Independent girls schools South/ South East London

[P5y3]

My daughter will be doing 11+ next year. We are in Bromley so looking at South East London and Kent. We’ve visited several schools open days, taster days etc, considered feedback from current parents at the schools and so far on our list are:

For Indys we will apply for JAGS, Alleyns and Eltham College.
For Grammars we would sit exams for Newstead and Tonbridge Grammar School

Have I missed any other schools? Our preference would be all girls but would consider co-ed for the right school. It was so much easier for my son as we are so lucky with the boys schools in South East London (Dulwich College, Trinity, Whitgift, St Olaves, Wilson etc)

Bromley High is worth a look (especially as you're local) Bromley High School - Independent School for Girls from 4-18, as is Blackheath High Senior School: Home and Walthamstow Hall Walthamstow Hall - Walthamstow Hall Independent Girls' School Sevenoaks

Thanks. Bromley High and Blackheath high have both been ruled out for us. Will look into Walthamstow Hall.

Radnor House?

Bromley high.

My friend is taking her daughter out of newstead, it is a horrible hothouse with minimal pastoral care. Always has been.

People I know who have considered these schools have also considered:

Chis and Sids
Townley
Bexley Grammar
Weald (Tonbridge or Sevenoaks)
Sevenoaks School
Benenden

As well as the ones already mentioned.

Plus the comprehensives in LBB and surrounding areas depending on postcode.

I quite fancied Radnor House for DD as it looked small and friendly and the sports provision was excellent.

Yes! Newstead is a lot of very tired buildings with a lot of very tired girls in it.

My daughter went to Newstead Wood and thrived there. I never felt that the girls were particularly hothoused and was always surprised that my daughter seemed to have far less homework than when I was there many years earlier and she never felt overly pressured. We applied to various independent schools and really loved Alleyns, Bromley High and Old Palace (which I think might have closed down now?). St Dunstans in Catford was better than we had expected. We live within walking distance of Alleyns and my daughter was offered the maximum scholarship, but her heart was set on going to Newstead, and it would have been a huge struggle for us to afford the fees.

The only school that we all really hated was JAGS, and we didn't even apply for a place. This was largely due to the Headteacher at the time who was so incredibly obnoxious and was downright offensive about disabled students, but we also hated the extremely snobby and superior attitude that so many parents and children seem to have who go there, which isn't evident with Alleyns.

Depending on where you live, you could consider the Bexley grammars, and Dartford Grammar.

Bromley High, Croydon High - loads of girls from Bromley way. Radnor House, Farlingtons. Woldingam?

Thank you - really helpful and will look into all the suggestions.

You could also consider Sevenoaks School, with non-selective Bullers Wood as a safety net.

Catchment for Bullers is very small

Colfes got extremely high ratings in the Times review this year. Quite a leap over the past 10 years.

I would suggest adding a second tier school like Townley Bromley or Croydon would be a good idea in case the exams don't go as well as you obviously think they will given all the schools on your list are very oversubscribed.

IME Newstead not an academic hothouse at all if your daughter is bright & can keep up. Has had a rough few years slipping down rankings (I think it’s 22nd state school in country, used to be top 5-10). I would say extra curricular aren’t great there but otherwise OK.

Just to counter this, I'm a JAGS parent and this hasn't been my experience at all. In several years at the school, I've met only one parent from my daughter's year group who has a snobby and superior attitude but she's ridiculous and people avoid her. I've found my daughter's cohort to be level headed, diverse and very caring of each other. She's had excellent, very responsive SEND support from the school.

We chose JAGS over Alleyn's because although Alleyn's facilities are fantastic and the Open Days were all bells and whistles, it felt a bit like the flashiness was overcompensating for a slight lack of substance, it was noticeably less diverse than JAGS and it didn't feel like the right fit for our daughter. I also know lots of St Dunstan's students, both past and present and their experience has always been a very mixed bag, some positive, some not so. Choosing the right school for your child is very subjective.

I'm local and come across parents and students from the junior and senior Foundation schools in both my personal and professional life and entitled and snobby attitudes are sometimes evident at all these schools, including Alleyn's.

Croydon High