SW London girls independent/grammars thread 2020

[autumnnightsaredrawingin]

Last year, there were two amazing threads which were super helpful about exactly this, so I wanted to start a thread for girls due to start September 2020. If anyone from last year wants to contribute please do!

We have narrowed our choices down to 5, sadly not in the right postcode for Tiffin, and decided not to do the Sutton grammars.

So, she will be doing PHS, WHS, LEH, SHS and Woldingham. Also registered for Emanuel but we may pull that one.

How about cross country running at LEH? Is there a club and if so what are those timings? Dd most likely to be interested in lacrosse, netball and x-country running.

@givemesomewineplease - well done to your dd. As a parent of a dc who suffers from motion sickness I really wouldn't go for the LEH coach option - a scholarship is amazing but she'll always know she had that offer and can be proud. Of course in the end it's down to gut feelings and you say the money plays a part but the commute is a huge part of the day and not one you want to do feeling ill ...

@givemesomewineplease , I would pm you but I'm not near a laptop, my ds is at Hampton and I have last years "late coach" routes/ timetable, there isn't a bus to Hammersmith, it stopped instead at Turnham Green at 1900. A logistics conversation with the Registrar would probably answered your queries.

Good morning everyone, can someone let me know when are the acceptance deadlines for most of these schools please?

Thanks @Frostyskies1223 - good plan, I think I will get in touch with the Registrar. I'm hoping I can find our which activities would require the late bus so I can work out how often dd might need to take it, and how late it is/where it stops.

@Lolakath19 - the deadlines for dd's offers vary from 12pm on 3rd March to 12pm on 6th March. Though I think some schools have deadlines before state school offer day on 2nd March.

Be aware re Xcountry at LEH, & all sports really - they can & do move clubs around. And as the PE dept changed wholesale last September, there may be some big shifts coming up. (There may not, but LEH won't commit absolutely to any timings this far ahead.)

FWIW Xcountry has been lunchtime option for y7 & y8. Also some excellent rowers are slight but very strong due to all the work that they put in.

It can be very tough to do sport, drama & music. Your DD will have to choose due to timetabling. But she can try out a lot of different things in the first year & will definitely find plenty of options.

To answer the specific Cross country question for LEH - LEH XC club is currently on a Monday lunchtime. It has been a lunchtime club for years . I doubt it will change to after school anytime soon because they run in Bushy Park - and the Park closes early in the winter. Attendance at XC club is not compulsory in order to get selected for the XC team but it helps. Most of the XC fixtures take place during school hours but regional rounds are on Saturdays . I’m sure there will be a current list of clubs and when they take place that the registrar can send you . XC and athletics wasn’t a priority sport under the old sports team but then it isn’t really at many schools ( I can only think of a few). However LEH enter most of the available events. Other sports such as lacrosse ( the main sport) , netball, athletics , rowing ( the boat club is pretty successful ) , there are lunchtime and after school practice options . Obviously the PE dept would love everyone to go to all practice sessions for a given sport but the reality is that LEH girls are often involved in music / drama / external sport that might clash with sports practice so not everyone goes to every session though girls might prioritise higher up the school . I can think of several rowers / top lax players who might also do music or drama or a second sport so juggle their time. My DD is national level in a sport and so doesn’t go to any after school clubs in that sport because it clashes with her training but does go to lunchtime practice. Rowing is a big commitment especially because of the location of the boathouse but in the early years it is a lot of fun And you can often do lift shares, and there is also flexibility so you don’t have to go to every session - because of drama / music/ other sport but obviously the more sessions you miss might impact on which boat you end up in. Some ergo sessions are held at lunchtime / or after school at the school ( and you can do lunchtime catch up sessions too if you miss an after school session ) . The reality is that if you are doing a sport just for enjoyment you can do so and you will probably still get the chance to play for a school team / row in a regatta even if your attendance is less than others In the early years.
BTW I have had an rowing DD who is extremely slight but exceptionally strong . A lot of grit and determination is key!
Aside from sport our experience of LEH has been very positive . Lots of opportunity, the school has fostered a real “give it a go” attitude and I think the pastoral care is excellent especially around mental health awareness.

Thanks @Thisisconfusing and everyone else for info on LEH. All really helpful. The thought of running through Bushy Park is glorious! Dd super keen to join everything so that's good to hear they're encouraging of giving things a go.

Dear All, Helpful to find information on LEH in this thread. Our DD also has an offer from LEH. Would be helpful to know how the cohorts have been recently and if there is enough pastoral care ?
Is the information on clubs and after school activities available ? Just to preempt the after school hours DD might be likely to be involved in). She is more inclined to academics, art, drama and music. Thanks

I think the pastoral care is excellent . A lot of focus on mental health and general well being ( indeed one of the first schools around here to have a therapy dog - who is extremely popular with the girls.) Lots of pressure taken off the girls and most do better for it. We have had some medical issues and the nursing team have been very good and supportive . It’s a relatively small school but Mrs Hanbury does seem to know the girls. Re extra curricular there is a lot of info on school website on the senior school section and you can ask for a timetable to give you an idea. A lot of music ensembles , singing groups , orchestras with different rehearsal times but lots at lunchtime although it’s a while since my DD been involved . Inevitably close to a concert there will be rehearsals after school and for drama at the weekend too. DD focus is on sport plus around four other extra curricular clubs (but all lunchtime clubs - she has to train externally after school) plus an instrument plus DofE. ! I suppose my point is that the opportunities are there and LEH tends to select the girls they think will make the most of them - they are busy girls . But they still find plenty of time to hang out in their classrooms . Being busy has made my DD more organised work wise. But it isn’t a hot house - some parents even complain their isn’t enough pressure 🙄

• There -oops

I have two girls at LEH and both are very happy and involved in the clubs they are most interested in. I would avoid looking at after-school timetables and planning ahead - they change by year group and by teacher and you should not make assumptions on travel logistics this early. They will change. Or perhaps your daughter's interests will change? They are always encouraged to try new things. One thing I would warn for this Sept intake - do ask how many girls / classes they expect for Sept. One of my dds is in the current yr8 'bulge' year, where there are 6 classes instead of 4. Opportunities for those girls are more limited - less chance to be in sports teams, drama productions etc. And they often have sports matches/training sessions with no teacher watching their games. The school has also not staffed up for parents evenings - it is an absolute nightmare for this year group - with comms from the school warning that not everyone will have appointments due to the demand ( that they created) - resulting in a scramble for places and squeezed, short discussion times. One parent told me she asked the school about the (unplanned) larger year group prior to entry and was told bluntly that if she wanted to send their dd to a smaller school, they hear St Catherines has places.. She did still send her daughter and she is happy and thriving, but there are grumblings from many parents in the larger year group. Check the Sept intake size..

RE LEH numbers. I seem to remember the head saying at the Q&A session that their ideal number is 108. Past 112 they need to create another class. She did say that however many places are accepted- they will honour them all and so if more accept that the ideal number of places they will find a way to accommodate them.

She didn’t give out exact numbers on how many offers would be made- only that around 400 girls sat the exam and around 200 were interviewed.

Remember that Tiffin offers (or not!) could have a big impact on places taken up (or not).

I just have a question about accepting offers (DD in y5, but planning ahead and taking all your advice on board!). I see the closing dates to accept offers are usually first week in March. Just thinking ahead for next year it would be good to have February’s pay in the bank before paying a deposit (I’m looking at the deposits and they seem to range from £750 to £2500!!). I’m also seeing there are some schools with exploding offers. Have most of you accepted places? Or do most people wait until they last minute’?

It will be a mixture of some sending deposit & forms straight away (especially if there’s a risk of an exploding offer), some waiting for grammar/state options to come out (but usually will then have to get forms in very quickly after before the deadline), some will hedge their bets and pay deposit but be on a waiting list for other schools so will potentially miss out on that money. What I feel is unfair is people who hold onto state offers until September when they have no intention of taking up the place if going private.

What is meant by exploding offer?
Thanks in advance

mummyme An exploding offer is when a school offers more places than it can provide, and says that the first however-many to send in the deposit and the forms can have the places. So your child could earn a place, but if you take too long getting the deposit over, could lose it again. Not popular with most parents!

The only two I know of that do exploding offers (not personally, via last year’s thread) are CLSG and Channing. Other schools either do a bulge class if necessary (LEH was mentioned up-thread as doing this a couple of years ago) or under-offer and expect to go to waiting list (WHS did this last year quite substantially, due to their building works). It is tricky for the schools, as there will be girls with multiple offers and its hard to predict how many will say yes to an offer.

Yes my dd is also y8 and while I am very happy that the school honored all the offers it made they really haven’t allowed for the extra number of girls...

One parent told me she asked the school about the (unplanned) larger year group prior to entry and was told bluntly that if she wanted to send their dd to a smaller school, they hear St Catherines has places.

This pretty much summarises the attitude to parents though...that we should be grateful to be granted a place and therefore can’t query things. There is very little flexibility (unless you are the star musicians where they will bend over in contortionist knots to help)...otherwise its “our way or the highway “...

On the subject of exploding offers, Radnor House sent their offers out the week before all the other schools and warned they would explode. Lots of pissed off parents.

KGS had exploding offers a few years ago as they over offered the year before and ended up with more children per class. They haven't done it since so have since probably been more careful in their management of offers and the wait list.

Nobody really believes LEH simply accidentally over-offered one year and was forced to honour the offers. The entry year after the expensive gateway building works expansion over ran, and new classrooms were ready, they took in a full 2 extra classes. Quite some miscalculation. Hmmm. Nobody bought that.

pamplemoussed I thought I was cynical!!!

Hi, well done everyone in all the offers. On the subject of scholarships, it’s lovely to be offered obviously, but schools do sometimes issue these in a quite calculated way, eg. somewhere like LEH offer quite a lot of scholarships to girls in London who live nearer to SPGS and G&L as an incentive for them to travel out. They look at your address and the other schools you’ve applied to. Academic scholarships are often only 5% anyway, which is neither here not there when you factor in a few trips or various other things over the years, so schools can afford to offer a lot of these. Other schools, such as G&L simply don’t offer academic scholarships at all (I think they only offer one music scholarship at 11 plus), but that doesn’t necessarily mean your child didn’t do just as well, if not better, in their exams. You just wouldn’t know. Also, I’ve seen it a lot that the DC who enter with scholarships at 11 often struggle as they progress through the school and are no longer towards the top end of the cohort - which does frequently happen because children change a lot between 11 and 16, often dramatically so and it’s impossible to predict because they develop at different times. One of my DC’s friends who was on a combo of an academic and music scholarship, ended up dropping out of the school entirely in Year 11 and it was really shocking to see how quickly things fell apart for her. It’s just an extra layer of expectation sometimes and, if things start to slip slightly , they sometimes don’t have the resilience to pick themselves up and keep going.

In all these schools, they just need to know that it’s absolutely fine to be in the bulk or “bell curve” of the cohort and you will come out with a string of top grades. The main challenge is not to develop mental health problems and to work on resilience. If you do well in a particular area, then that’s brilliant and to be celebrated, but if not, they need to understand that that’s fine too and they’re still doing really well on in national terms. It’s hard to lose perspective when you’re in schools that cater for the top 2% or whatever it is, especially if you’re coming from a non-selective prep or state primary where they’ve been used to being top of the class fairly effortlessly.