Info about st swithuns winchester

[Komal5807]

Hi, my DD qualified for Salisbury Grammar as well as St swithuns school Winchester. I am now in an indecisive mode as to where to send her? DD is an accpetionally bright girl but not much into sports,other than swimming and squash. She loved St swithuns. We didnt see salisbury as earlier we weren't planning to send her but after hearing rumours about st swithuns, m a little concerned. I have two friends whose daughters go there and they are happy. Some older threads said that the school isnt very academic?? Is that right?

St Swithuns has always been very academic even when it was non-selective. Now that it is selective (third year) it is pushing academics even harder so if that is your thing it should be fine. Swithuns is changing under the head's changes in direction, which as in anything some like and some (me) don't. While it is pushing academics it is also pushing athletics which could be good for DD with more development in the swim team which always lacked despite the lovely pool there. I will admit I know nothing about Salisbury Grammar so can't compare/contrast for you.

SWGS is the state school for the brighter girls in south Wiltshire and that corner of Hampshire.

St Swithuns is a hyper expensive, hyper selective boarding school in Winchester

they are chalk and cheese
which does your DD prefer?
Is the money no object for Swithuns?

Thank you for your replies.. we can afford to send DD to St swithuns,but we arent the UBER rich parents:) i have been hearing a lot of nastiness that goes around if a girl doesn’t wear Branded clothes/accessories at St swithuns and that got me worried.. my DD is least bothered about such things and is an extremely confident girl, but if there is a constant talk about “elite show off” i think it can effect a child. She is academically strong(scored 88% in grammar) i have been looking at gcse and Alevels scores and st swithuns in many areas specially science seem to have had good results than swgs. One of the thread here mentioned that it’s due to the 50% boarding girls who come from abroad and are highly competitive and bright🧐🧐🧐🤨🤨🤨 thank you to both for replying to my message, highly appreciate it

Friend's daughter goes to St Swithuns and is happy. However, she is very academic able and sporty, she feels academic excellence is not that celebrated among her friends, that's a little pity for her. The academic level of course is still very high.

TBH, which is your Comp?

Just because some of the comps are as good as SWGS and lots of kids from the two grammars and all of the private schools transfer to Symonds for A levels

Worth checking out - from the point of view of nicer holidays with no fees to pay ;-)

My comp is Toynbee and i am not keen on it...

Ah OK, I see your point.
Toybee is pretty middling ....
but do bear Symonds in mind for A levels - Bluestar 1 / the train = a doddle journey

I'm a Swithunite however I left c. 15+ yrs ago. It was extremely academic then and I understand potentially even more so now. It's an intense, hot house environment and gets excellent results. Pastoral care when I was there was lacking and if you had a blip during your school career then they were not good at building you back up again but instead rather cast you aside in favour of the girls more likely to achieve with less complications. Times change though and no doubt house staff responsible for the girls wellbeing also change.

Essentially if your daughter is very bright, excels at at least one sport and is pretty robust then she will fly here. If she takes everything very personally, lacks confidence, and independent drive then she will struggle regardless of academic ability.

I am always very proud to have the schools name on my CV.

Yes but do remember ( re PP post ) that it can - if you choose - be only up to GCSE - friend of DS did Winchester College then went to Peter Symonds for 6th form. On DS's open day at Oxford , PS had sent a bus full of pupils for the open day. ( This is not relevant for her core 2ndary years I realise , & I equally realise not everyone wants to go to Oxford ) but that area is excellent for schools and 6th form. ( if only we had lived where my parents in law did ) - so second hand anecdata but the likes of Talkin will be able to advise more . My point was merely that 2ndary school is to some extent just a stepping stone to whatever she might want to do later on. So as long as it gives her opportunity & certainly she has the option to change at 6th form , I would just say - give her the choice as to which school she thinks she would feel happiest at. I am a great believer in if a child feels happy at a school / college , they will do their best. Best wishes , whichever your choice.

I know half a dozen girls currently at St Swithuns. They are lovely, happy, bright girls. I know them quite well and have never seen any showing off over or interest in fashion/labels. Just really funny, kind girls. The current head is great.

On the other hand I know a HV who covers eating disorders at the school
(as is the case at EVERY selective private gels school)

Sadly not just ‘selective gels schools” my colleagues who work with girls it’s eating disorders and a few boys would tell you that in general the one of the common thread is high achieving and driven personality therefore statistically more likely to be at a selective school but that they can come from all sectors and types of education. I’m pretty sure their figures would show that the vast majority of their clients come from state comps but that reflects the local schools as we have no grammers or independent “selective gels schools” in our immediate vicinity.
The worrying thing is that eating disorders are on the increase and increasingly they are seeing it in primary age children again mainly girls.

A friend's DD travels to SGS from the Southampton area. Her biggest issue is that so few girls bother going there from this part of Hants, so it does cause problems with friendships.

If your comp is Toynbee, will you definitely get into SWGS or may distance rule you out? Distance last offered was 17.9 miles for 2018. In 2014 it was only 13.6.

@teenstimetwo All the children around my area have been getting in for the past two years.. so i am assuming she would get a place as well.. m comparing the results nowadays.. thank you everyone for taking out the time to reply back.. your help is highly appreciated

Komal, I'm curious what your decision was. Our catchment state school is Toynbee too, which seems ok but not great. We're looking at St Swithuns for our very sporty daughter. Whichever school you chose, were there others from your daughter's school going to? I get the impression if ours doesn't go to the catchment state she'll be going elsewhere on her own!

Hello all, sorry u couldnt reply back as mumsnet hasn’t been working for some reason on my side.. we still haven’t decided, we have some financial concerns so i am looking into south wilts now as well.. my daughter’ peers are all going to Thornden and she has had social issues at school so is very happy to be rid of everyone and starting anew:) good luck to your daughter

Thanks for replying Komal. Is your DD year 6 now? You said she qualified for a place so presumably would have CE exams now? Yes always important to consider all options and good for her for having the confidence to go somewhere on her own!

I hope she gets somewhere that makes her happy

In my day (15ish years ago), it was super sporty, very upper m-c (volvos, black labs and agas) and very academic. I agree with above that pastoral wasn’t great And eating disorders and self-harm was rife. It has apparently improved hugely since but I wouldn’t send a child of mine there for all the world. I am an academic high fligher but the price I paid in other ways was not worth it.

Oh gosh that sounds awful. We have an open day in March so hope to get a vibe from that. It really is the sporting facilities we're interested in.

They are still very sporty,my friend’s daughter goes there and she just told my daughter yest that they are SUPER SPORTY:) have heard about eating disorders but not from the girls who are actually studying there.. my daughter cleared the pre test for st swithuns (her common entrance test is on 21-22nd jan.. one of the ladies pm’ed me and she is very happy with her daughter in st swithuns and the two other friends who i talked to, the girls are happy there..
i got to know there is a mini bus going to the grammar school arranged by the parents so that cuts the travel time significantly for us.. let’s see.. sometimes too many choices can be a problem too:)

Happysummer - are you going to the March 9th Open Day for Yr 5s?

Hi, no as she's still year 4, but we are going to the open day on 13th March. I have pencilled in the Y5 day for next year! There is also a lacrosse camp in August which she's doing. She's never done it before, and seen as it's compulsory for the first three years I thought it wise for her to try it out before we apply.

Is your DD Y5? Are you applying?

Hello All, thank you so
Much for your help.. DD cleared all her tests but Southwilts is oversubscribed this year hence she couldn’t get in.we are going with St Swithuns.. Happy Days:) xx

Well done to your daughter @Komal5807.

It would be lovely to know how she settles in. Do you know if there is a minibus that runs to SS from the train station or are you planning on doing drop offs etc?