Sydenham High School V Blackheath High Schools

[Latetothe]

DD has got into Sydenham and Blackheath high schools. For junior school. BH is from nursery. and SH from reception, not very happy with current nursery but loved Sydenhams juniors as very small and intimate.

Any experience or views. Difficult as both GDST and an ethos that works well for us with focus on building girls confidence and love of education early

I know a family at Sydenham and they are very happy and have DDs in both juniors and seniors. It’s a good nurturing school that will support but not push academics - so if your daughter wants to be stretched she will be but they look at developing the whole girl not just push for high performance for GCSEs. It’s a through school so there won’t be any meaningful 11+ prep though, and quite a few girls who miss the more academic schools at 7+ , join Sydenham and then leave at 11+.

I don’t know BH juniors but I do know that for seniors they are pushing to become more academic, but unsure how that translates to their junior school. They do get a better GCSE results than Sydenham for grades 7-9 (but that’s a long way off for you!) Again as a through school they won’t prep much for the 11+.

Tbh I don’t think you can go wrong with either school and I’d be making a choice based on how easy the commute is, and how close you are - as although the schools have a wide catchment of girls at junior levels it’s much easier for play dates if their friends are close!

Thanks very helpful