Independent Senior School for DD - moving from abroad

[MommyRabbit]

Any recommendations please....for kind, happy Central London independent Snr School for v. academic but quiet and shy 14yr old DD? Moving from abroad... easy-going atmosphere and kind and supportive pupils are top of the wishlist. No rumours of bullying/sharp edges. Academics matter, but not at the expense of "heart". Aware we'll have to hope for an occasional place to open up... all very stressful. Grateful for any suggestions of where NOT to try too!

Co-Ed or all girls?

Hi, ideally all girls, but will consider co-ed, thanks!

Hi OP

My children are far too young but people near here are very keen on:

Channing
Forest (but this is in E17 so a journey from central London)
Francis Holland (round here people want Regents Park but I’ve heard that Sloane Square is great too)
More House (a friend’s daughter goes here, she said that they are great for pastoral care and self esteem)
Northbridge House
Queen’s College

I haven’t included the schools that can get described as “red in tooth and claw”. I should also say that we haven’t started visiting senior schools yet so this is based on what I’ve heard from others.

There will be other schools in south or west London that people will recommend but I only have ones that are accessible from Islington on my list.

Hi CruCru, thank you! Francis H has crossed my radar, good to see it on your list too. I'm going to look at the others you mentioned, which is a great start, thanks!

Hive mind working well- I was about to recommend FHSS and More House.

Thanks Etinox! Would you say FHSS over FHRP? (On the kindness barometer)?

Queens College is a well -established small girls' school, very central. Marylebone.
I have heard northbridge is not so good for the very academic.
I would avoid st pauls girls', as although tip-top academically, have heard can be v competitive, some sharp-elbowing, not caring.
channing is north London, in Highgate, may be too far out. also north London girls tend to be v pushy, self-assured, articulate, might crush a more reserved, gentle character.
where will you be based. I guess you are looking for day schools.

I don’t know whether FHRP is as good on the kindness barometer, only because I don’t know the school.
My DCs attended 10+ schools 😳
(dd’s and ds’s, vocational, specialist requirements at A Level, expat family returning to UK) and only chose one duff one, but FHSS was the best of the other 8!
My only caveat is money- there are some very rich families. DD attended for VI Form so we could keep up where we needed to and she was also v established in her values, she often moans that she didn’t go there from Reception, but we couldn’t have kept up socially or financially- she’d have been the odd one out at school or home if we had.
The Senior School is more mixed and the teaching and pastoral care and exceptional. The Head is wonderful.

14 - so going into what year? I doubt any will take her later than the start of year 10 as she'll need to start the GCSE curriculum. Realistically you have a much better chance of getting her into one of the schools people consider to be a backup option, then moving at 16 if you want to. So I'd think NBH would be a good one to try, also St. Margaret's in Hampstead which only goes to 16 so they would help her to fine the next school. Places at FH, Channing, City etc are unlikely though of course worth asking as someone may be leaving. But they will probably interview 10-15 girls for an occasional place.

Thank you! Yes, coming up for Yr 10. Will be her 4th school, due to family moves. Sounds like I have to approach a number of the schools on this thread in hopes of a place opening up. We'll probably be West-ish, but ok for Regents Park and surrounds too, as ok with up to a 30 min commute.

We are looking at Sutton High School for our DD next year. They said online they have in year places

What about Queensgate if you are west ish? - I don't know much about it but others may be able to advise!

Another one for FHSS if they have places. I’m sure FHRP is great too.

Also, as you say she’s very academic, you could try Godolphin & Latymer in Hammersmith. It’s an academic school, but very kind, calm and inclusive atmosphere.

There is a school called NLCS (see the scary thread on Primary Education) that sounds very tooth-and-claw, so maybe avoid that?

Do you know which part of London you’ll be moving to?

Thank you, good to hear that about G&L, but assume it is one of those that will need an enormous amount of luck, shall investigate though! Also for the note on NLCC - will steer clear. We'd like to end up Fulham / H-Smith or slightly wider radius - north of river, the school offer will to some extent guide this.

Sutton (via website) seems lovely, commute logistics may rule out....

Notting Hill and Ealing High, and perhaps Putney High, worth looking at for those locations?

Are you definitely going for private? There are great state schools in London, but one issue I think you might have is that you can only apply once back resident in the UK (I think!) so that might make planning tricky.

Hello, I'm not in London and general slight derail but just wanted to say that I went to five - yes, count them five - secondary schools due to family moves abroad and back. I got a place at Cambridge and actually I found I was much more ready for uni and life beyond than a lot of my contemporaries.

The only disadvantage was that I got some strange questions at my university interviews. It was only by the third one that I realised that what they were really asking was 'how many of those schools were you expelled from?' It hadn't occurred to me at all...

OP I wouldn’t discount SPGS, if you have a very academic dd. I have a dd there in the lower years, and one thing I’ve been impressed by is the absence of bullying and cliques, and how the older girls really go out of their way to be kind to the younger ones. I don’t know if this is true across the board, but it’s definitely been my dd’s experience.

And of course, they’re very liberal / easy-going in terms of uniform (not having one) and things like hair colour. My dd has not worried about getting a detention in the same way as her friends at other schools, because she knows that would be for something like being consistently late without a good excuse, not for having the wrong colour socks!

Oh ok, if you’re thinking of living in Fulham / Hammersmith way, you could also consider Barnes? Hammersmith Bridge is closed for a few years, but loads walk over to SPGS and G&L as it’s not far.

From Barnes or Fulham, you’re in striking distance of PHS, even WHS?

There is also LU, but for a quieter girl, I think G&L or SPGS might be better? I’ve had DC at all of them and they’re all fantastic in their own ways, but G&L is the most nurturing and kind, in my view.

There is also a new school called Fulham Seniors which could be fantastic and the opportunity to be part of something new? It’s an extension if Fulham Prep which has an established track record. It may be easier to get a place there, to be honest.

In Barnes there’s also Ibstock, which is a bit of a “marmite” school, by all accounts. Same with Harrodian. People seem to either love it, or steer well clear. But both have beautiful grounds.