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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Surbiton High v KGS - still so stuck

47 replies

Keepcalmandcarryon2017 · 16/02/2017 16:34

Dd has offers at both. Journey time is the same for her due to where we live. None of us have strong views on co-ed v non. We are finding it so hard to choose! Dd v sporty. Anover average academically but not a nerdy type. Any views and steer would be great. Is Shs focused enough as girls go up the school?

OP posts:

Original poster

Keepcalmandcarryon2017 · 03/03/2017 15:12

Taken the plunge with Shs. V different schools but girlpower and breadth and depth of opportunities won in the end. Dd felt kgs too academically focused. Had to remind her school is not a holiday camp but that helped make my mind up. Both great schools and hopefully no regrets !

OP posts:

77789sunset · 03/03/2017 16:18

OP, great news, they are both super schools and at SHS she will have a fabulous education. PM me if your have queries nearer the time, I live near you but "over the river".

nocampinghere · 03/03/2017 16:21

We have gone for KGS.

Wishing you all well and thanks for the company on this journey!

FreeNiki · 04/03/2017 02:35

I knew a little girl once who at 10 was going through the entrance exams for all the schools in that area.

She said then that her mum and dad had put her in for SHS just incase she didnt get in anywhere else as they didnt know anyone who had failed and they take everyone. She ended up not going as she got into a better school and her parents put her in as a last resort in case she didnt get anything else.

She's 21 now and over a decade later it doesn't seem to lost its reputation for being less academic.

FreeNiki · 04/03/2017 02:38

If you're paying over £5k a term for fees why opt for a school that is less academically focused? You might as well go in for a good state school and save your money if Dd wants less academic focus

Original poster

Keepcalmandcarryon2017 · 04/03/2017 08:06

Guess it depends on what your focus is for your child. Mine is for a happy school life, giving her a wide range of opportunities and ideas, sporting and non-sporting. State schools do not provide this in the same way. And I believe academic success follows on from happiness and enjoyment at school, which i have seen first hand from my dd's experience in moving late from a state primary to a prep in Year 4. I also know several girls who unfortunately didn't get into SHS. The 'league table' focus is a damaging culture amongst SWLondon parents. Maybe we will look back and eat our words but I hope not.

OP posts:

Thisdoesnotgeteasier · 04/03/2017 10:18

I agree with keepcalm. Not sure the experience from 11 years is that relevant. While SHS is "less academic" (at least in terms of end exam results) than the likes of LEH it doesn't mean it doesn't strive to get the best out of its girls.

I know a number of girls who didn't get offers this year so they don't just take everyone, even if it is easier to get an offer there than some of the other schools.

DD got an offer and we were impressed by what the school had to offer as a whole - not just in the classroom.

Original poster

Keepcalmandcarryon2017 · 04/03/2017 10:39

Incidentally dd also was offered leh but we turned down as had heard far more negative things about the school in terms of extreme pressure placed on the girls and the culture of 'only the best will do'. Didn't want to inflict this on dd for the next 5 years and know friends in other years at Shs who also made similar choice. The girls v co-Ed at kgs is still something we will probably continue to mull over though and just hope the number of girls at single sex school brings mainly positives rather than negatives!

OP posts:

Space2Be · 04/03/2017 11:15

keepcalm, your daughter and you as a family know what is best for her and where she will be happy. Happiness is success in life, and your daughter is obviously very bright and she will do well at any of these schools. You were in a very enviable position with your choices and I admire you for the reasons that you chose the school you did. We are still on a reserve list for our first choice school (KGS) for our DS as we didn't sit him for many schools and the state school we have been allocated is the school that my eldest son attended and was very unhappy there (he has now changed to another school for sixth form and is absolutely loving it, he is being predicted top grades and is so happy there). We are therefore really hoping that our reserve place turns into an offer!? I do not understand why anyone on this thread would question your decision. Well done and wishing you all the best of luck for the future.

irishcoffee2017 · 04/03/2017 12:23

To the poster who wrote that for the price, one should chose the most academic school...... We were just in a similar situation with dd having received offers from the "most academic schools" in London but decided to send her to the one some would qualify as the "least academic" of the list, as that's the one she really wanted and that's the school where we had the best feeling during all our visits. It is still a very good school which will help her achieve her maximum potential, in a happy and positive environement which is priceless (for us at least).
I must however admit that it was still a very hard decision to make initially but now that it is done, it sounds like the obvious one and we haven't got the slightest regret.

irishcoffee2017 · 04/03/2017 12:26

Forgot to add, good luck OP for your choice, whatever you chose is a great option and I'm sure you and your dd will be happy with it.

amidawsh · 04/03/2017 13:53

fwiw i know plenty of girls who didn't get SHS this year. Girls who certainly aren't struggling and certainly at least average at DD's outstanding state primary.
what an unhelpful thing to say FreeNiki.
as long as the school you're going for has plenty of girls getting the highest grades (which SHS does) your dd will meet her potential, and that's all we want really isn't it, to have a supported, inspiring, relatively stress free journey to GCSE and beyond.

CountessDracula · 04/03/2017 14:14

Yes I agree
Go for the school you think she would be happiest in

pixelchick10 · 29/08/2017 23:57

Just to add SHS got amazing A Level results this year - nearly a third at A* and much better than the likes of KGS, SWEPS, WHS, PHS - it's a thriving school with an energetic head of sixth form if you are considering it for your daughters.

jeanne16 · 30/08/2017 08:22

Surely it is obvious that this is all a self-perpetuating circle. The top academic schools attract the most academic pupils and subsequently get the best academic results. It has far less to do with the school and the teachers than people realise. All schools employ teachers from the same pool and the top schools also have plenty of NQTs and some less than perfect teachers.

SHS is a far bigger school than KGS which will explain the bigger range in results. It is viewed as a back-up school but their top sets will do just as well as anywhere else.

nocampinghere · 30/08/2017 14:37

Yes their A level results were amazing and rightly will make many people re-evaluate SHS.

I've been warned about looking mostly at A level results though as these can be heavily influenced by:

how selective they are post GCSE (it is rarely automatic entry into the sixth form)
how many girls come from outside post GCSE. Surbiton offer massive scholarships to high performers
how many are forced to drop an A level after lower sixth (topical at the moment in the news about a grammar school doing just that to play the league tables).

GCSE results in many ways are a truer reflection.

pixelchick10 · 04/09/2017 21:53

Most students do drop an A Level at the end of lower sixth - 3 A Levels is what universities ask for - wasn't pressure from the school ... SHS isn't alone in offering scholarships to attract pupils but the so-called 'high performers' don't always get as good a grades as the standard entry girls - my DD got 3 A*s at A L but didn't get a scholarship nor did her BF who is going to Cambridge!

cakeisalwaystheanswer · 05/09/2017 10:28

DS's friend got a free place at KGS for 6th form from Tiffin, they all do it.

SHS's results are particularly good when you take into account that they always lose a few of their top performers to Kings and other co-eds. The head of 6th form at SHS does sound very good, she forced DS's very bright GF on the Oxbridge trip despite her knowing 100% she didn't want to go, she loved it and she's applying! I don't like the senior school but credit where its due the 6th form has always over performed compared to GCSE results.

farangatang · 05/09/2017 15:28

nocamping is right - the independent schools are fighting over getting the top GCSE achievers from other schools!

When you look at GCSE results, Surbiton performs significantly worse than the likes of KGS, SWPS, WHS, PHS in league tables, no doubt partly due to the selectivity of intake at 11+ as jeanne pointed out.

The strength of each cohort should also not be underestimated - it's good to look at a trend of performance over at least 3-5 years to get an idea of the consistency of performance.

League tables aside, if you have a child who's happy to go to school and feels supported and motivated, they are bound to get the best possible results for them. Glad OP and her DD have found a choice that suits them!

pixelchick10 · 05/09/2017 20:33

Cake the head of sixth form at SHS is a man! He came from Hampton school - maybe it's the former headmistress you're referring to?

cakeisalwaystheanswer · 05/09/2017 21:15

No, I just assumed it was a "she" because its a girls school! I probably need to go on a "don't gender stereotype people" course. I am so unpc.

Farnhammummy1 · 16/03/2018 21:01

Hello, I’m a few years away from applying to either but are there any good tutors people would recommend for either kgs or shs? I appreciate no one wants to share this information (!) but just wondered if anyone who had already done it could recommend please? Thanks

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