South West London Secondary Schools, I am stumped.

[QuintessentialShadows]

My mind is spinning with the schools "of choice", and I am hoping somebody with actual knowledge will tell me a little bit:

St Celia
Ashcroft Technology College
John Bosco College

Christs

Gunnersbury Catholic school for boys

Wimbledon College

Kingston Grammar
Ibstock Place
Emanuel School
Kings College Wimbledon

I have a spread sheet, and I am trying to jot down important info, and plan visits. But I just feel that my mind has frozen, and I reach for coffee and chocolate, and neither help....

Coptallresident, interesting that your DD had a place at Tiffin but didn't take it. Tutoring for Tiffin is putting all eggs in one basket with only one selective to aim for (assuming Sutton is too far away), when you can't afford private school fees, so I personally would prefer to stick with the non-selective comps.

I have some sympathy with Lisaletta in defending state schools because they seem to get a bashing by those in the media who want to justify their choices, forgetting that only 10% of London children go to private schools (loved this article though!). However, it's interesting to see from this thread how much variation there is in the private sector and with money at stake, it's important to feel you have made the right choice. And you may also need to factor in a lot of travel. So I appreciate it isn't easy.

Good luck, Quintessential, hope it goes well.

greengrape No tutoring, just a few practise papers at home, but she does score very highly on VR and NVR. We were naive but then I am very glad I didn't feel paniced into sending my child to sit in someone's kitchen with a load of other kids completing endless practise papers

She thought it was very souless, brutal even (at that time they were saying that if girls did not achieve a certain standard right through the school they would be asked to leave) and the facilities, in particular the lab facilites (she's a Science geek) just didn't compare with those at the private schools. Now she says that the Tiffin girls she knows, whilst having achieved highly, have if anything an even greater sense of entitlement and "specialness" than some from private schools. It comes as a great shock to realise that once at uni they are in competition with bright students from all sorts of schools, backgrounds and cultures.

2 kids currently at KGS
Pastoral care superb
Kids are very happy, and all seem to do well.
I love the fact that the year groups are so close knit and the kids stick up for each other.
Cool kids, very bright, nurturing and a zest for life
Just to add when my DD started she got the wrong bus twice! and got off at the wrong stop once.
She phoned me, I phoned the school & one of the teachers set of in his car to find her.

Copthall that's also interesting, both your comments on tutoring and on Tiffin. I've heard of girls who went to Tiffin's sixth form after great results at Grey Court - while they maintained that standard for A-levels, they didn't enjoy it as much. I want my DC to go to university like I did (and I went to a comp) for the love of learning, not on a conveyor belt or because everyone else expects it.

chickydoo...what a lovely post ! My ds got lost on his 2nd day of doing his trip by himself(4th day of school)....in super top set ...ie brains some where ...."forgot'' (or had a snoooozzzzze) to get off ...ended up 15 mins the wrong direction !!!...and wrong bus route to get to school !!....

Got him back and drove him and not marked down as late !!..."nice "to know other children do it as well in their 1st week (well not nice ...bukwim!)

Regards to KCS, I had a chat with one of the seniors who took us on a private tour of the senior school facilities, and I asked him about diversity, if they had a big range of very different pupils, and he said "no, we are all pretty much the same and have quite similar backgrounds" I also asked if there were many children from different countries, and again the answer was "no". I got the sense it was very "British". Not that this in itself is wrong, but I saw no ethnic diversity. Is this the case? If so, would my son, with his foreign background be the odd one out? Is it because it is an Anglican school, as opposed to a Catholic school?

You got a bad draw with your Senior School Tour guide. He's given you a very false impression which in itself is a very poor advertisement for the school - one of their senior students misleading prospective parents! Our five years at KCS paints a very different picture - a wide variety of kids from diverse backgrounds. My DS, who is sitting next to me, laughed at what you were told and suggested that this description had come from the back end of a bull. The community of the school included people of many different backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. There was a young man with Cerebral Palsy who walked with sticks, a British/Sikh headboy, Chinese, Korean, Asian, French, American, Australian, and yes, quite alot of students who were British!! There is quite a large group of Catholics at the school - who got together to welcome the Pope during his visit. In my view, it is the most diverse and welcoming community of any of the academcally demanding schools in London.

Quintessentialshadows I know a family who are from a very different culture who have a son at the Junior School. He is thriving. I would say that the intakes at these schools are mostly middle class and white but that is why they are so eager to embrace children who aren't. DD has a very diverse friendship group ethnically and whenever they are taking pictures for publicity material, the website etc they moan that it is always them that are asked to pose!!

Although when my friend, a teacher, went to look round KCS with her DD for sixth form a somewhat crusty old teacher proudly showed off the new girls' loos, especially the chair in the corner, because clearly our delicate little flowers lilt and swoon occasionally. He did look a bit shocked when she said " Good grief! What do you think they need that for? Breast feeding!" I think the girls might have posed a bit of a challenge to their culture......

It's very diverse. Lots of Asian families but few black families. However, all religiions, sikh, catholic, muslim, hindu, jewish (although the school follows a Christian foundation tradition). Thinking about my son's year group and his friends and off the top of my head: china, pakistan, india, japan, australia, america, greece, france, sweden, denmark, germany, ireland, scotland, wales, russia, iran and probably a few more too. In many ways it's a more culturally diverse environment than most comprehensives.

My guide was actually really nice, seemed very knowledgeable and appear to really enjoy the school, but maybe he was trying to thread carefully. I could have misunderstood him. He might have wanted to convey that it did not matter, that "we are all the same" in a sort of philosophical manner, rather than literally! I am glad to hear that it is culturally diverse. I like culturally diverse schools, I think it creates more rounded and tolerant children.

Even though my sons are Catholic, I am brought up Lutheran (Protestant direction), dh is Catholic, and my sons best friends are both Muslim. (From Morocco and Lebanon)

So, I have been to St Cecilia, and was really impressed by the enthusiasm of the head and the deputies, and the Y 8 students and Head Girl.

The private schools we have seen have been on Saturdays, so we have not seen the daily life at school, with all the pupils, interactions in the corridors, and only the 6th forms got to talk during head master/mistress address. We have seen carefully constructed "shows". Free coffee and flapjacks.

I really liked the school! Ok, it has no fab landscaped gardens, no swanky "historic" buildings, and no real outdoor space. But the kids seemed happy, interacted well with each other, and the learning really good.

Keen to see Ashcroft tonight!

Keep us up dated.....if you are not too tired !!!

What did you think of Ashcroft, Quint? I went tonight to the open evening and I have to say I was really put off by the finger-wagging vibe "if you don't want your child to conform, don't send them here". I am all for discipline, but being spoken to like a child really doesn't do it for me!

barry...interesting... I heard the same thing when I went to view some "strict" R.C schools last year !...thought that was just them ...

Well, we did go and see Ashcroft. Our guide had spent entire year 7 in the unit for badly behaved kids, and were now on "probation" with the rest of the school. She said she had learnt from her mistake.

Of course it is nice for the "good" kids to not have the "bad" kids around so they can focus on learning, but I would not want my son branded a bad apple and kept hidden away in a separate wing, with different classes for the difficult kids.

That is rather the opposite of an inclusion policy.

My son said "mum, I am NOT going to this school, no way. Please dont make me go to this school".

If a child leaves a school begging not to go there, well, then that speaks for itself.

What did you think about this aspect, Barry?

Bissey, our sons primary is a rather strict Catholic school. However, if a child misbehaves, they apply a Christian ethic and try to work out why, and speak to the class about showing understanding and empathy. Bad behaviour is not tolerated, but neither is the child excluded from its class and made into an outcast!

Quintess....remeber ..gut instincts..!

wHAT SCHOOL IS NEXT ??

I actually thought it was a terrifying sausage factory. The opposite of "catch them being good". And their exclusion unit must be huuuuge!

I was extremely unimpressed by the head's speech.

The whole academy really is the opposite of what I would look for in a secondary, and I wouldn't want to work there either!

I take it you wont be applying then...

I am not sure what will happen if we dont! Will we be given the Elliot? I mean if we dont get St Cecilia, or Gunnersbury, or any of the other choices?

I remember when applying for primaries, we were given Granard, which was not on our list at all, and thankfully we had made an application to our Richmond RC primary and got a place there.

I will look at RPA. However, they are disrupted with massive building works for the next 18 months, so that's not great either...

Will also look at Christ's and Chiswick.

I thought I didn't mind too much. Now I'm not so sure.

RPA is where the kids applying for A, but did not get in based on their aptitude and Year 6 test, end up... Having said that, I will also look at it.
The school has built strong links with the local primaries this year, and visited my sons school on occasion.

Hampton has its open morning on Saturday (as does Whitgift). Would have thought Hampton easier to get into than KCS. Wondered if perhaps the comment related to middle-class lifestyle rather than religion or ethnicity. I also took a tour of the senior school on Saturday, great facilities and teaching, although it is 18k a year so you'd expect it! The IB work particularly impressive.

Have you also considered City of London - we were impressed by our tour and the general atmosphere of the school - politically aware, buzzing - but perhaps overly influenced by the young man who took us round, who was lovely.

On building works....just in case its relevent....we're just reaching the end of a year's major building works at the dds' primary. It hasn't disrupted anything much, other than school lunches (packed lunch for a year) and tightly squished audiences at school performances.

I think the way building work is managed by the staff and whole school community probably matters more than anything physically disruptive, so would look at that aspect if visiting RPA.

And the celebrations in the air at the impending opening of said new building are worth the disruption

And, am gaining much insight from your thread Quint - thanks for kicking it off. SW London and Secondary Schools of great general interest!

Thanks Elibean, I am also very glad I started this thread, it is amazing how much information and feedback about schools people have been willing to share. I am so grateful!

We went to see Emanuel today. It was busy. The head was so nice, a really "jolly good fellow"! Because of their sibling policy there are very few places this year. And it is correct what a previous poster said, that they are nearly full up on registrations (so glad I sent ours in last week, ahead of the open days!) so they are moving the cut off time forward until 3rd October!

My youngest son, who is just Y3, has been really annoyed at being dragged to open days, but even he loved this school. Probably because of the art! He is not extremely academic, but he is sporty and artistic, so in fact the school seems perfect for him! It is also fairly easy to commute there from here.

KCS has a special bus set up, which passes a few minutes walk from our house, so KCS and Ibstock are possibly the schools which are easiest to get to.

Seeing Gunnersbury tomorrow!