Putney High or Emanuel school for all-rounder DD ?

[11plusNewbie]

Hello all,
We are trying to decide between Emanuel and Putney High for an all-rounder/sporty DD.
We live walking distance to Emanuel and 30 minutes public transport to PHS.
Leaning towards Emanuel on the basis of location, recent massive improvements and nicer/greener grounds but wonder if we are crazy to turn down Putney which we also love for the buzz and HM !!
One of the concerns is that very few girls travel in that same direction, they all seem to travel east, south or stay local, so no local school friends on hand.
Please help !
Thanks

Sorry I did not understand your point about the location. If you live close to Emanuel, I am sure you ll have lots of friends who live close by?

that's exactly why we are leaning towards it !

Isn't the girls vs mixed a bigger decision?

I would normally favour the easier journey

But in this case, the big choice is between single sex or co-ed

The schools are closely matched sporting rivals, so I doubt there would be any major differences, unless your DD wants to play lacrosse or is a gymnast, in which case PHS would suit better.

Isn’t PHS much better, academically? If that matters to you, go there.

If they were next door to each other, would you definitely choose Putney? If not, choose Emanuel!

If you'd definitely choose Putney if the distance was the same, then it's a case of checking that you are happy with the journey which sounds longer but manageable.

If you aren't sure which you'd choose regardless, choose one to be heads and one to be tails. Toss a coin and instantly ask yourself if you're happy with the answer. If you are, go with that one!

@GU24Mum I like that strategy! Or OP, in your shoes, I’d probably go with the closer school. A friend has a child at E and he is very, very happy there. That counts for a lot!

@11plusNewbie
We are also choosing Emanuel, also had a hard choice, but went for coed! so we will see you there!

I would avoid Emanuel. Irresponsible leadership. Irresponsible sixth form culture. Would never send my kid there.

@StopAtTheRedLight Why do you think so? Have you had children in Emanuel?

@Seasunbeach. Neighbour’s dc goes there and has regular parties of classmates. Ans yea I know who they are and they are all classmates not local hangers-on. Disrespectful. Crashing vodka bottles on neighbour properties (thrown over fence — once even to the tune of «fuck the neighbours»). Beer cans thrown on to our sunroom roof. Rude. Disrespectful. And on multiple occasions. When I called the school and spoke to o head of sixth form to say I think there is something amiss with the values/culture for this to be ok on multiple occasions, there was a complete lack of collective responsibility. Mad ENT decision then and there that dc would never go there.

@StopAtTheRedLight that must be an awful experience! I have only heard only the good things about Emanuel, that’s why I am surprised.

But where are the parents ??? Why don’t you talk to your neighbour first about it ?
You seem to be blaming the school entirely for antisocial behaviour people are having their own houses, which I find a little puzzling.
Emanuel has changed massively over the last few years, the pupils currently in the sixth form got into the school under the old leadership which was very different.
A lot of loose ends have now been tightened up under the new leadership.
We are also local and only hear good things about the school these days.

When I called the school and spoke to o head of sixth form to say I think there is something amiss with the values/culture for this to be ok on multiple occasions, there was a complete lack of collective responsibility.

You’re pissed off because the school wouldn’t take responsibility for something their adult pupils did not in school time and not on school premises? Why are you not pissed off at your neighbour? It’s not the schools fault!

@potteringalong. This was not one child. This was pack mentality of two dozen of their number on multiple occasions. There may be parental elements but if two dozen all from the school think this kind of behaviour is acceptable, to me it speaks to a values/culture issue. And the fact that the school did not even see this values point as an issue spoke volumes to me. Look — if this does not bother you, then send your Kid there. But as we know from the corporate arena, culture is so very important. And it is important in schools. I stand by my comment.

@Jumpalicious

Isn’t PHS much better, academically? If that matters to you, go there.

@GU24Mum @SeaSunbeach @titchyitch @Bunnyteam @AnotherNewt @PotteringAlong Thank you very much for all your suggestions/points. all very very useful and appreciated! Yes Putney is significantly more academic ATM and I really love the vibe but E appears to be shooting up. I like the point made about whether we would go for PHS if it was the same distance...that made me realise that, even then, I would not be sure mostly because I quite like coed. It's all very personal isn't it ?

@StopAtTheRedLight
Criticising a school for the behaviour of 17/18Y in their private settings is a little odd. It looks like you have a personal grudge against the school Again you should really try and have a chat with their families first and foremost.
Also if you can tell that 2 dozen of kids all attend the same school, it looks like you are spending a lot of time looking at what's going on next door... that I find rather freaky ! But thanks nonetheless.

How long ago was that - before or after change of both head and head of sixth form?

Also, before of after the numbers of the sexes went to 50/50 ? The school was coed for some time before it ceased being boy heavy.

Bear in mind that you can find the toxic party culture in any sixth form. Not every one, every year, but it's terribly common.

What matters is parental response (it's fundamentally an out-of-school issue, and the parents who permitted their premises to be used in that way are the ones most at fault) and can be hard to attribute to specific schools (DC mix across various schools, with like finding like whichever they go to)

PHS party reputation is also quite strong (and epithets about). But of course it's simply not true of every girl there.

But school response, auch wellbeing and SRE plus pastoral care, all matter. That's why I asked which head master and head of sixth form this took place under.

@11plusNewbie I really like what you said about even if PHS was closer you still like Emanuel more. We were lucky enough to have scholarships for our other choices but it never took away from that gut feeling I had when I first looked around Emanuel and realised how much I liked it. So my girls will be joining yours too

This took place before lockdown and the six months leading up to it. No further comment. I have said my piece. Take it or leave it.

@alltheleaves
it's good to read you, knowing the scholarships else do not take away the feeling. I also think it's quite nice to go for the hard-working outsider (which is actually what Putney was until recently-not that they have stopped working on it though !)

@AnotherNewt is it about 50/50 now ?
I agree with you parental response is fundamental
and who hasn't heard of the Alleyn's parties?????

I agree, it's a coed vs single sex decision. My kids go single sex and I must say I do think it's a bit of a shame that they don't have the experience of being around the opposite sex

IIRC, it went from boy heavy to 50/50 about a decade ago. So every year group now in the school, plus at least one or two of those just finished.

@AnotherNewt thank you !

@CloudPop yes I think that's how I'm looking at it now, thanks to the the above input
to me it seems generally beneficial to go single sex year 7/8/9 when they go through puberty etc but thereafter probably good to have the wider exposure... but again all very very very personal !!!!

A great choice to have 11plusNewbie !
I only have first hand experience of PHS but a lot of my DDs friends attend ES as I live relatively locally, so I can only comment from what I hear from DDs friends (and their mums). I would say that the sport is definitely stronger at PHS. The sport department is really impressive with rowing, netball, gymnastics and tennis being the strongest sports. They have also hired some really strong Lacrosse coaches in the last few years. Having said this I like the fact that my DD is not a great tennis player but still has a chance to be in the "friendlies team" and play some matches against other schools. I know the sports is on the up at ES but i have a few friends with DD at the school commenting on how the sport still seems to be better for the boys with Rugby still being the main focus. This could well be changing ? But maybe something to ask if your DD is sporty.

I do hear that the Art department is pretty phenomenal at ES and I can't comment personally as i don't have an "arty" daughter but probaby better than at PH.

On the travel front - to be honest I actually like that my DD travels out of our area to go to school. She was at nursery and primary school in this area so i think she enjoys being in another part of London for secondary (thats what she tells me anyway). The commute from Clapham Junction is so easy for your DD as its only 6 minutes and one stop.
Personally - we love PHS. I have 3 DC in 3 different schools and PHS is in my opinion the best one. The head is fantastic and the girls have so many opportunities to try so many clubs / activities but still manage to do so well academically. DD2 is probably going to move to PHS for 6th Form.
Both my DDs are at single sex school and they don't seem to struggle to interact with boys ! As for 6th Form parties and 6th formers behaving badly.... i do think that happens everywhere and its a bit of luck what the year group is like. So not really the school's responsibility ! I would say that in terms of being "strict" both schools are probably quite similar. Good luck with your choice !

My DD went to Westminster for the 6th form. I was stunned by the party scene that took place all over London on Saturday evenings and lasted until 3 or 4am on Sundays.

Latymer Upper also has a reputation as a party school, as do most of the London Independents.

I think it is very unfair to pick on one school for this.