Surbiton High School (Seniors) - non-sporty girl?

[RollonMay17]

Hi, just looking for advice on Surbiton High from any current parents as looking at options for next year. My DD is at state primary and doing well, but we like the look of an all-girls school for her (and no all-girls state options nearby). She’s not sporty and doesn’t have any specific hobbies, but loves history / art / reading etc. I’ve looked at previous posts and lots of girls seemed to get offers, but not sure how many take them up? How has the process been for 2021?

hi there, not a parent but i did visit the school as a prospective parent two years ago and my observation was that hockey was very big at the school, all the girls seemed to talk about nothing but hockey. Maybe they weren't all sporty and just saying what they thought their peers wanted to hear, but it was quite clear that it was important to play hockey and to like hockey and to talk about sports.

Have a look at Sutton High? That might be more balanced.

Thanks for that. I doubt she will like hockey so that’s interesting to hear. Sutton is too far, KGS (I think out of our league), LEH (similar), Radnor House and St Catherine’s probably better location wise but the results at Surbiton seem pretty good.

Surbiton is a large school and you will find all types of girls there. I really wouldn’t worry and I’m sure a Surbiton parent will be along shortly to tell you that. For what it’s worth at my DDs much smaller school there are also sporty girls, non sporty girls, musical girls, drama fanatics and everything else! My non sporty DD also hangs out with some very sporty girls, you don’t have to all have the same interests.

Yes as a SHS parent it has lots of types of dd, you don't have to be sporty. It had thorough teaching and personally I feel it has added value which means my dd will get better gcse results than if she has gone to some other schools.

Thanks everyone for your messages, it does sound like there would be plenty of different types of girls; good to know it’s not just for sporty types.

Thing is op, my daughter was non sporty at primary. Or so I thought. Actually she's just not very gifted at sports 😬. She's now at a school that has a c and d team (and e actually) and loves playing for the school and going off in the coach and teas and all that. So all I'm
Saying is don't rule it out. At primary they seem to trot out the same
Old kids for everything and you may just find your daughter actually enjoys the camaraderie of team sports.

@Partywomen345 , I am also a year 11 parent and I've been told most of the year are staying for the 6th form, this has meant they have not been able to offer as many places as they would like to the large number of external applicants they have.

Thanks all.

@Partywomen345 - my DD is unlikely to be top of the tree in terms of academics, and certainly not in sports. Was your DD able to make us of the co-curricular clubs? They look great, but then only if there are enough spaces?

@Skatingpark97 - how has your DD found her time at the school?

And more generally given other threads this week, is there much of a “party” scene? Whereabouts do the girls come from - are they mainly local to Kingston / Surbiton?

The dd come from all over due to the transport links - Putney, Guildford, Twickenham, east sheen and a lot from Esher, Wimbledon and local to the school. Yes it's been good but it's large and you can get a bit "lost".
The clubs help expand friendship groups.

I’m a current parent and have other children elsewhere, including one who left SHS for sixth form. We are disappointed with the extra curricular as it’s very oversubscribed and scholars tend to get priority. This is true of hockey too and number drop of sharply higher up. My daughter is much happier elsewhere and I would love to move the younger but she’s too far into gcse. She has given up subjects like art and she would have loved due to lack of encouragement and no option of clubs. Luckily she’s quite good at hockey but know she’ll be elbowed out later on as not good enough, despite having had country trials. It’s too big and impersonal and results are all that matters

Have a DD in the lower half of the secondary school. Came from state school.

It's been great. She's non-sporty. Hates PE. Loves reading, history, science and gardening. She's in with a non-sporty crowd too. Some of them do after school sports - but it's not at a team level. There's a G team for netball though so if you're really keen to play a match you can.

Not sure kindlekeeper's answer above is very helpful. No chance my DD would ever have made hockey trials, nor yours by the sounds of things!! They do hockey in the Easter term but Winter term it's all netball. They have lots of other sports though like football and horse-riding and skiing so they sort of cater to everyone's tastes. Not sure where the idea that everyone talks about hockey comes from either.

The co-curricula clubs were great, loads of of things to try out. Due to covid things have been much quieter though.

We've loved it so far. There's all sorts of different girls there. It is big but we liked that - more chances to do more things.

Sutton High by comparison seemed a bit boring and low key. I'm sure it's great but didn't have the buzz and opportunities that a bigger school offers. Of course I'm sure it's a great school too. It would have been a safe option had DD wanted to go there instead.

Thanks for the replies everyone - great to hear from parents. It sounds like a great school academically too; but hopefully not a ‘hot-house’?

There's a wide variety of academic ability there surprisingly we've found. Some naturally bright, others very tutored to get in. School is very supportive of you once you are in however and put on extra clinics for those struggling.

It's not a hot house though they keep up the pressure but it's lowkey pressure. Know of a family that moved both girls from WHS to SHS because they wanted less pressure. Girls much happier now. That's not to say WHS isn't a great school. It's fantastic for the right girl but probably need to be naturally very bright or very hard worker to be there or mix of both.

We looked at Surbiton for this year (lucky enough to visit before lockdown, in year 4). It’s really big - felt massive to us - year groups I think around 200? It’s funny reading threads on here how far you see that school is such a personal choice - a mutual fit. We felt far more warmth and buzz at Sutton High and less of the corporate feel that Surbiton had. Whereas poster above obviously felt the opposite. I felt DD would get lost there. She’s also not at all sporty and I think we were unlucky that the tour seemed to focus a lot on sport. I’m sure it’s a lovely school, but it wasn’t the right fit for us - preferred something smaller and more personal in approach. It just goes to show that you have to find the right school for you! We turned down KGS because we really felt all girls was the way forward for us.

Unfortunately, we have been disappointed and have just made the difficult decision to move our bright, sensitive, averagely-sporty daughter elsewhere. It was all a bit survival of the fittest for us with 'alpha' girl groups tending to dominate many of the classes. Some of the behaviour we heard of was quite concerning. The lack of outside space, elite approach to sport, heavy emphasis on teaching to tests and (for us) weak pastoral/well-being systems swung it. The lunches are poor too, although for us this was a minor issue. It's just so huge and, in the end, just felt a bit like an exam factory/marketing machine. Obviously our experience is highly individual but thought it worth throwing into the mix. As a counterbalance, I do know parents who are perfectly happy with the school.

@eggman007 - Sorry to hear that, and that’s what I’d feared. What year was your daughter in and did you find another school easily? We would be coming from state and it’s difficult to know whether spaces come up in independents during secondary years.

[quote RollonMay17]@eggman007 - Sorry to hear that, and that’s what I’d feared. What year was your daughter in and did you find another school easily? We would be coming from state and it’s difficult to know whether spaces come up in independents during secondary years.[/quote]
I don’t have a DD at Surbiton, although know quite a few happy girls there ( some super sporty but others not) but just wanted to say that there is far more movement between secondary schools ( independent and state ) than you would imagine.
DD is WHS and had a few girls join in y8 and loads in Y9. Some left as well, to go abroad, boarding schools, other schools etc.

Yes spaces do come up in secondary years, there are always a few families that move etc. For what it's worth my daughter has been very happy at Surbiton and her academic performance has gone from strength to strength. A social player of one of the non mainstream sports. But yes, she never liked the lunches!

Interesting to read, as a mum of two girls at the girls prep who will soon have to make a decision about whether to keep on for senior school or not. Thanks for sharing experiences.

Just wanted to add a different perspective - my daughter is in the lower end of the school and is very happy. She loves most sports and is very good in 1 or 2 particular areas but barely played hockey and netball at primary. She has absolutely loved learning these, and my impression of the school is that - certainly initially - sport is very inclusive and if you want to play then you can. Obviously this year there has been very little competitive sport but when there are it's not just the A team that gets to play.

I can't speak for other extra curricular activities as she is focused on sport, but there seems to be a great mix of girls there. Academically she is probably just above average but never really tried that hard, and I've been impressed at the teaching so far - she is far more engaged than at primary. Hope that helps, it's such a gamble isn't it.

Thanks all for the valuable experience shared here, just wondering some of you mentioned KGS (a co-ed school), LEH, St Catherine's.
How about Reigate Grammar School? Any thoughts of comparing RGS with SHS other than mixed vs single-sex?

@2021newbiemum , geographically they aren't near by so I think you would struggle to find someone who considered both schools. The SHS boat house for rowing is based in Teddington and rowing involves a lot of parental drop offs by car so that gives you an idea of a lot of the catchment (although SHS dd do come from Cobham and west London as per the bus routes).

@cricketjoys85, Oh I see, thanks then

Hi - for existing parents - can u please give me yo ur advice on Ursuline versus surbiton high school.
For 2022 entry ursuline has 7 class entry but Surbiton has 9 class entry which is different to other years

what are your experiences and guidance - daughter is sporty for football

would also like to know about Kingston grammar school as another alternative given there is only 125 pupils and it’s mixed boys and girls

thanks for your comments