Cumnorhouse girls vs croydon high vs old palace

[Girlyy]

Hi, please can I have any experience of the schools and which one would be better for my DD. I live in croydon and looking to send DD in reception to cumnorgirls but this the furthest to travel to so which school would you reccomend as they all have a good reputation?

Hi all, we live in South Croydon near the Purley Oaks station. My daughter would start reception in 2023. We’re looking at Old Palace, Croydon High School and Cumnor girls.
We don’t know yet if she’s sporty, academic or creative but whichever way we’re looking to provide her the best start possible and looking for a school which will help her flourish(although my other half would prefer dd going the academic route😀)
We’re not fussed distance wise as we’re relatively equidistant from all three.
Any recommendations would be welcome.

Old thread @Gigisaffron but I can help with Old Palace.

V.happy with the school. We wanted the all through option, Palace seemed to rank higher academically than CHS in league tables where they appeared.

I like it because you have a real mix of students- (and parents) School also benefits from deep pockets of the Whitgift foundation - Lots of scholarships and bursaries. Everyone seems to get along and DD has lots of friends.

They share theatre productions with the boys school Whitgift sometimes. The prep school is huge and home to the sports fields and its just by Lloyds park, the senior school has beautiful ancient buildings like the 16th century library but modern facilities like swimming pools and labs, in central Croydon, so easy to get to.

Lots of clubs and sport, wrap around care is good and school bus from Reception does pick up from your door.

Negatives are the house system is a bit obessesive,
but the positives are my DD got to know girls all ages as they tend to organise the school outside of year form by house ( so at lunchtime,
girls sit with their house, and sports are divided by house) In after school club they mix up the ages a lot too.

School of course , like all through schools to 18, wont prep your DD for other schools. Its good to know on the one hand DD doesn't have to worry about 11+ and majority of girls head to Russell Group, but also good to know she can explore other schools at 11+ hopefully with minimal tutoring as academics are high at the school.

Thanks for the balanced feedback @Oldpalace123
While all 3 have their own strengths, here are the -ve things that are going on in my head for them-
Old palace-

1. some recent word of mouth that it’s not as good as it once was(no one’s been able to articulate what that really means though)
2. The secondary school building, albeit historic is in the town centre and driving in and and out twice day could be a pain. Plus the children having to travel in buses to the playgrounds seems just a bit odd to me.

Croydon High

1. seems like a really big school with big class sizes. Hope my little one doesn’t get lost in the crowded atmosphere

Cumnor

1. my dd (and probably us too) would have to go through the stress of preparing for secondary schools and then settling in a new environment. I’d prefer if my dd continued with the same school throughout. Would appreciate if someone could shed light on my thoughts!

We ended up sending dd to Croydon high, she has settled well in reception and is a good all rounded school.
In terms of class sizes they are smaller than Old Palace and Cumnor as its 2 forms and one of the reasons we chose Croydon high.
Obviously its not a prep school but will still prepare dd when the time come but no pressure.

@Girlyy

Glad you found the right school for your DD. Re: class sizes though, I thought Croydon High , aimed for max 20 in reception, the same as Old Palace. At Old Palace they split the class if it goes over, for all years,

The differences are small between the two schools and it goes down to gut feel.

@Gigisaffron

Old Palace came 3rd for A levels behind Whitgift and Trinity for all schools in the borough of Croydon, so they're doing well academically. I think you'll always get people nitpicking with selective schools, I've seen no evidence of standards slipping, the opposite, it can be a little stuffy, grammar school-ish with the strict adherance to uniform and the competition between the houses.

The senior school is in town but right next to tram stations and train stations, the school bus also picks up and drops off all over London and South East on all different routes. Also a good few parents drop off their daughters at 7.30 for breakfast club and there's so many after school clubs and activities, even in preschool, pick is often after 4pm, with many not picking up till after work at 6pm, afterschool club has lots of girls, they get tea to tide them over.

Picking up at the Prep by car, is v.easy

The school's main playing fields are at the prep, but the senior school has the heated pool, netball pitches and sport hall, so it depends on the sport if the girls are on the bus. Girls also have access to the superb facilites of Whitgift Sports Club facilities and Trinity’s all-weather hockey pitches. The prep, Whitgift club and Trinity are all a 10-15 min drive away.

I think you need to take the school tours and go with your gut, bottom line a girl starting at Cumnor , Croydon High or Old Palace, none of them are wrong choices, they'll all be fine. You just look for the best fit for your girl, what you feel and what your DD feels and of course if she's offered a place following assessment, which is an un-exact science

@Girlyy @Oldpalace123 thank you for the inputs. Never thought picking a school for dd would be this stressful!