Best independent secondary schools near Farnham, Surrey

[3point14]

Our daughter has a great infant school which leads into a top junior school but after that the options are limited at secondary level.

I am coming to the conclusion that an independent school at age 11 could be the best answer and it would also diffuse any issues over distance etc. when the time comes. I also have a slight bias towards girls only.

Googling and league tables are one thing but I'd welcome some ideas and recommendations.

You've got me on my specialist subject here!

I'm assuming you're talking about South Farnham for junior school. Typically girls go on Guildford High, Tormead, St Catherine's, Alton convent, Farnborough Hill and Frensham Heights ( some to most of those places most years).

In general any child at SF will ahieve a place at Alton C, Farnborough Hiil or Frensham. For the Guildford schools, the places are more selective and the school don't do any prep for entrance exams.

It's really down to personal choice and fit. We know girls at all of these schools and they've all been happy.

Ran out of typing space there...

Journey time is significant too. For Cats, the only real alternative to driving is the school coach which comes back late, at 6.

For GHS and Tormead, the girls catch the 7.28 train there and come backin at 5.

There' a good coach service for the convent which stops lots of places, As does the FH coach.

And , I wouldn't rule out Weydon - they have great results and more kids go there from SF than not. But its never too early for looking at options

Yes, it is South Farnham and I knew there would be a decision looming in a few years when I moved to get my daughter into the feeder school. I even knew about Weydon and the lack of a sixth form but that was and is some years away. However, preparation for 11 or even 7+ (unlikely) is where I am now as I know just how fast time flies. I am also looking to move house in 12 to 24 months time, hopefully for the last time !

I just don't think Weydon cuts it I'm afraid. I specifically dislike the lack of a sixth form. I see their results as moderate and obviously not up to the South Farnham standard, which means the better pupils are going elsewhere or the averages are being dragged down by weaker students or simply that the teaching and environment is just not up to the highest standard. Whichever way you dice and slice it, it is a step backwards from South Farnham and you are still left with the conundrum of what to do at the age of 16, when stability rather than change is probably advisable.

St Catherine's is potentially the most attractive but I am concerned about the entrance requirements at age 11 and it being somewhat "hit and miss". I wonder whether earlier enrolment would alleviate the need to compete at age 11 ?

I can't disagree with your assessment of the SF to Weydon transfer, as it's one none of my 3 kids made - we chose the Guildford route ourselves.

An early move is a possibility as at least at a couple of the Guildford schools you do not have to sit the entrance exam if you've been there a certain amount of time - but it's more than one year and may even be the full 'from 7' which would mean you don't get the SF advantage - its a tough call, I know

look at ALl Hallows also,...slightly better results that weydon, plus has a 6th form. But obviously Catholic. Most kids also have choice of farnborough 6th form which is one of the top in the country.

I know the headmistress at St. Catherines and think that she's really great. Really dedicated to the education of girls and to getting to know each one of them.

I was at Farnborough Hill years ago and was v happy there. I've been back to do careers things and it still seems really warm and quirky and the current head seems great. It takes a very very broad range of girls (Oxbridge to struggling) so its statistics aren't fabulous; but for any individual girl they make the most of what she has. The buildings have some glamour: gilded doors with Napoleonic bees stolen by Empress Eugenie from the Tuileries, an astonishingly beautiful chapel etc. etc.. Catholic but not hardcore with quite a "manners and morals" ethos

I know girls at all these schools except Alton convent. GHS girls do sit the entrance exam, but tend to set the pass mark (because any girls not up to the senior school will have been encouraged to move before then). Tormead girls think of themselves as slightly less bright than the girls who go in at 11, who have to pass the exam, but it also has a new head who may make it more rigorous. St Catherine's the other year was disappointed by how low they had to make the entrance mark. I know ex Farnborough Hill girls at Oxbridge, but actually all the ones I know transferred to State for sixth form.
I also know girls get into all these schools from a Guildford state school, with less stellar results than South Farnham, but always sends students onto selective privates, with little extra tuition.
I am surprised by your assessment of Weydon, which I have been very impressed with, especially as they do AS levels for some bright pupils in year 11. I also know students who have transferred from other sixth forms to Farnham, and have done well there.
Possibly you could also look at the Haslemere schools, but I'm not sure about transport.
Go and visit the schools and make up your own mind. I highly recommend Frensham Heights open days.

It would be a tough call to move her at 7 but I am thinking about the longer term and removing as many risks as possible. The thought of putting all one's eggs in the selective basket and not receiving any firm offers at age 11 would surely be a difficult subject to overcome. This selection and 11+ was a specific reason why I did not move to Kent and Sevenoaks and now it comes back to bite me !

I'm not sure whether tutoring every week to pass an 11+ is the best childhood experience so I look at the alternatives and though there are tests for many at age 7, they appear to focus more on potential, which I view as a better assessment.

The whole idea of there being more people who can pay than there are available places is new to me. My experience abroad and here with kindergarden / nursery was exactly the opposite. As I am not in a position to endow a new wing for a chosen school, I must garner all the information I can and then try to ease my daughter in.

I will certainly have a look at all the suggestions, thank you.

I'm absolutely sure there are not more people that can pay than there are places across the total of the schools I listed - for an average girl there will be apace at one of these. But there are less places at the Guildford schools than there are applicants but that's because of high academic threshold. Farnborough Hill, for example, claims to have a place for every girl who would benefit from going there.

And at Guildford high, for the sake of clarity, the year 6 girls do not sit the senior school entrance exams unless they have a chance of a scholarship. But by year 6 they would all expect to be of the academic standard or they'd have moved earlier.

Sorry, I was unclear. I accept there are always going to be places, such as St Trinians would always accept someone who could pay fees in advance but I was thinking about the relative difficulty of gaining acceptance at an oversubscribed school.

For instance, if at age 11 a child was required to be at the 90th percentile to gain entry, then would entry at age 7 also require ability at the 90th percentile or would it be lower (or indeed higher) ? Perhaps an application in between ages 7 and 11, could, were there a place available, succeed at a lower percentile given the lower demand at that time.

From your comments on GHS, I understand the position clearly at year 6 (age 11) but it is also clear from their website that admission at age 7 is far more structured than entry at ages 5 or 6 and entry at age 4 is even more fluid. My interpretation is, perhaps incorrectly I admit, that entry prior to age 7 could be achieved more easily, if a place was available.

Endowing a new wing wouldn't get you a place at any of these schools!
The Guildford schools are very well connected to a very large area, girls travel in quite a long way on the train, they are easier to get to from quite a large area of SW London than Farnham. There are also other less academic girls schools close to Guildford, but the wrong side for Farnham.
If you looked at Boys school place you would see where the real shortage of places is.
I would suggest you talk to the Head of South Farnham, and do listen to his advice, and also look at the schools you are considering. Whilst also thinking seriously about the logistics.

DD was in one of the middle sets at Waverley Abbey, sat the entrance tests with just 5 1:1 sessions with her form teacher to help her with English (which we paid her for), and she was offered a place at St Catherine's.

Whilst it's a lovely school, we went for The Royal in Haslemere, instead - which we have been really happy with. DD discovered an interest in the Sciences there, and is currently doing GCSEs with a view to doing A levels in Physics, Chemistry, Maths and French, and is expected to get a mix of A*/A grades in her GCSEs.

The Royal run several minibus routes, including one from South Farnham/Tilford area I think so worth a look..

Have you noticed that both getting and I have said that GHS will encourage girls admitted at 4 etc. to move to "somewhere more suitable" if she is not developing as expected. Most parents do this without much pressure as their daughter is unhappy, I know one family moved their middle daughter of 3 because she wasn't thriving there. So although it might be easier to get in at 4, that doesn't mean they will still be there are 11.

The logistics are not really an unsurmountable issue. I can simply relocate to a viable distance from the chosen school if necessary and Guildford is certainly easier for me to get into London than Farnham will ever be. What I don't want to do it relocate twice and pay over two tranches of stamp duty, taxes and fees.

I would be talking to the Head but the decision may not require his input if a transfer happens sooner rather than later. I don't really want to put the cart before the horse.

I did understand the encouragement to move along but why have a negative attitude ? I suspect far more 4 year olds remain until 18 than leave under duress.

Mira - is it commonplace to hire a pupil's current teachers for coaching (irrespective of whether their contract allows it) ? I must admit that whilst I now anticipate the need for some one to one tuition, I do not have a clear picture of who may be best placed to provide it. I suspect the very best may be those teaching at the school you are applying to ?

We don't want to give the wrong impression here, 3point, the vast majority who enter at 4 are still there at 18 and are very happy throughout! And I'm sure some girls will start at 5, 6 or 7 and st ay the whole time.

Girls being encouraged to leave are rare, I understand but we were not at the junior school so that is only anecdote from me. If you've got no reason to think she won't do well at 11 then I'd stick with SF and move up from there. If she doesn't get in, then it's not the right place for her. If she does you can be 99% sure she'll be happy there.

It's funny I come from this area and everybody is desperate to get in south Farnham. They all forget they will end up in weydon. If your child wants to learn it will in any school you do not have to go to a private school to do well. Weydon is fine.

Lack of a 6th form : NO Hampshire comp has a 6th form.
Instead, Hampshire has some of the BEST 6th form colleges in the UK.
The secondary is a comp.
So, you are a motivated UMC mummy with the resources to pay for private school.
Go and ask the school what they would do with your DC.
In my DC case (in southern Hampshire) it is feed into PSC and then join the coach load to Oxbridge or the multiple coachloads to RG Unis.

Remember that in any Comp there are carrot crunchers who will distort the comparative result with selective schools, but the breadth of subjects and facilities makes my old GDST school look pretty carp
you HAVE to compare like with like.

ANY school you look at : ask for their top 50 results and compare those

"From your comments on GHS, I understand the position clearly at year 6 (age 11) but it is also clear from their website that admission at age 7 is far more structured than entry at ages 5 or 6 and entry at age 4 is even more fluid. My interpretation is, perhaps incorrectly I admit, that entry prior to age 7 could be achieved more easily, if a place was available."

But why would you want your dd to get 'easily' into a school that is very selective. The whole idea of the entrance test to to find the most suitable girls for the school. You wouldn't want to get in otherwise, woud you? She'd struggle compared to those who join later (under harsher assessment criteria).

We're just starting to look at Secondary Schools for dd (Y5) and I would hope that the assessments help us as much as the schools to find the most suitable school for her.