Sir William Perkins

[incognito119]

Hi All,

Our DD has a place for Sept 2024 - any one got recent experience of the school?

Thanks

Hi,

Well done to getting offered a place. I currently have 2 DDs at the school (L6 and yr 10). My eldest left in 2022 and is now in her second year at Oxford University.
Our experience of the school has been really positive and we had the choice of schools for our daughters. The teachers are so supportive and excellent, firm but fair. The school does very well in all areas and it is by no means a hot house. It takes a wide cohort of children and is slightly less selective than a lot of the other highly selective independent schools. The academics are very strong and the high achievers fly at this school; all successes are celebrated on matter what the level.
The new head mistress is very professional and methodical, she is slowly making her mark so there are exciting times ahead. There is also a new senior leadership team which is all very positive and a natural transition from the outgoing senior leaders who have retired/left after many years at the school.
The school is by no means perfect and there are challenges at an all girls school but generally pastoral support is very strong. There are also a lot of working parents who send their daughters to the school, which keeps a lot of the girls grounded.
Rowing is the dominant sport and the attention the girls’ get in the 6th form is exceptional, hence we have not moved our daughters. School trips are also diverse.
We have only experienced a very robust, comprehensive and varied education for all our DDs but I do acknowledge this is not the ideal school for everyone.
Generally, if you have a daughter that is bright, diligent, conscientious and you take an interest as a parent, then she will undoubtedly thrive at this school.

That’s really great feedback , thank you. Can you tell me what the bad points are? I know all girls schools have their issues with friendship groups etc but is it more prolific at SWPS than other schools?
our feeling when we looked round as as you described - a great school for diligent hard working girls

Hi. I think the school is very modest about all the girls’ successes and should shout a bit louder to raise its profile and promote all the achievements, but perhaps this is part of the school’s appeal?
It is one of the few stand alone girls senior independent schools in the area which is a unique selling point and it also has a manageable number of students (approx 600) all of which are positives. The school also has bought more land so facilities will also be expanding.
There are the relationship issues that occur between friendship groups but we haven’t experienced very many of those.
Gender identity, mental health and life challenges are issues that do arise but this is not unusual for single sex girls schools, the school is very tolerant of all of the above and goes to great lengths to support and manage such challenges. Perhaps stronger connections with single sex boys schools would help to moderate some of the issues that SWPS faces as an all girls school.
The future is exciting for this school with the new headmistress and the senior leadership team, both new and old. However, SWPS has been great for our 3 DDs, we take their schooling very seriously and ensure that we motivate the girls as much as the school does.
Nevertheless, no school is perfect, families will have different experiences but I can only share our experience of SWPS which has been really positive.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate your feedback

I see from a previous message that the school has acquired some new land. Do you know what plans there are for it? We may consider this school for our daughter.

Sorry I do not know what the plans are for the new land.
I suspect when there is a definitive plan and the Board of Governors agree then it will be announced.
It is the school’s tri centennial in 2025 so there are a lot of developments expected to celebrate this milestone.