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

Glad you had a good time, it is a great school.

Apparently the Grammar school places come into play in this area. I am not aware of when the results for those come out, does anyone else know? Thank you

State school allocations are March 1st so there may be some movement after then, although the independents usually over offer anyway to allow for it.

Some schools have an agreement not to announce results until the 15th Feb (RGS in Guildford, Reigate Grammar and St Georges are some of the ones I know of). I imagine there will be some movement once these are released due to second choices etc.. A couple DC at my DS school who had offers were not at the St J offers afternoon yesterday as this is their second choice and they are holding out for the results from other schools mentioned.

Domenica - there wont be lots of people weighing up Surbiton against St Johns and Epsom. They are very different schools. Co-ed obviously for a start and at very different costs!

My honest feeling is that those schools are overpriced for their outcomes but if you have the money then it doesn't matter.

Did you not try for WHS/Sutton High etc?

I pull out WHS as to hot house for my daughter and she probably would get there Didn’t get Sutton High at all. Money is an issue of course , but all of them are expensive really. I was trying to stay away from urban schools and that’s is the crazy price for it. My daughter got St John scholarship so there is little help. Thank you D

Well congrats on the St John's scholarship - I think that makes it a no brainer really. Good luck!

Hi Dominica1972 what school have you chosen in the end? and is your daughter happy with the choice? We have the same dilemma namely St John's, Epsom and St George's. At this stage all three look like No 1 for us ugh.

@Dominica1971 Hi Dominica - just wondering what you chose and how you feel about it now? did you go for St Johns?

Also, are you able to disclose the amount of scholarship that St Johns offer?

We really like St Johns but not sure we can do it financially as it's a stretch further in Year 9. A scholarship of some sort, like 10 or 20% would be very helpful. Not sure our DC is up to that - but we can but hope.

Thank you for any information you can share.

@LizCrust , I know in 2018 the scholarships were worth 10% and didn't cover the cost of the school coach for a school year.
Have you hear the Head has left, there is a thread about it in Secondary.

@hockeygrass Oh no I hadn't. Thank you. In the middle of a term?!

Yes I'm just doing the sums now. And looking at the Year 9 costs are just eye-watering. It's a lovely school by the looks of things and it looks like school lunch is included in that price but even 10% would be only £852 off the £8520 school bill. I'm just not sure we can afford it. The problem is, the slightly more reasonable schools like Emanuel and even Kingston Grammar (still pricey!!) are just so difficult to get into. We need a back up but this one is eye-watering as said before.

Any thoughts on alternatives? We considered Claremont but checking their results they aren't anything close to these others I've mentioned. Seems like St Johns had a good year this year for results.

With a CAT score of 122, where could he look at I wonder?

I used to teach at Epsom. It was exhausting for the students as they had a full on schedule all the way to 10pm.

I imagine that St John's is similar.

The Epsom fees are even higher now, £9562 per term from year 9, crazy!
Could you use the state system and then move to a private sixth form instead? So many prep schools are sending dc to boarding at 13 now because of the lack of places etc.

I'd appreciate any info on the change in head at St John's? Happy to PM if anyone would prefer.

Parents who are local to me say they have been told that she has gone on compassionate leave but nothing else mentioned. She has dc at the school so will no doubt make an appearance on the touch line or a parent event at some point. 2 other senior members of staff have also left mysteriously.

Thanks - sounds like difficult circumstances. We are considering it for DD and loved it and the head. I think we will still sit her and hope things sort out.

Did the other senior staff go without notice too or have they joined new schools?

I noticed they have a lot of senior staff compared to other schools. I have never seen so many assistant heads. I don't know if it is a good thing or not. We loved the traditional feel but with flexible boarding options and strong academics. Epsom was similar but preferred St J.

Current parents (from my network of parents with children still there) confirm she has definitely left and will not be returning . There has been a fairly high turnover of staff in recent years. My children did well and were happy there. - only leaving in July. Happy to share experiences if anyone wants to PM me.