Whitgift School

[Sockboy1]

We were going to move to Surrey so applied for this school for my twin boys. Both boys got an offer. The problem is we are not moving and will remain in East London. We have another option of Weatherbys in central London which we can get to in 20 mins. My question is are we mad to turn down a school like Whitgift and should I do the 1.20 hour commute every day or will the other school be just as good. Help I need to make a decision. The other thing is I think my boys may get lost in such a big school and maybe at a smaller school they wouldn’t go under the radar.

I would only consider Whitgift if 1. Sport is very important to your boys and 2. if they were interested in boarding at Whitgift. Otherwise I would definitely choose Wetherby Senior School. I think the daily commute would be too far in the long run.

Thank you for such a quick reply. They like sport but are not fanatical about it. I struggle to get them to a local club on a Sunday morning! No, boarding is not for us, as I love to see my boys daily. I guess that Wetherbys will be a good compromise for all of us. We can always change at 13 if needs be.

It’s a tough one as we had the option of a school 20mins away or W which is two trains for my DS. We chose W as my eldest went there and we loved the school and knew it would be a good fit for my DS. He is sporty but he isn’t a fanatic and has actually found that his strength at the school is languages namely Mandarin Chinese and Spanish and he does a various range of clubs. W has this reputation as being only for sporty boys which isn’t the case as they have a fantastic music, drama and art opportunities too as well as many other. You need to make a decision based on the best fit for your DS. Lots of boys travel to schools across London and I know of many that use the school bus.

If I am honest I can see it suiting one boy more than the other. One is very extremely clever ( currently doing his GCSE astronomy) but not very great in social situations and has been totally traumitised by the exam process.

How often did your boys have to do spirts at the weekend, as agin this would involve getting there. Thanks for replying

You only do sport at the weekend if you end up in one of the teams. My DS is in the rugby team and has training every Saturday or a match. These can be away matches too and we either drop him at school to get the bus or my OH drives him to the venue. In truth my DS took a bit of time getting used to the travel but can manage himself and knows what he is doing. He has rugby training on a Friday eve too which finishes at 5pm but he gets the trains home. He certainly wasn’t as confident as his big brother at getting round and was a little anxious but now he is fine even with train cancellations!

I should add that he gets home at 450 every day apart from a Friday. We have a routine now that he does his homework when he gets in or he can do it during school in the library or on the train home. He has a lot of dead time with travelling so we try and get him to use it wisely. Good luck with your decision

Thank you so much for your lovely response. The boys do love the school so I will do a test journey on the train and see. I agree that they would need to do the homework on the train. How did your son cope with such a large school initially? Also, one son is stressing about the resindential team bonding trip, do you know if this is compulsory? I will go to the offers morning and get ask more questions.

My DS coped very well with the move from a small junior school to W. We sent him to the taster days and sports tasters too. We also made sure he attended the weeks induction which they go on just before they officially start. They meet there form which really helps with first day nerves. My DS is still friends with the boys he met on the induction. As for the trip it’s a brillliant opportunity for the boys. Sadly it was only my eldest that had the opportunity to go to lake Garda they changed it to yr 6 only so my DS who started in yr 7 last year only had a day trip type thing. If your DS does go to W I would be surprised if he didn’t change his mind about the trip...

Do you mean the Lake Garda trip, sockboy? It's not compulsory but it's highly recommended as it is genuinely a brilliant bonding experience for the boys; they have a whale of a time. Ds still talks about the Garda trip as one of his best memories of school, years later

The Lower School is a relatively gentle intro to the school - especially the lower First (10+ year). The boys don't spend that much time in the main buildings at that stage so it's not as overwhelming as you might think. Ds went from a single-form entry state primary and found the transition to a much bigger school easy, although it's full-on, activity-wise, from day 1!

I should add that my youngest DS was the one I was most worried about as he wasn’t very confident and was anxious

Thank you all for all the information. My boys would be in Year 7. It’s good to hear it’s very gentle in is approach at the beginning and that trips are not compulsory. One of my boys has been for lots of weeks away with our current school but the other just doesn’t want to go, so both very different.

I wasn't aware that there was an offers morning. When is it and how did you hear about it?

I just assumed there would be, was going to call and ask. The only reason I thought there would be is the other schools we have offers at do...