independent girls secondary schools

[fishperson]

We're relocating to SW of London and once we get a school sorted then we'll find the house.

Could anyone give me their opinion about the reputation of Sir William Perkins' School in Chertsey, Surbiton High and Luckley Oakley School in Wokingham please?

I've visited the schools, read reports, studied results etc, but would also like locals' opinions about the general feel/reputations of the schools. DD is bright but a little lacking in confidence, and rather quiet. Important to find somewhere she'll fit in. Also, we're not "posh"!! Many thanks.

my ds1 and ds2 are at surbiton ( the boys school obviously) which goes up to 11. We are not posh and fit i there nicely. I dont know alot about the senior girls but its alot less stuck up than say St Pauls on LAdy Eleanor Holles

hi, am looking at Surbiton High for my twins, the girl school for dd1 and the boys school for dd2. Would appreciate any request for advice or tips about the school.

You may want to read some posts under this thread, especially the last few: Is it really that hard to get a place at a good private school in London if you have been State educated at primary level?
By Aubergines Mon 22-Mar-10 13:58:00

it is a fairly long thread, but exposes some myths.

This one covers the dark side of SH Boys:
Surbiton High Boys' Prep School anyone?
By RatherBeOnThePiste Thu 21-Jan-10 13:46:42

DD has been to SH and also to another top school in Epsom, I have posted some of my views on this matter in the long post above. Feel free to CAT me if you need to know more.

Why is LEH stuck up?

Has changed a lot since DD started there 9 years ago with the old head Dr Jennifer Longhurst (J-Lo !) in charge.

J-Lo had high standards and high expectations so the girls blossomed academically. The Ofsted report said that exam results were outstandingly good for the ability of pupils, in fact the word Outstanding came 40 times in the Ofsted report, including Outstanding Leadership from J-Lo. She is sorely missed from two years ago when she retired.

The new head, Principal Ann Haydon, has two obsessions. Painting and decorating the buildings (and herself, including mahogany tan on a low cleavage and an ankle chain. A headteacher wearing an ankle chain!) She seems to think that making the buildings smart improves the education. The second obsession is sport.

Sport sport sport. Sport is the new black.

So she has let all J-Lo?s academic systems and structures just slip away because of her emphasis on buildings and sport sport sport. We notice the difference from when older DD was there. Last summer?s A Levels were very good, that was the last group of girls still feeling J-Lo?s influence and all she did. But the G.C.S.E.?s were bad, lots of B?s and C?s, it was mainly A* and A with J-Lo.
There used to be an academic atmosphere about the place, led by J-lo who had good academic qualifications with a first class honours degree and a MA and a PhD. Miss Haydon has just got a second class degree, nothing else, in Geography, which is what you do when you?re not clever enough to do Maths or Science or Languages. We are very disappointed by the change in atmosphere in the school and second DD missing out in consequence. If your daughter is very sporty then this will be good for her, but if you are looking for academics then not.

Mark my words. This year?s A Levels will not be good.

So here are the results. 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?.

We now do know - TWELVE subjects had G.C.S.E. FAILS

surbiton high is a lovely school, i have been there since year 7 and am studying for my As levels this year. there is no bullying (as some people have suggested) the school is such a nice place to be in, and the teachers almost feel like trusted friends, especially at sixth form level when you need the most support.

but for year 7 entry, it is amazing. every girl had an older sister who they could talk to and who looked after them through out the first couple of weeks. after this the girls start to come together and help eachother out. the atmosphere is wonderful and the buildings (after having a makeover in the summer) are just stunning.

extra curricular clubs have really blown everyone away this year, the house choral competition is tomorrow, (this house system that was introduced under Ms Haydon) is one that every one is looking foreward to :) one of our most amazing musical achievments as a school is the choirs.

junior choir, senior choir, junior chamber choir, senior chamber choir, gospel choir and a combination of a sleect few from each make up the DT choir. the DT choir sings our school song, which i have stuck in my head all the time. its such a lovely song :)

anyway...enough about me nattering on, i love surbiton yadda yadda yadda, but seriously, come to an open day and see for yourself :) x

oops just forgot, fishperson: as for your daughter being shy and "not posh" dont worry, all the girls are new and many of them shy, but they all help eachother. and there are only 3 or 4 "posh families" really, the rest of us are just bog standard middle-classers :)

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.