Advice? Lady Margaret or Graveney?

[Dorisslurkingfriend]

Slight tizz underway - we were offered and accepted Graveney for DD but today have had a place offered at Lady Margaret, which was our first choice. In the meantime we had come round to the idea of Graveney so are now a bit confused. Graveney is closer to us on public transport and just about walkable, which LM isn't. We wanted all girls for DD and are keen on a church school - but are those enough to outweigh the journey time? Obv in October we thought they were! Would welcome any advice. Thanks.

Can you give a bit more detail on the journey to LMS? It will be one she will be making for the next 7yrs, so something to think about, and also given that a majority of children going to graveny would be local, most of her friends will be local too…so do think about picking up at weekend events etc, so you are not a taxi service. A friend also stressed to me that secondary school, with clubs and homework, that the journey can sometimes knock it out of them.

That said, I would think strongly on what sort of child your DD is, and if being in the girls school would see her right? Is she quiet or fairly confident? Graveny is a huge school, whilst LMS only has 4 forms vs Graveny's 10+.

My DD is fairly well adjusted, and sensible, but I feel a single sex would be the best for her confidence-wise. My younger DD is more robust, and I wouldn't hesitate at co-ed for her. I think LMS is a lovely school, and the results are comparable to graveny, so it all boils down to where you think your DD would be most happy.

Good luck - they are both super schools. :-)

Thanks for your replies. We would have been thrilled had we got LM initially, tho the journey was niggling at me. But have spent the last week finding out all the really good stuff about G. G is one ten min bus ride and two little walks, LM is walk to station, one stop on train, 4-5 stops on District Line. Just wonder whether having more local friends is a big advantage? At the moment heart says LM and head says G. DD favours LM and DH, having looked at leavers' destinations in forensic detail, favours G. I think she will do well anywhere and think all girls might be good for her as she's shaping up to be quite a good mathematician. Argh.

...and it is a long road from 11 to 18! Not sure leavers destination is the best criterion to base decision on.

My god daughter travelled from Wandsworth to LM via East Putney. Fine with the journey but she did find it a drag when she had after school clubs as back late, especially if problems on tube. She also left home ridiculously early in order to miss the rush. Cost was a consideration, though may not be for you, as bus free, tube you at for. Her friends were mainly north of the river so not local but she was a confident traveller so not much ferrying around required.

Good luck with your decision. In the end the right school is the one that feels the best fit for your daughter. Only you guys can know that.

LMS is wonderful.

Ha! That's what DD says. We are - I think - about to accept the LMS place. Can anybody reassure me about my most recent panic - that it may be resting on its laurels somewhat?

Would have been marvellous to have gone into all this detail prior to the original application . . .

If your DD favours LM accept that.

And you have had 2 opportunities that others would kill for, time to celebrate and stop it with the overthinking.

LMS all the way. Friends have girls there and are beyond happy. They live in Wimbledon. Their girls have friends from Fulham, Hammersmith, Putney, Notting Hill - very few of whom can walk to school. Even David Cameron couldn't get a place for his daughter .... It's a great school

We are in the fortunate position of being offered an academic scholarship to an independent school but also recently received an offer from Lady Margaret. We live in Twickenham. Would appreciate wise words

Congratulations Knjo - what a great position to be in. Your DD is obviously very bright, so wherever she will go, she will do really well. That is the bottom line.

Finances are obviously key here, and you cannot argue with a free outstanding state school. but stripping that out, as only you can decide that for yourself and your family, the question is where do you think she will be happiest, and get the most out of her school days.

How far is her independent school from home vs LMS, and what will the journey be like?

Academically, LMS is very strong, and discounting for the fact that it has a mixed intact, the results are comparable to an independent school I think - especially at A level as it does effectively select, requiring As in GCSE in order to go on to A levels. The school has an excellent reputation and the girls are lovely and it has a great ethos.

Sports can be a bit tricky, but I do not know your independent school. I know DD of friends going there have been advised not drop their co-curicular sports wise.

Bear also in mind that sciences are not taught separately if that is important to you. Also I have a friend there that has to choose between geography and history at GSCE as they cannot offer both for whatever reason, but that could be specific to this year, rather than a general theme.

Does your DD have a preference? What was your gut feeling during the open days? Whatever happens, you have very good choices, and the outcome of whatever you choose should be a good one. Well done, and however agonising it feels to choose, try to feel good about the decision :-)

DD started LMS in September and it has surpassed my expectations already , and I knew it was going to be good. She's sporty and I wasn't expecting her to be involved in much sport through school but I have been very pleasantly surprised. Each week there seems to be one competition or another she's involved in and she's been able to get involved in several sports she has no experience of, which I think is fantastic.

Academically she's flying too. She has her favourite and not-so-favourite subjects but is throwing herself into it all and generally finding secondary school much more interesting than primary. Already they've brought out the best in her in subjects she didn't really show any particularly ability in at primary. She gets quite a lot of homework but it's perfectly manageable. No resting on laurels Doris, as far as I can see from the school as her grades are better than I'd expect them to be at this stage.

She's made lots of new friends, right through the school, which I think is partly due to her involvement in sport and also the fact that it's a smaller school and the girls do seem to look out for each other.

The school has an active PTA so there are various events so you can get to know people and get involved, if that's your thing and the money the PTA raises gives the girls even more opportunities in and out of school.

The rebuilding work is coming to its end now with just the new entrance to to be finished so it's a good time to be starting there.

It fits DD like a glove, and vice versa, and she's very happy there.

To add: LMS head teacher has announced today she's retiring in August so it'll be interesting to see what new head will do. The leadership team seems very strong so that bodes well for the future.

Thanks for the advice. She's also very sporty with football being her favourite thing. Shame about the head. We're going to look around on Wednesday before committing.

Good luck and do let us know what you decided. :-)

Decide I mean.

Thought I ought to come back and say thank you very much everybody for your input. It was a really finely balanced decision and very hard for us to make but in the end we went with Graveney - partly on distance but also because we felt that for DD the slightly broader curriculum offer and streaming from the outset would be an advantage. I still think that LM was a truly lovely school and I really wish anybody trying to make a similar decision the best of luck.

We decided to go with the academic scholarship. Again seems like a great school but travel too far from Twickenham an my DD is very sporty. Advice was Much appreciated

I think it's important to clear up the misunderstanding about the sciences. At the start of the GCSE course LMS currently allocates exactly the same timetable time for triple science as it does for double science. This makes it very very difficult to adequately cover all of the science curriculum for triple.

The 50 girls with the highest marks in Science take triple if they wish.

Good luck to both your daughters.