Woldingham School

[Alexandra1Bishop]

I have planned to send my daugher to study in UK next year. So far, she got offer from Kent and Woldingham which seems to be a good choice. However i got some negative comments when sarching over the internet, and thus quite confused. Do any one help and give me some opinion? Is Woldingham a good choice?

My DD started at Woldingham as a day pupil (Year 7) this year, and is thriving. Not many boarders in her year though, and some of those are weekly boarding, so you may want to ask the school how many have applied for full boarding. The school seems to be attracting more and more of its intake from south London, given the good train links to Clapham Junction. The exam results last year were fantastic and the range of extra-curricular activities is great.

Thanks a lot for your information, and still evaluating if it is the right way to send my DD to UK. So far, how do you feel about the school and teachers? In academic terms, seems it is at the mid-high level. Learnt from other discussion group that the school is quite strict. Is it true?

The school is becoming more academic than its historic reputation. If you look at the recent Sunday Times league tables of independent schools it out-performs many boarding, and day, schools regularly talked about here. So far we have been impressed with the level of teaching, and particularly the pastoral care. It's no more strict than other schools I am familiar with. It is Catholic, but as non-Catholics we have found that as long as you support the values of the school this is sufficient, and the religion is not over bearing. The grounds and setting of the school are lovely, but it is in the middle of nowhere; this has advantages and disadvantages for borders, but the there is a train station in the school grounds (with a shuttle bus from the station to the school) so that older girls can get off-site at weekends.

Thanks merlottim. Assumed you meant there has been performance outscored by Woldingham remarked by Times League table that I'm not able to access. Did it refer to the academic performance? Learnt from other report that Woldinham has assured quite stable public exam scores in last few years. Do you have any concern about the recent change of the school Head? You know, it is critically important to have good Head who leads the school to the right directions ...

I mean that the school is doing very well academically. The new head is the current deputy - she was brought in a year ago, perhaps with a view to stepping up to the headship. She seems really good.

That's good help. Will let my DD to attend 2 exams for 2 more boarding schools on Jan and then make decision. Thank you again!