Surbiton High or Kingston Grammar for girls?

[Kingstonian]

2 DDs bright, in independent school years 3 and 5, bright but not Tiffins or LEH.

We always though Surbiton High, but brother?s 2 girls there, we are worried about falling academic standards since the change of head, he says the gcse last year were poor, and that gcse and AL this year will be too as the influence of the old head isn?t felt any more. Plus they have reduced entry standards, have 8 classes of year 7s for September.

What about Kingston Grammar? Has the new woman head made it more girl friendly? Is she keeping up academic standards? Too early to tell by the exam results, as it takes 2-4 years for a new head?s influence (negative or positive) to show.

Any comments, thought and especially experiences gratefully received!

Know nothing about KGS, sorry, but here are the results for local girls schools. From the papers and websites.

A LEVEL

A* percents

Guildford High School for girls...43%
Lady Eleanor Holles..................35%
Tiffin Girls.................................31%
Putney High School...................29%
Wimbledon High School..............28%

Surbiton High School................22%

So this new A* for A Level hasn't been too successful in Surbiton High School.

G.C.S.E. LEVEL

A*-A percent

Lady Eleanor Holles..................98%
Guildford High School for girls...92%
Putney High School....................91%
Tiffin Girls...............................90%
Wimbledon High School...............89%

Surbiton High School................73%

So last in the pack of local girls schools for G.C.S.E and A Level.

More worrying is the rumour that there were several dozen fails at GCSE, in nearly all subjects they had failures, fails in a dozen or more subjects like Maths, English, French, Spanish, German, Latin, DT, Geography, History, ICT and Science. Girls crying when they got their results. Really bad.

Anyone here actually know if this is true, that there were fails in almost a dozen subjects at G.C.S.E.?

Also, if they have fails in the core subjects then they don't get everybody with 5 passes including Maths and English which is the baseline the absolute minimum surely?.

Dear London Maths Mum,

I am Ann Haydon. Principal of Surbiton High School and I wish to respond to your messages posted on mums net.com.

? Firstly, Surbiton High School is an Independent School and, as such, is inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. No Ofsted report exists for the school.
? Secondly, academic standards at Surbiton High School continue to be strong. Indeed this year, the School achieved their ?Best Ever GCSE results'. 19 girls gained 10 or more A* grades which is a phenomenal achievement and testament to the girls' commitment and ability and the quality of teaching which they receive. For the record, Guildford High School does not have half the number of girls that Surbiton does; in the GCSE cohort of 2010, there were fewer than 20 additional pupils at Surbiton High School
? Thirdly, we were delighted that 24% of all grades at A Level were at the new demanding A* and that in the local paper we were listed as the ?Top School in the Borough for A level results?

I hope that those reading this will agree with me that these statistics speak for themselves and that academic standards are far from declining at Surbiton High School.

With regard to buildings, the previous Head, Dr Longhurst was responsible for the main school rebuilding project which cost several million pounds. It was a wonderful addition to the School?s superb facilities and the girls have gained from an improved learning environment as a result. All the projects with which I have been involved have continued this move to enhance the teaching and learning environment and our vision with regards to upgrading the physical structure of the School goes hand in hand with a first class education and strong and improving academic results.

I am also pleased that in your comments you recognise my commitment to Sport. My view is that Sport is an important aspect of the type of well rounded education which we provide at Surbiton High School. However, I am also pleased to use this forum to draw people's attention to the vastly improved quality and variety of Musical and Dramatical performance, along with Extra Curricular and Enrichment provision since I took up my position as Principal in 2008. In the last two years our Senior School Choir has increased from 14 to 350 girls and the quality of their performance is outstanding.

It is a pleasure and a privilege to lead Surbiton High School and I am extremely proud of our wonderful pupils and our dedicated and well qualified staff.

The vast majority of our parents are delighted with the education we provide and if you are ? as your comments here would lead me to believe - dissatisfied with the quality of education that your child is receiving and the leadership of the School, then I encourage you to come and meet with me face to face to discuss the issues. This would seem a more constructive way forward for all concerned rather than using a site like this to attack the School and me personally.