South hampstead Vs Notting Hill & Ealing

[London11plusblues]

I live in hampstead but happy to move. My daughter is likely to get a place in both south hampstead and Notting Hill. Personally I am leaning towards Notting Hill as the atmosphere felt very warm diverse and also a nurturing school. My daughter swims as well and having a swimming pool on site is a plus. Obviously SHHS was independent school of the year in 2022 and NHEHS was in 2021. The rankings as we know keep changing but I wanted to send my daughter to a school where she was not overly burderened with academics and felt very nurtured and supported in a diverse setting. Any views any thoughts would be appreciated..as i said before moving to west london or commute is not an issue.

Are you talking about 11plus? If so you would do better to move to the secondary education thread.

My daughter goes to SHHS. To be honest, the school is just good but not exceptional - there are many issues here and there in the recent years, happy to talk more about them in DM.

My neighbour's daughter goes to Notting Hill and she is very happy with it.

I've daughters at SHHS and I've found the opposite - one of mine had mental health issues and they could not have been better in dealing with it. They removed all academic pressure from her, she missed loads of time but miraculously caught up, just as they reassured us she would.

It feels like they prioritise MH in a sensible way - they know that the girls will do fine academically so all the talk is around approaching things like exams in order to preserve sanity.

That said, go to the school with the easiest commute is usually the best advice.

NHEHS academic results have improved steadily over the years and now ranks in the top 10 Girls schools in London. The proportion of students choosing STEM subjects and achieving A*A for A levels has increased significantly. When you look closely the proportion exceeds the likes of Putney, Francis Holland, SHHS, Godolphin & Latymer. The girls are confident and down to earth and the pastoral care is excellent. The sport provision is great and more recently they have achieved some major wins in Water Polo, Cricket and Netball. Our daughter has been very happy. Friends tell us the Sport at SHHS is not great and academics are emphasized over it. Another friend of ours is not happy at G&L as her daughter has alot of sharp elbows to contend with. Ultimately its about finding balance and not just following the league table and what is closest to you.

You have to be careful about reading too much into the number of girls doing STEM at A Levels. The London girls schools I've looked at all assert that many or most of their best STEM students at GCSE go to Westminster or SPGS for Sixth Form.

https://futurefinder.yourlife.org.uk/

Will give you the ranking of different school on Stem subjects. I will be careful about assertions.

Accleding to the STEM ranking from the website above, Westminster STEM rank 5 nationally, SPGS ranks at 36.

That website measures results at A-Level and has SHHS at 236 and NHEHS at 238.

I was told at a SHHS 11+ open day that almost half their GCSE students left for other sixth forms, mostly coed, and that many of their strongest STEM students were able to get places at Westminster. I was told something very similar at G&LS.

My point is that, for London girls schools, STEM results at sixth form may not be representative of how strong they are at GCSE.

What is your point?

The point is statement earlier (see below) is not the same as what you said above. These two schools has good sixth form and good results but are not at the very top of STEM subjects - to some extend the choice of STEM subject are limited.

"many or most of their best STEM students at GCSE go to Westminster or SPGS for Sixth Form"

"My point is that, for London girls schools, STEM results at sixth form may not be representative of how strong they are at GCSE."

I don't disagree, 30% of the student at these school switch to a different sixth form.

Have you looked at how the website calculates this stem ranking ? Is it using the most recent results? The calculation is rather opaque and not current. Also you can’t compare coed to single sex schools. Results in stem are skewed by this factor.

All you need to do is pull up the a levels by subject in the respective school websites results pdf for this year and you will see a clearer picture ie percentages in stem and be able to make a more informed choice based on the facts and not what you hear. Ultimately there is movement at all schools.