New Malden: which schools for boys? Motspur Park: which schools for girls?

[learningevryday]

I'm considering a move to north New Malden (close to Clarence Avenue) which is near Coombe Girl's School (within 0.3 miles). Does anyone know this area at all? I can't seem to see what secondary schools are available for boys though around here... the closest boys' school is Coombe Boy's School which is 1.3 miles away and I believe this is just outside the catchment/distance required from the house.

So, Where do secondary school aged boys go to school in New Malden??

Likewise, I can see the opposite problem in the Motspur Park (on the other end of New Malden) where there is another house we are considering. Here there are THREE boy's school but no girls schools - where do secondary school aged girls go to school around here??

It's bonkers!

If you're Catholic. Holy Cross (girls) and Richard Challenor (boys). I don't know the area too well but friends' children go to those schools and they live in Old Malden.

thanks for responding. no, we arent catholic. we don't mind faith schools, but probably not first choice.

i just dont understand where the secondary school kids go to school if you live on either end and have a son and daughter? it's crazy traffic too

Bump 😅

In New Malden - if you want to go down the selective exams school route then you also have access to a wide range of 'Sutton' Grammar schools which are all on the SL7 bus route from New Malden high street Fountain bus stop: Sutton Grammar School (boys), Wallington County Grammar School (boys), Non Such Grammar School (girls).
Also Tiffin Boys School ( 213 or 131 bus to Kingston). Tiffin Girls school would be a two bus journey though.
No guarantee that you get into the grammar schools - but from that side of NM you might be within the inner catchment for access to Tiffin Boys.

If you were to move towards Worcester Park (Sutton borough part), the other side of the 'field' to Motspur Park, accessible to MP & WP traion stations then you would be in the priority access for all Sutton grammars & you might get into Cheam High school (a mixed state school).

One of my DC goes to Coombe Girls, the other goes to a selective grammar.

Hi thank you for your response. We aren’t particularly very keen on exam-entry grammar schools (ie they must be assessed for entry) unless our children desperately wanted to go there. Are the grammar schools based on distance/catchment?

If DD gets into Coombe Girls School, where would our DS go (state school wise)?. I cant see the options and feels like NM doesn’t have enough schools for one gender depending on what side you’re living on.

i am also interested in your DS journey to their grammar school. Do they commute via bus? It is a long journey? Does it tire them? I personally hate commuting long distances to work so feel the children commuting long distances to school might be too much, but not sure what real experiences are like with this?

your insights into this would be really helpful, thank you

There is a sibling policy at the Coombe schools so if your daughter were to get into CGS (be warned, catchment area is pretty small) first then it's very likely your son would get into CBS. That's assuming your daughter is older than your son.

In ander to your other question, there are the super- selective grammars and lots of children are educated privately. At the other end of the scale many children go to Raynes Park High which is a mixed comprehensive.

Mine went to Coombe girls and boys 15 years ago

@AuntieMarys a lot has changed for those schools in 15 years. The boys school wasn't oversubscribed 15 years ago.

hi, thank you. Hmm, I can't really see how most of NM would be privately educating their children though. It doesn't seem that affluent to me. It just feels like a normal outer london area. Maybe middle-class, but that's not necessarily affluent at all.

I think Raynes Park High schiil is under Merton borough, rather than the Kingston borough.

I'm starting to have doubts about the area now and it feels like a DD would suffer on one end, and a DS would suffer on the other. We aren't that keen on grammar schools because me and DH didn't go to them and we have done well without in life. I think grammar schools are often over-hyped and have a different set of problems amongst the children there. They're not for everyone. We would only consider them if our DC really wanted to go.

The super selective grammar schools I listed are all based on exam entry and catchment (so generally slightly lower exam scores required if within priority catchment) but each grammar has its own specific criteria.

Coombe Girls and Boys are part of the same Academy Trust, have a joint 6th form - and have some events where they mix before 6th form & that's where my DS would have gone if he didn't go to the grammar school.

My DS's journey is now quite easy - the new frequent SL7 bus is a fast bus so from New Malden it only stops at, Worcester Park, N Cheam, Cheam Broadway, Sutton, Carshalton, Wallington etc. which is the opposite way to most of the rush hour traffic.

True ...ds went when parents were very anxious about sensing kids there. I was almost accused I'd neglect for doing so 😅
He came out with 4 A *s at A level

If you don’t qualify or like the catholic schools which are very good then you have the Coombe options. As pp said there is a sibling policy between the schools.

Raynes Park is in Merton but that doesn’t mean you can’t go there.

Most boroughs only have a few very good options.

thank you all for your responses. Much to think about here.

I didn't say most children here are privately educated, however it is well above the national average.Re affluence, it depends which bit of NM you are looking at. There are.plenty.of multimillion pound houses here.

Hi there, wondered if you made any decisions? Looking to possibly move to NM (kids are still primary age but we'd obviously have secondary at the forefront of decision)...boy first. Have heard good things about the Coombes but would be great to hear any personal recent experiences, thanks!

1.3 miles is 2.09 Km which would have got you into Coombe Boys every year that their records go back to. The boys in NM go to Coombe boys unless they are catholic or at Tiffin or Sutton grammar.

@EasyComfortDishes, do you mean Sutton Grammar itself or a different one? I wasn't aware you could get into any from NM. Thanks

Sutton I think has priority for half the admissions but the others can be from anywhere. Wilson’s doesn’t have a catchment it’s just in scores.
Not sure about Wallington