Blackheath High or Colfe's

[navdeep7]

Hello fellow mums,

My DD is 3 years old (she is our only child), and we have offers from both Blackheath High and Colfe's. We are from India- and quiet new to the schooling system here.

Distance-wise, both are equidistant from home- and I really confused about which school to go with.

For BHS- I have heard such lovely reviews- of how nurturing it is for girls. I hadn't thought of all girls school till we came across BHS.

For Colfe's- I know they are academically strong, and have good sports facilities.

Was anyone in the same boat- and what did you decide?
We only have a week left to decide- so any input will be deeply appreciated.

Many thanks!

My two daughters are in Blackheath High. They are both so happy in there. - they had offer from Colfe’s and Eltham College as well. We live so close by Colfe’s but in the end we preferred Blackheath High because we would like them to be in single sex school especially in secondary stage. Actually DD1 also had an offer from JAGS but we didn’t consider it because it was so far from our place. - For our girls mental health BHS just perfect place so we are happy with our choice. I like the quality of teaching as well. They are not pushy but they do regular assessments to check girls levels and process. I also liked ISI report of BHS, Colfe’s report is Good, and BHS is Excellent. But if you don’t prefer single sex school Colfe’s is also good and facilities are great too. But all pupil in Colfe’s Juniors needs to pass 11+ exam to move Seniors (maybe thats why their results are getting better). Colfe’s school day (KS1) end: 15:00, Blackheath Junior at 15:30. They are both lovely schools. Which one is closer to your place? And do you have a son?

Blackheah High parent here. My daughter loves her school and friends. Actually all Blackheath girls I know are happy there. I love that its part of GDST schools. We can easily move to other GDST school (its not automatic entry but girls do not need to take exam). Colfe’s has bigger grounds but our priority was “girls only school” for secondary so we didnt consider Colfe’s. If you have shy, sensetive child I recommend Blackheath High, postarol care is amazing, nurturing environment for little girls and all girls are super kind. - no bullying at school. My daugher was so shy when she joined in but now she is so confident, independent kid. They do activitiess, lessons to increase girls confidence. Ask about their “mighty girls challenge ” when you visit the school Or you can type it to google. So both schools ahas different advantages.. Good luck with your research.

Girls only school or coed? This is was you need to focus on. I like single sex schools for girls and mixed school for boys. So I would go for Blackheath High in your case.

Have had several friends with girls at blackheath high and all have been very happy with quality of education and pastors care.

My daughter will join Blackheath High (Juniors) next year in Sep so I visited these schools recently. In BH open day 2 students (Year 6) student showed us around and I saw from their eyes that they were in love with their school- both of them was so confident and friendly. They even said that they really like the schools food (which is so important for us as my daughter is very picky). I liked the BH gymlastic hall, theather, music rooms, library, playground and secret graden and teachers (all so kind). But Colfe’s has nice swimming pool and sport field is on side so they both have +’s and -s but overall I felt like my daughter going to settle quicker in BH. BH let us to meet my daughters year group and my daughter spent 2 hours with them (in classroom) She enjoyed a lot and she said all girls were friendly and welcoming. Basically this helped us to make our decision. Meanwhile my daughter also had an offer from Eltham Juniors but in Feb they didnt let us to do taster day, they said they will only invite the ones who will join (who paid deposit) end of June so we turned down that straight away. In Colfes my daughter spent time in playground but she said nobody was excited when they met her so she felt a bit lonely in break time. I suggest you to do taster day. Its really help to see which one is right place for your child. Now, my daughter cant wait to start her new school - she already remember few girls names:)

I don't have a kid at either school but am v local and thought I would add in the other side of the argument.

Colfes is a very well thought of school locally. Facilities and exam results are better than Blackheath High.

The junior school is quite separate from the senior school. Lots of outdoor space and nice modern classrooms. Plus they share the massive field and leisure centre that belong to the senior school.

It seems like a happy school and I hear great things about pastoral and SEN care.

There are great scholarships available in drama/art/music/sport at 11 too.

It is a bigger school than Blackheath - but maybe that's no bad thing as it's all about your dd finding what interests her and bigger can equal more options?

We are relocating from SW London to
DH’s family estate in Staffordshire.

Can anyone offer any advice on The Rawlett School vs The Belgrave School. DS is 10 and currently at Gayhurst.

@Madeintheshade you need to start your own thread - no one will come on a thread about SE London and be able to answer questions about Staffordshire?

Hello, we are moving to Greenwich and I am also searching the local schools. I work in Greenwich so I have few colleagues in my workplace who their children go to Blackheath High and Colfes. One of my colleagues son was in Colfes Junior bit unfortunately he couldn’t pass the test and they had to find him another school immediately- they were totally in shock when they received the result and boy felt so bad! So I am not sure about the Colfes. If I need to prepare my daughter to the 11+ I do choose all through school which doesn’t need to take 11+ for senior school or prep!

@diadiadia - most of these schools do some sort of test for 11 plus entry. For many GDST schools it is CAT scores at the end of Year 5 and they have “a chat” if they feel the child won’t cope in the Senior bit. Eltham College select at 7 plus and currently offer guaranteed entry at 11 plus and apparently sibling priority, although I definitely know some siblings who did not get in! I suspect Colfe’s isn’t too different? How else would these schools maintain good results? It is about brain power of the child and parental support more than what a school actually does.
GDST generally speaking is meant to be a bit more gentle and better with SEN.

OP - you don’t need to pay for private school if you are in catchment of one of the really good state primaries in e.g. Blackheath. A lot of these private schools are now filling most of their places with children from India, China etc because those parents value education so much and worry about state education. However, a bright child will do well in state school as well, especially if you do a bit of support at home. Lots of people from Indian background have recently told me they regret paying for private schools.

I know schools in the area well as I have lived in Blackheath all my life and have DCs and other family members who went to school locally.

DCs had offers for Colfe’s and BHS. They are both good schools, I don’t think you can make a mistake whatever you choose. Facilities at Colfe’s are better as it’s such a large site and of course it’s better if you want your DD to mix with boys. BHS is a lovely school and obviously the best choice if you want girls only.

However I would echo the previous poster about state schools. There are several really good state primary schools in the area eg. All Saints, Brooklands, Brindishe and several more. Your DD would get a great education for free. Many state primary educated children go on to get into private schools for secondary (there isn’t a wide choice of good state secondaries in the area).

My niece is in Blackheath High Juniors since nursery and she loves it. She received an offer from other independent school when she was 7, including JAGS but she didnt wanted to move so they didnt change her school. Colfes also good, larger and mixed school but I must say I really like single sex school for girls. Blackheath High is a GDST and they keep doing challanges and competitions with all GDST schools. They learn girls how to be brave, independent and kind. Did you visit the schools? Sometimes I go and pick my niece up from school and I always like the girls behaviours x