter will be in a safe and capable hands there. So for today st Jonh it is. 😉

I doubt if you’d go wrong with either. Both good and popular schools. What year is your DD joining? Y9 or Y7?

My DD at Epsom.

One key difference that helped when we were choosing ...Epsom has v strong house system for all students including day pupils. Housemistress/master and matron for each house and that’s where pupils spend breaks, free periods etc. Tutors in house who are responsible for a small group of students - academic and helping them take advantage of all Epsom has to offer. Any problems of any kind go through house mistress who responds immediately and helps parent or student navigate all the other teachers . The senior members of staff across the school are all very approachable. I know the head and he knows my DD but he'd not be the person I'd speak to for any help or issues. I guess some people might but never needed to. Might chat to him pitch side at a match from time to time.

We liked that it was still a boarding school. It's probably about half and half day and boarding and it's not a school where one group or other are second fiddle. But means staff mostly live on site and are v committed to school life. Also, because of boarding a slightly more diverse student population (ethnic and nationality) which mattered to us.

Students all seem to know each other and teachers know them. The teachers are involved in all sorts of things - coaching, running societies, leadership positions, and as a result the students have lots of contact with them and the teachers know them well.

Students work hard and do well and they are encouraged to join in - sport, music, drama, plus all sorts of other activities - DofE, science clubs, debating, etc. Loads to get involved in. School day is 8.20 to 6pm and Sat morning plus sport sat afternoon. So everyone does sports and choice of activities during school day.

Academic results good. (Published on the website by subject if you want to see and compare.) A lot of v bright kids in the school and with a variety of other talents too. DD is not super academic but is doing better than she expected with their approach- lots of block tests and feedback works well for DD.

It's pretty full on so you have to think that will suit your child and family. DD does keep up one hobby outside of school but she has to be super organised and doesn't do a lot else. Had she gone to St Johns, there might have been more down time as think it's shorter school day and no Sat school (just matches I think)

I have a son at St John's. There are lots of pupils who come on from. Wimbledon on the train every day.
It's a short walk from the station to school.

New head at St John's came from Dunnottar.

My DS has also received offers (Yr 7) from Epsom and St Johns and we're currently trying to decide. Both are very similar although Epsom academics do appear slightly higher. It's difficult as my DS doesn't like the idea of Sat School however he will probably have Sat fixtures at either school so the extra couple of lessons wouldn't really make too much of a difference. There's also compulsory Sunday chapel to factor in for St Johns. A puzzling thing I read in the offer documentation from St Johns said pupils were not allowed to wear their uniform in the town centre if on their own but it didn't say why? - bullying from other schools maybe?, slightly off putting as my DS would be travelling via train so would have no choice but to venture through the town each morning. Would love to hear from any St J mums regarding this (help put mind at ease) and of any changes that the new headmistress has made, we were impressed by her at the open day, she talked with great passion about the school but not so much by the headmaster at Epsom (who read from a script).

DS is in 6th form and I've never heard that uniform rule!

Chapel is only once every half a term at St John's. You can excuse your child with a good reason.

I remember reading something in the good school guide about it "not being cool to work hard" at St Johns - the new version of the guide now says that the culture is changing...... Do any current St John's parents have a view on this and whether or not it really has changed. Part of the reason I pay for a private education is for my DC to be in an environment where working IS cool (I think I'm having flashbacks to being at my very rough comprehensive where you got "piled" if you were a swot/geek/keeno!)

Thank you Dillyson. I did think it was a strange rule! I am going to the offers afternoon tomorrow with DS so might query it just to see why they've included it although by the sound of things it doesn't seem enforced. Good to know about permission for chapel absence too if needed. Think I'm swaying more towards St J.

It's been a great school for our son. Very supportive and inclusive.
I have friends with children at Epsom and they've been very happy with it as well. I think you have to go with which one feels right for your child.
We weren't keen on Saturday lessons and neither was DS. He plays rugby but not football so no weekends for us this term.

I have two children at St Johns both of whom love it. Although we live locally there are plenty of children who get the train to and from school and I have never been made aware of any issues with them walking into town in their uniform (both of mine have done this). There are sports fixtures on a Saturday and chapel once every half term on a Sunday evening but this is not onerous. My observation is that the House system is strong with the house master / mistresses very keen to develop the House community. We are very happy with the school (and we also had offers from Epsom).

Does anyone know how many are invited onto the Head's list for St Johns. The letter isn't clear but it is apparently not a straight forward waiting list, whatever that means! My DS is on the Heads List for St Johns AND Epsom Waiting list for 13+ entry. He is year 6 now so surely in two years he will get in to one or other? Epsom said there are only 30 on their list so that sounds hopeful?

I had a fantastic afternoon at St John yesterday where or the parents and children could re visit the school before the final decision. The Head is fantastic and truly convincing. Does anybody visited the school yesterday and likely to go with St John not Epsom and Surbiton?