Hi Mums-netters!
My daughter is in Year Five at a all-girls Junior School in Highgate. The time has come to start applying for Senior schools, and we have a few options that I’d love some advice on.
We live in the Highbury Fields area of Islington, so have quite a few close connections for travel, and currently my daughter just takes the bus to school, which is quite easy. We have been thinking about CLSG, SHHS, SPGS, Channing, Forest, and Francis Holland (Regents Park). As you can see we have a large selection, but we are trying to limit ourselves to four independent school applications. In terms of state schools, we have actually been thinking about St Marylebone as a back up in case our daughter isn’t offered a place at the more selective schools.
My older daughter, who’s fourteen, attends St Pauls Girl’s School, and really enjoys it there. I think SPGS is a really good option for that reason; we have experience with the school and my younger daughter will have somebody she knows there already. We actually visited some schools last year, as well as when my older daughter was applying. We loved South Hampstead High School, the atmosphere felt really right for my daughter and the teachers we talked to were amazing. City Girls was great too, but we all felt that the building seemed a little cramped and dark? I also don’t know how they find the space for all of these supposed extensive sports teams and clubs, when positioned right in the middle of a big city. But obviously I won’t know how the school really is until I see it more and experience it a little more.
Some information about my daughter: she is very bright, loves sports and is part of four school sports clubs, as well as classes outside of school. Also she participates in competitive sport, as she is on the athletics team at her school. She has a strong passion for science as well, so a school with a good science department is a must. She is, according to her teachers, in the top 3 in her class academically, and is also fluent in Italian as its in her heritage, and we have lived in Italy in the past.
The deadline for applications is around late October - late November for these schools, so we have quite a while to think about it.
Thank you for reading and all advice is greatly appreciated!