Sutton High School

[mimsical76]

Hi everyone,
My DD has received an offer from Sutton High, for entry in year 7 in September 2021. We are still awaiting results from another school. Can anyone please tell me what it’s like compared to Surbiton High (which I didn’t particularly like)? Though it seems, like parents are more drawn to Surbiton High rather than Sutton High, is there a reason for this? GCSE results seems quite similar.
Many thanks.

We are also holding an offer from Sutton and considering it very strongly. I didn’t like the size of Surbiton - we decided not to apply - but I think some parents choose it due to location and size. I think the schools feel different. We have a few friends with DD at Sutton who are very pleased with it and see it as ‘on the up’ - it’s much smaller year groups than at Surbiton and our daughter really had a good experience on the entrance test day there and said it felt friendly. It’s also a Gdst school and Surbiton is United learning - so that’s a difference in terms of all girls focus. We are waiting to hear from grammars before deciding. What other school are you waiting on?

Hi Corblimbea, thank you so much for your reply. I felt very much the same way about Sutton High compared to Surbiton High. I also have an aversion to very sleek presentations and marketing! I was just wondering whether I had missed something as almost half her year group applied to Surbiton High.
We are waiting on Emanuel, a school we all really liked. But it is totally oversubscribed and this year they have received an unprecedented number of applications for very few places. So it feels like a long shot at the moment 😔
When will you hear from the grammars?

March 1st! A long wait. Somehow Surbiton is seen as a SW London school and talked about a lot on the SW London thread and Sutton isn’t ‘in the mix’ there - even though geographically it’s just as ‘London’ really. It is the same at our prep - everyone applies there. But really they are both the same 20 minutes from Clapham junction by train. Just not on south west trains - maybe that’s why. I think Surbiton is touted by london prep heads as ‘the’ back up for an all girls school. They seem to offer everyone every year. Sutton seen more as Surrey school maybe. Surbiton felt corporate to us. We are considering Sutton even if given the grammar as it was the only school DD saw and we got a good feeling on the online events.

Thank you for replying. I hadn’t thought of the difference in areas, as they are both very suburban to me! I also felt that Surbiton High was too corporate and didn’t like the fact that at open day only the top girls were asked to talk.
It is a long wait, I am on tenterhooks about Emanuel 😬 but maybe Sutton High is good alternative if she doesn’t get an offer. Their GCSE results are again not too dissimilar. Good luck to you!! 🤞🤞🤞

@mimsical76 , I've got a dd at SHS who has been there for many years, in her year the dd come from Kings Rd via Putney station, east sheen, Richmond, Ham, Hampton, Guildford, Cobham, New Malden plus all the many other local area - Esher, Twickenham, Wimbledon, Kingston etc. It's basically the school bus routes plus direct trains to Surbiton or Kingston. It's a much larger catchment than Sutton High.

thank you Singingrain1223.
I hadn’t realised that Surbiton High has a much wider catchment area!

This definitely gives us our answer as kings Road area etc would be hard to Sutton - thank you.

Hi. We have been offered a place at Sutton high for year 7 and liked it so much we have accepted even before we hear from the other schools she sat exams for. I have found the head to be so approachable, friendly and genuinely seems interested in both the pupils and the school. I had a zoom meeting with her prior to accepting and she was so lovely. My DD came out of the exam after it was her first time ever seeing the school and said it was her favourite! She kept going on about how friendly everyone was and how nice the school looked. I like the fact that it is on the smaller size as all of the reviews I have read have emphasised it as very nurturing. My DD is quite shy and would get lost in a big school so the smaller size and family feel I think would suit her. We live in tooting near to Hayden’s road station so the Sutton train journey is only 20 mins. Good luck in your decision making. Only you know what feels right for your own child. Dawn x

Hi Losingthewill01
Yes, I had the same feeling about Sutton High. Feels very warm and friendly. My daughter is also on the shy side, the smaller class sizes would definitely suit her, especially as a transition from her current prep school which is small. I also like the fact that it is a GDST school, which builds strong, confident women!
Thank you again! I think that if we do get an offer from Emanuel, it’ll be a very tough decision. x

Yes we are also at a small indie school so wanted the transition to be as painless as possible!!. Good luck in your decision.

Hi guys. My DD also has an offer from Sutton but now also one from Notre Dame Cobham and waiting on Surbiton. Surbiton is our first choice but there is very high demand this year. We would struggle to get to Sutton so SHS more attractive although head at Sutton was really lovely. Those of you in prep schools have you been given guidance on likelihood of getting into SHS equal to Sutton? We are in state primary so absolutely no guidance whatsoever in fact almost no school for the last year really 😡. Your thoughts would be appreciated... we didn’t get into KGS and are awaiting Claremont

@Mammamiammy whereabouts are you based?

We live v v close to Surbiton High school so if we were lucky enough to get both we would have to go with location but Surbiton is getting very tough to get into.. DD was offered a place in year 4 but we turned it down due to financial implications but I’m regretting it 😩

Hi @Mammamiammy
from what I have heard, most girls get offered a place at Surbiton High. Though this year all independent secondary schools have received an unprecedented number of applications, so I am not sure whether things will be different. KGS is a much more competitive school to get into, this year they had over 1,000 applications for only 50 places for girls (100 in total). So try not to worry, easier said than done, I know. 😬 such a stressful time! Good luck!

We looked at both schools a few years ago when open days were a thing and my daughter plumped for Surbiton despite the fact we live in Sutton.
The big draw of SHS for her was the sport, the art room and the fashion show!
Despite being shy the size of the school was not a drawback in fact it was a bonus. It means there is much more on offer in terms of clubs, sport and of course friendships.
I have friends with girls at Sutton High and they love it there but many leave at the end of of year 11 to go to a bigger sixth form. So this is something to bear in mind.
I also have to say that the lockdown provision and the pastoral care from SHS has been outstanding over the last year.

thank you @sandyandmandy
I think these are all very personal choices. Both schools are most probably excellent! I went to the open day at Surbiton High, and didn’t take to it. Though my daughter didn’t come with me. So things might be different if she had, as we didn’t apply to Surbiton High. Plus, I do really like the GDST values which is a bit draw. Very difficult decisions!!

Yes all the indies are massively over subscribed somehow. So much for a global downturn 😩. Yes daughter was a flat NO from KGS with 1300 applications for 100 places. We all love SHS and as it’s literally on our doorstep, we feel like we know it very well. We certainly endure the traffic associated with it 😜. DD did a superb interview (as I was listening outside) so let’s hope her exam was decent too. Well thanks all for the tips. My fingers and toes are crossed but know we are lucky to already have two in the bag!

@Mammamiammy
Good luck, I really hope you get Surbiton High!
We are waiting with much trepidation, the outcome from Emanuel. Again, another super oversubscribed school! 🤞 🤞

And good luck to you. What a horrid process. Who’d have thought it would be so difficult to pay £18k a year for the next 5 😩

@Mammamiammy thank you and very true!!! 😂😂😂 it has become a crazy process. 😬

It certainly has! I think we found it easier to accept Sutton as it was the only school my DD has managed to get a tour of during the entrance exam! Not sure how parents are expected to accept a place at a school they have never set foot inside!.
Good luck to you all. Maybe see some of you if you accept Sutton high!
It will soon be all over 😁

Thank you!! Yes, maybe see you in September ☺️

@Losingthewill01
Thank you!! Yes, maybe see you in September ☺️
(Sutton High is also the only school my daughter got to visit!)

@mimsical76 when will you hear from Emanuel? It wasn’t one we looked at. We had interview for KGS as a co-Ed option but now very firmly thinking single sex and I’ve been reading so much about this. @Mammamiammy it’s a hard choice if SHs is so close to you! we have some friends from Kingston/Surbiton who get the 213 to Sutton (for grammars) so might be ok as a direct route. Definitely the smaller year group appeals at Sutton. I think Surbiton said they have 120-150 in a year which is a lot, but then the grammars have 240 in a year now which is one reason DD is not so keen. Sutton was around 80 I think. We are in a relatively small prep so she’s preferring the smaller classes and schools I think. So hard!

@mimsical76 well done for getting an interview at KGS. Well we are state primary and it’s a 3 form year with 31 kids in her class mostly some quite challenging boys. It’s a brilliant school but anything private mixed or co-Ed will be significantly better. One school interviewer asked my daughter what she prefers given we’d applied to both and she said I don’t know purely on the basis she’s no idea what an all girls school will be like. I would imagine a lot calmer than what she’s used to but it’s not really an issue for us. In some ways wish we were closer to Sutton as it really seems like a very lovely school and their handling of the entrance process has Ben brilliant. It seems like it would suit her perfectly, but she’s very young for her year (end of July) and at only just 11 I don’t fancy putting her on two trains each way. Perhaps I’m being over precious but it seems too much... fingers crossed for Surbiton. I hope she’s done enough. Well done to everyone else. God it’s such a stressful time. At least we have some offers. I feel lucky.