Squirrels (WCPS) / Donhead / Willington / Rowans in Wimbledon

[JSJU]

hi Everyone!

My son will start school in 2022, and next year we have play sessions / open days at Squirrels (WCPS) / Donhead / Willington / Rowans.
I am impressed by all schools, but leaning towards WCPS because of high entrance % to Kings. But keeping an open mind.

Would appreciate what parents with children at these schools think are the pros/cons of each one.

Many thanks!

If your son is quite academic, I think wcps is a great choice but it's difficult to know that when he is 2. The bottom line is wcps is great if your son can be that 1/3 who gets into Kings. However it's the only school there that doesn't have school lunch. Imagine the morning rush 😉
Donhead and Willington both gets you to 11 so if your son doesn't get into Kings, he can continue to be in the school so less pressure. Obviously you'll need to prepare him for 7+.
Rowan is another good choice. It's slightly further to Wimbledon Centre so you need to consider the location factor. I heard good things about it.
How about Rokeby? A bit further but fairly academic and gets you all the way to 13

Thank you very much @CooperH!
I appreciate your thoughts, really helpful. A few of my thoughts on this are:

1. no lunch at WCPS: agree, this is major drawback. I guess only for a few years, but still. Rowans doesnt serve lunch either, right?

1. wcps -> Kings. I attended the Open Morning @ WCPS last year, and I think they said that they usually take 35-50% of the spots at Kings. That seems like very good conversation rate to me.

My nephew goes to Kings, and he loves it and his parents do aswell. But for me its not only about the schools credentials, but also logistics. there arent many other snr schools in the area right? so it would be easy/near home to switch from wcps to kings

1. Donhead & Willington: I actually like the idea of going to 11y. both schools seem like they have a nice community and im sure my son would make enjoy themselves & make good friends during these years. But do you/anyone else know how well they prepare for the 11y+ exams? I know that entry at 11y+ is very competitive at the good schools in south west london, so my worry is that this will be a tough & stressful period. Do you know what the popular leaver destinations are for Donhead?

1. I looked into Rokeby, and agree that it looks good. but its abit too far away, so i decided not to register.

Thanks!

Hi JSJU, I think most of the years there were about 30-35% of people getting into Kings from squirrels. Trust me every single parents who send their children to squirrels want them to try kings. The reality is you will be doing a lot of work of getting your children into Kings/St'Paulsl/WU unless he is the super bright type. I have definitely heard more sad stories this year than the happy ones. Some children got predicted of getting into Kings but didn't get a place at the end. Then what you do? As long as you have a plan B then that's okay. Just don't have such a high expectation is what I would suggest. After all most of these children't aren't even 7 by the time they take that 7+ assessment. Of course if yours did get into Kings, that's a happy ending and you would feel very fortunate to send yours to squirrels at first place. (I would just encourage you to ask yourself what if he couldn't)

I heard Rowans is starting to provide school lunch now. My friend's son goes there and they are happy.

I don't know that much about Donhead and its leavers destinations. It's a catholic school I believe? I have been on their site and the facilities seem to be better than Willington. Both Donhead and Willington have reputation of nurturing and less pushy. The only thing that puts me off from Willington is their size. One of my friend's son goes there and managed to get into Kings at 7 but he was only one of the two in their year last time.

Where did u go In the end ?

We have “observed play sessions” at the schools in April. And I’m hoping to get a better feel for the schools then aswell. So no decisions yet! Will let you know once we decide.

Which school ?
We went to visit both schools.
PM if u like

Such nightmare for car parking for squirrels I guess .

Hi JUJU - saw this msg and hence posting a query. Did you end up sending you ds to WCPS? We have an offer but wanted to understand how is it and what the possibility of KCS after Y2? Kindly advise

Thanks

Hi @JSJUsaw this msg and hence posting a query. Did you end up sending you ds to WCPS? We have an offer but wanted to understand how is it and what the possibility of KCS after Y2? Kindly advise

Thanks

I am not JSJU . But we had an offer too but didn’t go and picked else where

Hi @Lohith did you finally accept the offer? We just did for our son.

There are questions about what if nokings at 7+ - then what?
I know WCPS doesnt share exact numbers of leavers destination as in how many went to which shool - but has anyone heard about what other school kids land into

New headmaster ?

hi @Lohith. Apols for late reply! We didnt get an offer from wcps so had to choose rowans vs donhead and picked the latter.

Hi @Lohith, we just accepted the offer from WCPS and my ds is due to start the reception next Sep. Did you accept yours?

@Lohith, @JSJU @Yod1 we are in similar situation here. Have offer from both WCPS and The Rowans for Reception Sep 2022 start. Can you please suggest what were your reasons to chose one above the other?

[quote saga004]**@Lohith, @JSJU @Yod1 we are in similar situation here. Have offer from both WCPS and The Rowans for Reception Sep 2022 start. Can you please suggest what were your reasons to chose one above the other?[/quote]
Hello, my ds is due to start September next year and we are in same boat. Difficult to decide Rowans vs WCPS

Hi everyone, sorry to revive an old thread, but how has everyone found their eventual choice of school? We are moving into the area and have an offer for both Rowans and WCPS, and finding it very hard to pick between the two!