Good girls state school Wimbledon & surrounding areas.... Help!!

[funnymummyspeaks]

Does anyone know anything about good secondary schools in Wimbledon or in the surrounding areas? My DD (9) is currently at Holy Trinity School and DD (3) is starting at Dundonald School soon. Would like a school that is not just focused on academia but also on the Arts as DD seems to have strengths in that area. Have heard conflicting things about Ricards and would be interested to see what there is in Kingston or Surrey too.....

I think most people tend to go for the Wandsworth schools as catchment isn't such an issue, Burntwood and Graveney for example. Otherwise you will have to move, and fairly quickly I'd have thought.

Seeing the 'Richards' girls about six/seven years ago, I would not have even considered it as an option for our DD (7), but it has changed enormously since then, from what I've heard. We certainly have family friends, from nice middle-class backgrounds, with daughters in the lower years there and they seem happy with it. The girls are possibly not top-stream academically, but love drama/dance and the arts side which Ricards seems to do so well...

Positioning yourself well for two of the best state primaries in the Borough, won't necessarily be advantageous for the best secondary schools. But you are obviously a local family who could send DDs to Ricards Lodge and help to make it one of the most sought after girls schools in SW London. It seems to me that it only takes a little faith from well-off, local families to help change the reputation and character of any school....

Thank you for the messages and thoughts. Gazzalw, you make a great point about Ricards and I have also heard that it seems to be improving... Of course, the more children that go there from conscientious families will have a knock on effect on the reputation of the school and, I do like that they put some emphasis on the Arts. I have been dreading this stage since we moved to Wimbledon... So many good primaries but, hardly any choice when it comes to secondary education!

Oops Richards should of course have read Ricards......

I actually think the situation isn't as bad as you might think. There is an awful lot of scare-mongering amongst the chattering classes about state education in South West London - and a lot of it is based entirely on hearsay....

I think there are good and bad elements in all schools including private ones and the super-selectives.

From what I've heard, because the reputation of Ricards is rising year on year, more and more of the girls are coming from within Borough (and more from the Wimbledon side) which is possibly helping to attract "the right sort of girls/families"....

Good luck. We went thro' all this with our DS (12) and it was a nightmare. We have a few years respite for DD but it is on our minds, particularly with the rising birthrate cohorts who are just about to 'hit' secondary school....I anticipate that things might get trickier for a few years.....

There is Ursuline High School in Wimbledon. It is a Catholic state school and to go there you must attend church every Sunday and you need to live in the catchment area.

Have family friend whose daughter got in - but it's getting increasingly difficult.....

My high achieving DD went there and did very well (all A*and A at GCSE) however the experience itself was horrendous. The school has become complacent and seems happy to settle with girls scraping a C grade at GCSE. If your DD has more potential and ambition than this look elsewhere!

Hi Zebra, thanks for joining the thread. Are you talking about Ricards or Ursuline? I just can't get over how little choice there is in this borough!

Funnymummyspeaks, do you think that there's so little choice or is it just because most of the schools are mixed and in less desirable areas? Quite a lot of girls go to Burntwood School (in Tooting) from Merton too.

But really if you are looking for very good girls schools, you might need getting your DDs focused on the super-selective girls grammars - Nonsuch, Wallington and Tiffin (in Cheam, Wallington and Kingston respectively).

If you're looking into Surrey then Rosebery School in Epsom is highly thought of.