Francis Holland (Sloane Square), Queen Gate or Streatham & Clapham HS?

[Abitdotty]

DD has offers for Year 7 at these schools. We are hoping for a coed school and due to Covid have not visited any of these. Can anyone give positives/negatives. We live somewhere between all of these so they are all an ok journey. Thanks

If you are hoping for -co-ed, these 3 schools are all girls only?

Yes, i am fully aware that they are girls schools, however our preference was for a coed school, she hasn't got a place at the coed options so now we need to decide between these single sex schools. Any options on these? thanks

I did a review of FHSS somewhere - copied and pasted below, with QGS. We never visited SCHS. Both gave positive vibes from our visits. We felts that QGS is smaller than FHSS. We do not know if this translates to numbers. Both have prep schools.

FHSS – The head teacher was lovely, endearing and really focussed on the pastoral aspects (and of course, their academic achievements) of the school. She reminded me of the former Head Mistress of St Helen’s Northwood – but a little bit more for the Sloane Square/Chelsea/Belgravia crowd. They both projected that a Head Mistress should be a second mother to students. We met the most passionate Biology teacher here; he really took time showing and explaining about the dividing chromosomes in the microscope/computer. The Chemistry room was full of fun experiments – carefully prepared by the students/teachers. A bit cramped in terms of space. Very good effort on F&B. Despite their excellent GCSE scores, there is a bit of a drop for A levels, why? The student who toured us was very confident; she wanted to study Medicine and was thinking of changing schools (maybe boarding) for 6th form. There is not much ethnic diversity here (but not as starkly noticeable as in Channing … location?).

Queens Gate – It does look like prep school, but it is not. It occupies a few buildings in South Kensington. The museums is on its doorstep. The girls who performed (music performance) during their open days were excellent! Great head and admissions team. I liked the science labs downstairs - and I genuinely felt the effort of the teachers to engage the students in STEM. I remember the Physics room was a bit spooky; it was an effort to make it fun! Good effort on F&B.

F&B = food and beverage :)

Here’s my review below of Queen’s Gate to add to what TomorrowOnce has said (also cut and pasted from an old thread but still true today). I can add that they’ve provided great provision through lockdown and our experience is that the pastoral care is top notch.

Queen's Gate is a friendly, happy school where the girls are nurtured and encouraged to achieve their full potential. My dd has found the teaching inspiring and they have a fantastic programme of extracurricular activities. As it is a small school they really get to know each girl well.

It has a very caring ethos and the Head seems to work tirelessly and be a great leader of the school.

Thank you both for these..... now we just need to decide where to go......

I’ve got a good friend who’s sent 3 DDs to SCHS and is happy, seems an ambitious school. The pastoral care was excellent also when her DH was very unwell for an extended period of time.

I have a DD at SCHS and we couldn't be happier with the school. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Also have a DD at SCHS and also couldn’t be happier. She is extremely happy there and can’t wait to actually be back at school. Pastoral care is exceptional. DD is thriving. I’m really not sure I can think of any negatives.

The three schools will have a very different social mix - how much does that matter to you?

@LizziesTwin, is there a a very different social mix at these schools?...my DD is at a local prep school but I feel for secondary I would like her to move away from a 'chelsea set' if there is such a thing.... I thought that they take girls from both sides of the river so the social mix would not be that different...am I wrong there?

...having reread my post maybe both sides of thr river is wrong for SCHS but ....

Look at the difference in fees and location. If you lived in a 7 bedroom house in South Ken would you send your daughter to SCHS? There isn’t as much difference in the fees as I’d expected to be honest (I just looked at the 3 schools’ websites) but there will be more ultra rich sending their daughters to schools in Chelsea. I was put off FHSS by a child I know who said they delayed the bus to sports by leaving stuff behind & then remembering it. Also some girls whose parents travelled a lot and were looked after by nannies and not as focussed on academic success. Think about where you want your daughter to be going out when she’s 16/17/18. Fancy club In Mayfair?

previous qg student here, complained to headmistress and school inspectors because of the mistreatment I suffered at this school, nothing was done. Of course I had brilliant memories with certain aspects of
the school, but for anyone wanting to send your daughter here, 11 year olds should have access to go outside during break time rather then be confined to their classrooms. I felt this severely impacted my mental
health being inside a classroom all day, except for sports lessons. My worst experience was a maths teacher who refused to help me in class as he didn’t want to deal with me, he told me if I don’t bother in class that I might as well hang myself in the middle of it, to be his guess and do so. He wasn’t fired after this, I was just moved class, in fact he was promoted to a more senior position in the school. The level of emotional distress he caused me, constantly on guard to upset him, my entire class agreed that he unfairly picked on me. He has now left but I hope this can prevent others going to this school.