Surbiton High - Please Help!

[Squickity]

Our DD is due to start at Surbiton High Junior school this September. We always planned to move her at 11+ to a more academic and bigger "name" school if we felt she had the potential to do well. I have now found out that Surbiton does not help to prepare girls for 11+ entrance and that their results at GCSE and A levels have dropped every year in recent years.
We have the option of a very posh quite academic school in Chelsea but this would mean close to an hour's commute each way by car so I am reluctant but would do it if I had to.
I would really appreciate any feedback from anybody who has recent experience of the school, particularly with regards to their academic teaching and options for girls who don't want want to stay on to the senior school ie which schools do the leavers get into?
Many Thanks

They do not 'prepare' their girls for 11+ entrance because the girls in the junior school automatically progress to the senior school. I don't know much about the junior school but DD1 goes to Surbiton High School and the teaching is very good there. I didn't realise that results at GCSE and A Level had dropped - last year they got their best results ever at A Level. The senior school does take a wider range of abilities than schools such as LEH but I wouldn't worry, it is still a very good school. If you want your DD to go to a very academic school then you should consider Putney High and Wimbledon High - both schools have great junior schools and both senior schools are very academic so your DD wouldn't have to move. They are near Surbiton so you wouldn't have to worry about a one hour commute which wouldn't be ideal for a primary school child, especially when they want to go to friend's houses and vice versa. If you want a school that truly prepares your child for 11+ then your DD would be better off going to a prep school that doesn't have a senior school too. However, isn't it too late to switch schools now? The schools that I have suggested may very well be full since school starts in just over a week.

My DD went to the Junior school and some of her year group did move to the highly academic Guildford High which is part of the same group (but not really other schools). It was an excellent little school, I can recommend it, and we were very glad we moved her there (from a more traditional prep). The senior school takes a range of ability (though sets for most things from Y9) and that does seem to be affecting its results, which generally seem to have dropped in the last year or so ... its rather concerning as a parent although my daughter loves school and is doing well ... I wouldn't send your DD to school an hour's commute each way - that would be a nightmare with playdates etc

Is your DD starting reception? If so- plenty of time to let her settle, see if it is right for her and move her at 7 or 8, or at 11, or maybe you will want to stay. It is academic, not as much as some other local schools like LEH and GHS, but it is because it is bigger and so has a broader intake.

If you are interested in GHS then SHS is good as it is the same group, so I expect movement is possible.
In terms of prepping for the 11+, you can do it yourself quite easily. Or tutor. If your DD is going to be right for a more academic environment, she wouldn't need intensive prepping, just a bit of practice at home using the Bond books will be enough.

What is the Chelsea school? Garden House? What schools are you thinking of for at 11? This will play a big factor in whether Surbiton is right or not, and whether a chelsea school would be better.

Thanks for your advice. We have lived abroad for the past 4 years and have just moved back hence the late search for schools. The school that my children were at abroad was very laid back and was more like a very average state schools rather than a good private - we didn't feel that they were getting the best education so we moved back primarily for that. We tried our eldest in the 7+ in Wimbledon but she only made the waiting list and no place has come up so far. I have another daughter too and Wimbledon have no spaces for her year at all. I didn't particularly like Putney and don't think my daughters would fit in there. The posh school (Newton Prep) has all the bells and whistles and gets kids into some of the top London/UK senior schools but I wonder if Surbiton would do as good a job but maybe in a friendlier more accessible location? It's difficult to judge if the kids at 11+ level at Surbiton would be able to pass exams for the top London senior schools as most stay on..vv difficult choice but think I'm leaning towards Surbiton if only because my children's lives outside schools would be more pleasant with friends close by and a shorter commute, with tutoring to pull them up if needed. Really appreciate the help..

But as I said several girls when my DD was in Y6 took the exams for Guildford High and passed ... we didn't bother trying any other 11+ schools but I am sure my daughter would have got into the likes of KGS and SWEPS - and probably LEH with a bit of tutoring ... Guildford is too far away for us to consider it, as is Wimbledon High and Putney High. SHS Juniors is a very good school (and we've liked the seniors too - we've had some excellent teachers). Also lots of good clubs etc in both the juniors and seniors ... you might find as we did that you don't want to move your DDs when they come to secondary age ;) Good luck anyway!

Sounds a good decision, if at 11+ she is looking to move to say city of london girls, st pauls, LEH or GHS, then through a bit of work or tutoring (or nothing if she is super bright!) - I'm sure she will end up at wherever the best place for her is.
Good luck.

Newton Prep is easy to get into at the moment because its reputation is currently rather low.

There is hiwever a new head starting in September, but until it is clear that the school is improving, it is not one to consider a long commute to.

Thank you very much for the feedback.. it's been a great help. Nice to know that SBH is so well thought of!

ermm are you thinking of the same Newton Prep?? (pretty sure there's only one..) It's definitely not in Chelsea - it's right opposite Battersea Dogs Home in a very grittily urban bit of London and I wouldn't have thought it was that much more academic than Surbiton High to be honest and also not particularly posh ... now the schools which are really in Chelsea, they're posh!

There's absolutely no way I'd drive more than an hour to get to Newton Prep - just not worth it - it's only a 20 minute drive from us and I wouldn't even go that far ... not that it's a bad school, it's just not fantastically brilliant either

I second basilonbond, Newton Prep isn't worth travelling for, may be a tiny tiny bit more academic than Surbiton, but the opportunities, environment and education you will get at SHS IMO will be much better. Surbiton has a fab heads as well, both the senior and junior ones.