SPGS or G&L - advice please!

[Zahra76]

Could I ask anyone with experience of either of these schools for the perceived differences please? Is SPGS a lot more pushy? Both schools are a similar size, similar area and similar GCSE results making it difficult to choose between them.

Also, my neighbour is in the ridiculous position of having twins - one offered SPGS (not G&L) and one G&L (not SPGS) and neither are on the waiting lists for the other school! Are both schools similar in ethos, or should she just send both to PHS, even though it’s less convenient?

Thankyou.

Both are excellent schools. 10 minutes walk away from each other. Many of the G&L girls have friends at SPGS (and Latymer Upper for that matter). Historically, SPGS has been thought more pressured... they are always top of every league table... not sure that's particularly true now.
SPGS play lacrosse, G&L hockey! Though netball at both.

SPGS is (even) more academic in its environment and nature. Tends to pick sparky, dedicated girls who will have quite academic discussions and want to debate. It is liberal (no uniform, relaxed). Very prestigious to have a place, which comes with pressure in a way, and not right for everyone.
G&L is a little more rounded, but still very academic, and gets great results. More traditional in that it has uniform and is less fussy, less pressure to be a certain type perhaps. Parents dream of and fight for places at SPGS for their DDs - it is seem as a huge honour. G&L is hugely popular and oversubscribed and desired too... but more in the fact it is a very good girls school rather than very prestigious.
They are very similar and I'm struggling here despite knowing both very well! I guess it could be described as like St Paul's Boys Vs. Kings College Wimbledon.

This year, plenty of girls getting places at SPGS but not, for example, G&L or WHS. New exams...

Both are really good schools for the right type of girls. I know a few DDs from both schools - they are all rounded and very academic (some of them very sporty and musical as well), and happy!

Are the two DDs quite similar or different? Also, do they want to go to the same school or do they want to have a break from each other?

Thankyou for the replies. I feel as if we’re veering more towards G&L for DD and Im not sure exactly why. She says she feels it’s a bit more friendly and normal. She didn’t really feel comfortable on the interview at SPGS which may be something to do with it - she said it was quite serious and formal, where no other school was like that. But obviously that could have just been down to one particular teacher.

As for the twins, there’s nothing between them academically really. One plays the violin, one the piano, but I wouldn’t say they had drastically different personalities. Hard two believe that 2 schools would both interview twins and take one each. I think they may end up going to PHS because the mum has had enough!

Friend with a DD at SPGS has been surprised at a) the social strata of the girls who are largely more overtly privileged than she was expecting and b) the very small groups they are taught in.

Her DD is doing brilliantly there - she’s very straight and very clever and not unduly concerned by what’s going on around her so she will absolutely thrive. It wouldn’t be right for other girls though.

Btw I don’t mean straight/boring. I mean she’s very grounded and sensible and knows where she is headed academically. Not easily wobbled. That’s why it works for her.

DD has offers in both Spgs and G&L - I would be grateful if anyone has comment/advice on both schools. We are leaning towards G&L but also we don't want to turn spgs down without doing proper due diligence.

G&L offers IB as well as A levels. Popular with all rounders and those thinking of US or European Universities.

Violetta this thread sums up SPGS well so read through and think about whether it sounds like your DD would fit. G&L is more similar to other academic girls schools. It doesn't have that edge SPGS has mentioned in this thread of being for very naturally academic, inquisitive girls who generally sail along and find academics fairly easy and fit in loads of extracurricular with ease.

G&L still has nearly equally academic girls but that includes more of a balance - girls who have to work hard to get things, ones who might need gentle encouragement, might not be completely solid in all subjects or who will cope better without the feeling that everyone around them is sailing along easily that you may get at SPGS. It is less university atmosphere than SPGS and more school like - an easy follow on to most London preps.

I'd say SPGS is for the (in many cases quietly) confident girl who is self-assured, motivated and breezes through things fairly independently. G & L is for similarly academic girls but ones who have to put the work in rather than finding it all comes completely easily and instantly, enjoy the structures of school and perhaps more of a balance of school life vs home life vs social life vs extracurricular. Yes SPGS have all this but everything is possibly a little more intense - not in a way that is a problem - but it wouldn't suit every girl.

I see them both as excellent, in many ways just as academic schools, just with very different styles and atmospheres. I would pick G&L as it would suit my DD better if back in that position (she was someone who had to work hard but then got A*s, felt pressure from peers and wasn't naturally self-assured - lots of wobbles and confidence building needed) but we weren't in London at that stage. My quiet but bright and self-assured niece, if in London, would be a SPGS girl no question and absolutely thrive.

@DinoDisco, thank you, really helpful comments. I took a few days to read all the information in the various threads about both schools as well as talk to people in real life who have daughters in both schools and am 99% sure of our decision. The last bit is just me finding the courage to bite the bullet and accept the place at SPGS and embark on this new chapter of my daughter's life. Its daunting when people compare it to a mini-university but my daughter is a quietly confident but not at all competitive, academically very inquisitive girl so Im hoping the school will suit her. I'm sad about giving up the option of the IB at G&L though, that was very appealing to us.

Nothing is set in stone. There is a fair amount of switching, particularly at sixth form, including girls moving to Westminster, KCL (with IB), and now SPS.

Schools are usually good at recognising fit. However sometimes they get it wrong and the schools recognise this. If a child does not settle at one school, it is very likely that another will be sympathetic, especially if they had previously offered a place. We knew quite a lot of girls who switched within SW London schools. SPGS to G&L and LU, Putney to G&L, LU to Ibstock and G&L, and so on. Interestingly of the girls I can think of, all benefitted form the fresh start and indeed in a couple of cases the difference was transformational.

Having said that SPGS is often the perfect school for the right girl.

Thanks so much @needmoresleep
It’s really interesting to hear about girls moving if worst comes to worst, or even just to do A levels with boys present, and then happily settling into another school. Is your daughter in spgs?

No. We are luckily well beyond the SW London schools, though not so long that I have forgotten the angst.

DD was at LU then Westminster, though did a lot of out of school sports training so knew plenty from other schools in the area.

A close friend of hers appeared to be the perfect Paulina. Clever, confident, sporty, musical, good at dram, you name it. But for some reason it did not suit her, and the parents decided not to wait to see if things would improve. I suspect that the presence of boys at LU may have diluted some of the girl competitiveness, and she certainly seemed happy at LU. I also understand why parents might decide that G&L, with its more nurturing reputation might be worth might suit a girl who was feeling overwhelmed at either LU or SPGS. According to a friend, Registrars understand and do their best to help.

DD loved every minute she was at Westminster. There are lots of reasons girls want a change of scenery at 16. Boys is not a good reason!

The point was really that these are all excellent schools, and the majority of pupils are happy and well educated wherever they end up. Things can go wrong at any school. SW London girls are lucky in that if this happens, school choice is not an irrevocable decision.