Any Nonsuch parents

[Lockdowndramaqueen]

Hello - with no in person open days it’s hard to get a feel for schools at the moment. Does anyone have any first hand experience of life at Nonsuch. What sort of school is it. What’s the energy, what are the opportunities? Thanks.

I have no clue. No idea where this school is.

It’s a girls grammar school in Sutton

My daughter is in year 9 and she is very happy at Nonsuch. She has always been the happy go lucky type. Her friendship group all seem the same... Nice girls from happy homes trying to get away with what they can at school and talking and giggling a lot. I like the fact there are no boys issues. From what my daughter tells me there are are all sorts of girls, studious, lgbt, very talented, sporty, lazy, rebellious, annoying just like most schools. I think the pastoral care is great. My daughter tells me stories from some of the girls who have very pushy parents who have very high expectations and seem unhappy but I believe the school actively discourages this behaviour from parents.

Thank you @Hi2u - that’s lovely to hear. My daughter really likes the sound of it but it’s not that common a choice from her current primary. She’s very self motivated bright girl with a range of friends and interests. I like the sound of some of the more unusual gcse options too - I think they would appeal to her. Thanks for your reply - you can’t beat first hand experience.

Sounds like she would love it. Don’t underestimate how much the girls study to get into this school. I was lucky.. she had a friend in the school who inspired her so she wanted to go and worked hard to get in. She went to.... ? (Don’t think I’m allowed to say)and in the last few months a tutor too. They all do or they have their parents tutor them or both.
It is a great school though

Ah thanks - yes we have a sense of how competitive it is to get in. We have a tutor. I have explained it will be very competitive and she may not get in and that’s fine too.

Thank you Hi2u for the information about school. Very reassuring. My DD has been just offered a place in year September and we gladly accepted without physically seeing the school due to the current situation . Is there any parents association etc that I can join to get more info about school activities/life ? I have looked at school website.

Hi Saska I don’t know of any parent association but when my dd joined there was a picnic and they were always asking for PTA volunteers and they have social evenings for new parents too. I suppose it’s different for new pupils now because of covid.
I can tell you there is huge grounds, loads of clubs to join, they get to have swimming lessons and lots of sports clubs.

I'm a Nonsuch parent too, my DD is very happy there. My only complaint is that traffic around the school is horrendous during school drop-off and pick-up times and public transport can be unreliable. It's a big school and the local infrastructure just doesn't seem to cope very well. We have no experience of busses, but my DD has been late due to cancelled trains or train delays- it left her quite stressed out. She has started walking now even though it takes her 50min, it's quicker and more reliable than waiting for trains (and good exercise). There are girls traveling from the other side of London who leave their house at 6am to get to school, it is insane.
Interesting that Hi2u mentioned swimming lessons, my DD has never had swimming lessons offered nor have they used the next door gym's swimming pool during their PE lessons. Maybe that's because of the pandemic though.

Thank you @Maverick197 - it’s nice to hear about another happy girl. We are reasonably local so bus, cycling or walking at a push would all be possible.

Hi! I go Nonsuch myself and so sad to be finishing year 11. I'm so grateful my parents sent me here; girls are so different but you become so close with everyone in your form and year. Made life-long friends. So many music concerts I have played in and so many sports teams that I've been part of and trained with. Basically everyone is getting (and expected to get) 7-9s and everyone is competitive which suits me because that's how I push myself. Anyway, everyone knows Nonsuch as one of the best grammar schools in the country!!!

Lexi4ever, that’s interesting. Do you have any friends at Wallington girls? If so do you have any knowledge of whether Wallington girls have a similar experience/ of what are the differences, if any, between the two schools? So far I only have experience of the comprehensive system so any knowledge you have would be v helpful. Thanks very much.

Yh I do. Obviously they are both good schools and very similar and my friends at wally loved it there too. There is little emphasis on sports at wally compared to Nonsuch and nonsuch definitely has more facilities. Wally girls is better for more artsy subjects and nonsuch is really good at the sciences and maths/further maths. There isn't much "care" from teachers to students at nonsuch and its probably the same at wallington. Happy to answer anything else.

Also did things like ballgirling at queens which only nonsuch and st philomenas do.

Hi, I went to Nonsuch many moons ago & my sister went to Wallington girls. My nieces also went to Wallington girls recently & found the pastoral care non-existent. The eldest chose to leave after yr 11 as in her form there were very few girls who spoke English at break & lunchtime. When they did speak English they had very little to chat about as the majority of these girls were not allowed to attend extra curricular clubs but studied for several hrs each evening instead. The youngest has asd & left during yr8.
Good luck to your dd. I hope she enjoys Nonsuch.

@gsha hi my dd goes to a different selective school nearby but I have friends whose daughters go to both Nonsuch and Walli. The impression I have got is that Walli is more caring than Nonsuch - both schools are both very academic!

DD has been very happy there. She's a quiet non-sporty studious girl who has thrived and is set to do very well. I would recommend it to any girl who lived closeish (those who trek for well over an hour to get there tend to miss out on extra-curricular activities) who was bright and self-motivated. The ones who struggle seem to be the ones who didn't have to work hard at primary as they were bright, got tutored to get in and then seemed surprised that they actually had to work hard to do well.

Despite some of the issues that have made the newspapers, they do genuinely seem to care about the girls, listen to them and give them lots of opportunities (sport, music, student leadership, trips, volunteering). As with all schools, there's a few teachers that aren't so good but most seem to be decent teachers.

I had to comment because I went to Nonsuch and left 10 years ago but one of my friends from school now teaches there. I had a brilliant time at Nonsuch, no one else from my primary went, the same as your daughter as my primary school was not academic and it was not cool to be clever. At Nonsuch I found my ‘people’ and being good at something was to be encouraged not laughed at. The expectations from the school were high but not as high as the ones my parents placed on me and I would say that was the same for the majority of my friends. My friends from Nonsuch are still my closest friends and will be for life. I hope your daughter gets in and I wish her the best of luck there.

Thanks so much for all the different perspectives. It’s great to get more of an impression for the school.

@Lockdowndramaqueen

Hello - with no in person open days it’s hard to get a feel for schools at the moment. Does anyone have any first hand experience of life at Nonsuch. What sort of school is it. What’s the energy, what are the opportunities? Thanks.

Great thread, we are also looking forward can get in nonsuch in this year 11+ exam , also want to know more about this school😄🙏

Oooh good luck @minna1512 - hopefully our girls both land up there.