State school v private from reception? (SW London)

[Hadeda]

A disclaimer at the outset - I did not grow up in the UK so am new to the whole system here. So please be gentle!! (I have also posted this in education.)

DD1 will go to reception next September so we need to start looking at schools now. I know some people are sending their children to private schools and others to the local state school. I'm finding it very difficult to decide which to go for and what you need to consider in deciding.

The local state schools are St John Fisher or Hillcross (lower morden area). I think she would get into both, she has been accepted at SJF for nursery. SJF looks nice enough and has a reputation as being a good solid school - the grounds are quite small but I gather that is standard for city schools here. I have not visited Hillcross yet but it has a reputation locally as being a school on the up after some difficult years. Mums I know with children in the lower classes are very pleased with it, but there is still a bit of a stigma because of the difficult years (it was in special measures).

As for private schools - people are looking at Wimbledon Girls High, Ursuline Prep, The Study and Holy Cross prep. I have only looked at the websites for each. Ursuline and Holy Cross look most like the school I went to. WGH seems nice, although it is clearly very academic and I want to think carefully about that. The Study also seemed ok, nothing really stood out. For all of them there is the question of fees, but I think we could manage that. I don't want to go private just for the sake of it though, or because something reminds me of my own lovely leafy school...!

Do anyone have any experience of these schools? Or thoughts on what are the key things to think about when choosing the school? I know a key thing will be the place where I think DD1 fits in, and we need to do a lot of visits, but I'd like to have a few suggestions before I jump in.

Thank you if you've read this far!

If your Dd is starting reception next September then havent you missed the state school deadline? Ours was January. Also good private schools may well be fully subscribed. Our list was full a year in advance.

Can't comment on any of the schools

However have you registered at any of the private schools?
If not then they may not be an option

if it IS sept 2011 then your choice may be quite limited as PPs said. Give a few a call - availability will narrow down your options which will help! if it's 2012, then that also applies to an extent - many may say they are full at this stage. But there really IS little substitute for going and seeing and getting a feel for the place - and if you are open-minded as to private or state, then just go with your feel/instinct given your DDs personality and subject to whatever is available. sorry not more helpful as not my area

Thanks all - it is Sept 2012 so we have time. We have also put her name down for Ursuline and Holy Cross so we are on their lists (as those close), but that doesn't mean we have decided to sent her there.

Allag - you're probably right, it's just instinct on visiting a place. I just wish it was like nursery where there were various obvious boxes I could tick... And this is for so much longer than nursery and is so important.

If anyone has the patience, one more question. How significant is the difference between a "good" and an "outstanding" ofsted report? Does it turn on things that are fundamental or more best practice issues? e.g. DD1's nursery had a good report, and the only negative point I could see was that the toys in the baby room were not washed once a week but were still washed on a regular basis. To me that wasn't a key issue and I felt it was a fantastic nursery. Is it similar for school reports?

So have the private schools indicated whether or not you will get offered a place?

No - they will only contact us later in the year and for 2 of them DD1 has to have an assessment.

The state schools close to you are OK though not particularly highly regarded locally, although some might say it doesn't matter between 4 and 7. You'll probably find that if your daughter is bright she won't be stretched enough in those schools.

Ursuline is a nice non-selective cathloic school and a good one to go for if you'd like her to go to Tiffin. They give preference to baptised catholics but allow everyone else in if there's space. People I know who have their daughters there (or sons in Donhead) all seem happy. Most of the children I know who went to both went from 7+ though, attending state schools from 4-7, and aiming for grammar at 11.

Wimbledon High is academic but there's the advantage of an almost clear run to A levels should she get in at 4. Getting in is tricky though, as they assess them at 3+ and it's often pot luck on the day as there are 4 or 5 applicants per place, with summer born girls disavantaged as they'll be competing with some girls who are already 4. They have an afterschool club that finishes at 5.30 if that's a consideration for you. I know a handful of girls who went there and loved it, although two recently left at 11 to go to boarding school as one had been there since 4 and wanted to go somewhere else and the other one followed suit - don't know how common this is though.

I don't know anything about Hillcross. The Study is considered a very good school with better extracurricular activities than WHS. It's a bit out of the way though, in Wimbledon common. However admission is via a "ballot" which they swear has nothing to do with your address... word on the street is that a smart Parkside address is rather likely to be picked, in the way a Morden one may not.

The other one you haven't mentioned is the Rowans which only goes to 8, but you're too late for it anyway as one has to register as close to the child's birth as possible.

The problem with Merton is that the very good state primaries are always oversubscribed with parents applying to private primaries as back up. Also there are no particularly good state secondaries so parents put their children in private schools from 7 onwards to give them a better chance of getting into Tiffin or the Sutton/Croydon grammars, again with private as back up, so the independent sector tends to be more subscribed than elsewhere.

Giselle99 - thank you very much for your extremely helpful post ! I got DH read it to, some really good points in there for us to think about.