Bishop Gilpin vs. Wimbledon Park Primary

[Wimblmum]

Due to a location move, we're having to make a choice between Bishop Gilpin and Wimbledon Park for our son's junior school education. We've visited and liked both schools and we're really struggling to make the call between the two.

I've done a search of previous threads on this, but there doesn't seem to be anything up to date/ post-Covid. In the first instance I'm really keen to understand other families' experience of the ethos/ happiness at the school?

Secondly, our DD is at a hugely oversubscribed CofE secondary (for which we feel very lucky to have won a place) and thus we're minded not to turn down a CofE (Bishop Gilpin) place for DS, lest it cuts off opportunities for progression to other great CofE secondaries. However, being new to the area, I'm yet to establish what the prospects are for boys at secondary either way?

There aren’t any CoE secondaries in that area other than St Cecilia’s (mixed) in Wandsworth. Boys from Wimbledon generally go to Rutlish School, Wimbledon College (mostly Catholic), Harris or one of the Sutton/Kingston Grammars. Bishop Gilpin is in a very wealthy catchment so many go private. BG is probably the most sought after Primary School in Wimbledon, tbh.

Thanks Captain - really helpful steer

Bishop Gilpin is a fantastic school with outstanding music and PE, and I am really happy with the values and the progress at school. I would also take into consideration the facilities - BG has spacious grounds shared with Ricard’s Lodge, so again from the sports perspective it is amazing.
At the same time my DS is not sporty and rather academic, and he loves going to school (holidays are almost an issue for him 😂).
have no exposure to Wimbledon park whatsoever.

Does anyone have any experience with the nursery at Bishop Gilpin?

Also - am I correct in thinking they are looking for a new Head Teacher for the school? I saw the post advertised online. Do people know whether they have managed to fill the post?

Here's the link to the headteacher posting:
https://www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/headteacher-wimbledon-2037598

Can anyone provide any insights on what the catchment area for Bishops Gilpin looks like for an open space (non foundation / church going). We are looking to move but not sure how far we can be to get in. Thank you in advance!

@dchandir they will give you this info if you ask admissions for it. I believe 2020 was 508m and 2022 was 1039m so it varies a lot year to year.

Thank you! I'll reach out to them. Are the numbers you shared above for church foundation places, non church open places, or both?

@dchandir pretty sure this is non foundation. I don’t think they have filled 100% of church places in past few years so any (small) balance of places transfers to distance based pool.

If you join the FB group "Wimbledon mummy network" (terrible name but very helpful group!), there's quite a few posts about BG so youll probably also be able to ask and get a sense from posters.