All girls high schools

[baylisbaylis]

I'm hoping you lovely Mums can enlighten me on Mother's Day :)
I'm searching for all girls secondary schools which are within a reasonable (no more than 1 hour) commutable distance from SW20 (public transport or driving) state or independent which are non-selective or 'less' selective than the top hitters in SW at least.

I know of a few already such as Coombe Girls, Ricards Lodge, Marymount International, Grey Coat Hospital, Ursuline High School.
But there must surely be quite a few others that I'm missing!
Any help in expanding this list will be greatly appreciated!

Reeling just noticed you had already mentioned the girl-boy sibling rule , thanks for that and all the other information also.
You mentioned Notre Dame as well, am I correct in thinking it's catholic? I've heard Ursuline and St Philomena's are pretty much impossible to get into if you're not a practicing catholic (which we're not).

So grateful to everyone who's taken the time to reply. You are all a wealth of knowledge!

If you are anywhere near the tram, Old Palace school will be surpringly accessible. You could also look up journey times for Streatham High and Croydon High in case they work.

Holy Cross is in New Malden.

Notre Dame is Catholic although they accept other faiths/non faiths too. There are coaches from SW19/20.

Ursuline almost definitely a no-no unless a practising Catholic, some years a few other faiths get in.

baylisbaylis Notre Dame Cobham is Catholic but private so somehow I think faith might not be quite the issue it is getting into Ursuline (which is sooo competitive in part because it's the best state school in Merton).

I know lots of families with girls at Ursuline. In theory they offer a very small % of non faith places but I know no-one who managed to get their DDs in that way (I have a friend who put it first on their DD's CAF and still nada). I think it's okay if you have some faith but not if you've not got one at all, if that makes sense? Unless you can prove that your DD is going to benefit from the type of pastoral care that such a school would offer (and I wasn't prepared to do that!).

Good luck!

it's the best state school in Merton that should probably read best performing...The rest is subjective TBQH! DH sees lots of the local school children en route to school, when he's commuting, and isn't impressed by the Ursuline girls' behaviour out of school!

What about St Theresa's in Effingham?

I have spoken to Ursuline and they confirmed that, unlike some of the local faith primary schools, they do not need to offer any places to 'other' faiths or non-faith girls. So it all depends on how many catholic girls apply each year. The registrar confirmed last year there were more catholic girls applying than places so they took all the slots, whereas the year before they took in 6 girls of other faiths.
I'm guessing being private Notre Dame is like Marymount with their admissions then? they're catholic schools but take in any faith as long as you can pay. Always good to know that buses are available.
Though it's another added cost... 😕

Haven't really considered Croydon/Purley schools at all as I'm not sure how I'd feel about DD being on the tram alone... though I'm considering putting her on the tube?... but somehow the underground feels safer to me?? Or am I being silly here??
Plus I have the impression that those schools are very selective though I haven't researched them so I might be wrong about that too!

The general rule seems to be that the further out of London you go the wider range a school will take. Central London schools therefore tend to be more segmented with those mentioned in my first post being seen as ‘less selective’. The three in my last post are not seen as perticularly selective. However it does not mean that they won’t have girls who are academic high achievers.

We did know a (v bright) girl who went to Old Palace from SW London. It might be worth asking whether there is a group from Wimbledon who travel together on the tram.

You haven’t mentioned Raynes Park High - have you ruled that out? Or the new Wimbledon Harris Academy?

They're co-ed though FlumePlume and OP asked specifically about girls only schools.

I know there are some great mixed schools DD would probably get into but DD wants girls only. And I agree with her as she suits that environment.
The co-eds are not 100% ruled out, as I think if it came to it I would rather she attended a good co-ed rather than an all girls school we don't like. Though I don't think there are many rubbish girls school... downside being everyone wants in!

Sorry - read thread but missed that bit. I was working on the 'better a school you're not entirely happy with close to home than being assigned one far away' principle.

Streatham & Clapham High?

The tram can be a bit like the wild west TBQH. Not so much in the Wimbledon/Morden area but once you start heading into Mitcham and towards Croydon... However, I would imagine at school travel times it would probably be okay. I guess you won't know unless you try the routes at those times?

Streatham & Clapham High is a good suggestion montenotte, although what would be the public transport route? The only girls I know who went there lived in Balham/Tooting Bec/Clapham/Streatham, so it was only a very short car journey away. More difficult to navigate from SW20.

The information about Ursuline admissions last year was interesting, OP. It explains much. And it means that any Catholic girls moving into the area would probably always be bumped to the top of the W/L over those without an R/C faith (or indeed any).

Grey Coat changed its admissions criteria about 4 years ago.

Aside from being some of the most complex in existence (superselective language places, faith and feeder schools, plus fair banding all in there), they have had the effect of shrinking the effective admissions footprint consideabky. Unless language place, you have to be pretty local (and probably at a feeder primary) to be reasonably sure of an offer.

OTOH Burntwood seems to have a much wider footprint, especially from waiting list (though my last direct information on this is a couple of years old, and the demographic bulge is only just beginning to hit secondaries - except distances offered to contract whilst the bulge works through)

I think the Ursuline example ^ is indicative of just how much the baby boom bulge is increasing demand on school places. You are right AnotherNewt that catchments will shrink too.

The trams are fine - I would much prefer them to the underground.

Streatham & Clapham is an interesting suggestion. Hadn't really considered it because of location, though to be honest I haven't looked at what the journey would be like.

Reeling I suspect that Catholics would jump the queue at Ursuline regardless of when they registered; which leaves no hope for everyone else really.

Grey Coat does seem very complicated ... if we go for it it will be in the hope of a Language place as DD does seem to have a knack for them. So it seems silly not to try for such a good school.

I drive past Burntwood a lot (not realising I did until I looked it up a couple of days ago) and it would be a reasonable travel for DD. Just a bit difficult to sift through all the different reviews and opinions on it.

It's increasingly looking like Ricards will be our state school safety net, but worried that the catchment area will have shrunk enough to leave us out before DD gets there!
For everywhere else we like it seems like we'll apply hoping for a miracle!

Following some great suggestions from you wise MNs I have added new schools to my 'to visit' list.

Is Streatham & Clapham a GDST school? Is not a 'super selective' one?

"is Streatham & Clapham a GDST school? Is not a 'super selective' one?"

Yes, I mentioned it in my first post on this thread, and you dismissed it along with the others as too selective. The academic level required at entry has been rising for several years now, and that trend will probably continue during the demographic bulge.

(Arguably all private schools are 'super selective', as they pick the pupils they want, rather than taking all academically qualified ones by distance).

I know of 4 children this year who got offers at SCHS but did not at the more selective (JAGS, Alleyns, WHS) and the increasingly popular Emmanuel etc..