Godolphin & Latymer v LEH

[Calmmumnot]

Please could anyone share their thoughts on either schools. Both are equal distance from where we live so travel not an issue as LEH provide bus service and Godolphin easy to get to. My DD loves both for different reasons.
Please help!

I have a DD at LEH where she's v happy - the school now runs late buses to allow for all the afters school activities. There's lots of sport/music/drama but I'm sure that's the same as G and L - what are your DD's interests?

Thank you charmund. She enjoys drama/music and sport. She isn't in the A teams for sport but nevertheless plays with enthusiasm. Is LEH very nurturing?

Not sure I'd describe it as nurturing if I'm honest. Most of the individual teachers are lovely but the school itself is v keen on the girls being independent and it can be quite strict - they get "pink slips" for things like missed HW and 3 in a half term results in a letter to parents - my DD (now in the LVI) had so many in her first year that I was thinking a re papering her bedroom with them!

That said she has thrived there - the art /drama and music are just amazing and there are lots of teams for all sports so you don't need to be in the A team to be involved.
My DD is v quirky and I was a bit concerned d that it wouldn't be a good fit for her but she has a group of equally off the wall friends and refused to even discuss moving for her 6th form
Does that help at all? They are both great schools and I'm sure your DD will happy in either - where does your gut feeling suggest?

Thank you! That's really helpful.

Where do you live? Another concern I have is will all my DD's friends be all over Surrey and not close to Kew/Chiswick.

If you live Kew/Chiswick-way then definitely G&L - they're both good schools and I suspect the similarities are greater than any perceived differences but most girls going to G&L will live in west London and get to school on public transport whereas LEH girls will come from a wider spread across London/Surrey. G&L also offers the IB as well as A-levels which in my view is a plus point

When DD2 was at LEH she had friends who lived near the school and others who lived near us in Putney eg Barnes, Richmond etc. They all met on the bus and it was never an issue. But if you are in Kew/Chiswick I would agree that G&L is a better bet. btw LEH has never been associated with nurturing - more of a hot house I'm afraid!

They're both very good schools, and I don't think you can go wrong with either. But if you're in Kew/Chiswick - G&L wins simply because the journey is so much quicker & easier. Yes LEH runs buses but it will be an hour in traffic morning and evening every single day. That's 2 hours off her day just in a commute.

Godolphin girls will mostly be from London. And you've got Latymer, St Paul's boys and girls nearby to socialise with too.

We live in Surrey and if I was Kew/Chiswick I'd go for G&L - its a lot of travelling otherwise and they're both great schools

Really appreciate all your comments!! Seems G&L makes more sense. Our Dd loved LEH for the space.

Yes LEH does have fab grounds so I can understand why she would prefer it to an inner city school but from the practicality POV G&L will be better in the long run. Good for her for getting places at both.

Hi - I'm a G&L parent and have not been to LEH, but it seems to me from friends who have chosen one or the other that they do appeal to slightly different sorts of people. G&L has the reputation of being nurturing - it certainly is responsive to any issues. We're really happy with it, and our DD loves it. She is not sporty, but has been much more enthusiastic and encouraged to join in there than at primary school.

Apart from the space, did your DD have any other feelings about either school?

Thank you for the comments! Mulberry10 would you mind elaborating on what type people choose one or the other.

My dd loved the drama department at LEH.

I understand you won't want to say exactly where you live, but it doesn't take an hour from Kew to LEH! There are two coaches from Kew and I think they allow about half an hour journey time in the timetable. They are usually home in 25 minutes. Being on the coach is a part of the social experience!

LEH tend to organise the classes on a geographical basis, so if you are Kew/Chiswick there will be other girls in your form from that neck of the woods.

In fairness to LEH parents we are quite a mixed bunch - there are some very well off ones but also ones (like me) for whom the fees are a sacrifice. I know it has the reputation for being a hot house but - whilst I wouldn't describe it as nurturing - I haven't found it pushy at all. The students are very bright (just as they are at G&L) and the school expects the very best of them. It has huge grounds and great facilities but I do think that the journey from Kew would be the decider against LEH if I was in your shoes.

Cross posted with Alwaysfrank who is right about the forms being arranged geographically and has clearly done the Kew to LEH run which I haven't.

Calmmumnot - this is a generalisation, as I said just based on personal observation - but it seems to me that the girls who are drawn to LEH tend to be quite confident and go-getting. Which is not to say that the G&L girls are shrinking violets in the least - they are lively and enthusiastic as a type, and tend to have quite a humerous take on things. I don't know if that helps clarify things at all! FWIW it sounds as if your daughter probably prefers LEH, and the journey doesn't really sound bad enough to spend years wondering what if....

I agree with Alwaysfrank The journey back to Barnes/Putney never bothered DD2 and she made her closest friends on the bus. LEH has long had a good reputation for drama and it was one of the aspects of the school DD liked best.

OP I feel that the main decision really lies in how well your DD might respond to the more hot house environment at LEH rather than the nurturing one at G&L.

Putney is significantly nearer Hampton than Chiswick.

I have 2 girls at LEH and can honestly say I don't think of it as a hothouse. I have always been surprised at the reasonable amount of homework and very strong focus on ensuring girls participate in other activities to an impressive level - whether the girl is into sport, music or drama.

According to AA the distance from Putney to LEH is 9.3 miles and Chiswick High Road to LEH is 8.4 miles so Putney is not 'significantly' nearer at all, but Chiswick is, Ninon.

pample I agree that girls are encouraged to participate in other activities at LEH but DD told me after she left that she felt under pressure both from the teachers and other students to gain high marks constantly. She went on to take A levels at Latymer Upper and admitted that the standard of teaching at LEH was superior to LU.

Chiswick's on the other side of the river though, mileage doesn't necessarily indicate the length of the journey. Going from the Kew side it would be better. Crossing the bridges in rush hour traffic takes significantly longer than it looks like it would on the map.

The coach routes and timetable are easily Google-able and reveal that the Putney coach departs earlier than the Chiswick routes.

Just one thing to bear in mind about how children get to school, the ones who make their own way by public transport do tend to be more confident and streetwise in a good way as a result. Ds1 travelled to his school by train from the age of 10 - there were loads of other boys making the same journey and it really helped him grow up. Dd was on the school coach for years 7 and 8 and was absolutely clueless about the geography of London and how to get around. So partly in a bid to make her a bit more self sufficient (and also on grounds of expense - the coach is £1000 a year, her zip card is a fraction of that) we asked her to try taking the train this year. She's so much more confident about getting around - meets up with friends near school in the holidays and they're all off to Westfield later this week, and she also enjoys the freedom to go to a cafe after school and not be stuck waiting for the late bus.

I know both schools very well (went to one and family members went to the other plus teach there) and if we lived closer I would have been happy for dd to go to either but in your case I think G&L makes more sense

Thank you all for your comments. Some issues to really about! I think the bus journey could be great to make friends but I understand the point about independence on the other hand. Hot house v nurturing is one to work out in our minds!

Having lived in this area all my life, I'm surprised Chiswick isn't as far from Hampton as I thought (altho apparently there's only 5 mins in it).

However, this hairsplitting doesn't alter my original point that from LEH whether your destination is Putney or Chiswick, you won't be home before 5.

A good friend of mine, who lives in Chiswick, sent her son and daughter to Hampton & LEH and they get back around 5.15 (they have a bit of a walk) and now rather regrets not sending them both to Latymer.

I did an hour to and from school growing up and it does take precious time out of your day. A 30 mins journey would have given me an extra hour every day that could have been spent on violin practice or homework or chilling, rather than sitting in a traffic jam.

Personally I don't think there's enough between G&L and LEH academically that makes it worth the schlep. Clever girls will do well whatever school they go to.