SW London Girls' Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2022

[SkaterGrrrrl]

I watched with interest the information and support on this thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4177427-PART-3-SW-London-Girls-Indies-11-Results-Decisions-Panic-Over and wanted to start the same thread for South West London parents with daughters who will be applying for secondaries (independents and grammar) for places in year 7 in Sept 2022.

Where are you applying, how are the virtual open days going..... and to tutor or not to tutor?

I think a lot of schools are just doing emails because of the problems with post... they can be sure everyone gets their answer straight away on the day - Especially with half term and people away so they wouldnt necessarily get their post!

@HighRopes, I agree it’s nice to have something a bit personalised. DD was also fortunate enough to receive an offer from NHEHS and although the letter felt a bit generic-slot name in here- there was actually also a letter written to the DDs themselves which felt like a nice touch.

DD hasn’t actually seen NHEHS other than for the exam/interview so will wait for the offer holders event to finally decide but likely to relinquish NHEHS as DD has her heart set on PHS at the moment.

@Pigtastic wondered if I could ask you a few things privately about LU? I see you have one there. Daughter has heart set on PHS but I would really like to know more about LU from someone with firsthand experience. Won’t be here for visit as we are overseas for a bit. Really tricky to decide from abroad! Thanks and good luck to all. (Also, haven’t quite worked out how to message privately here!)

Hello Mums ( and any dads here)
I cant find my notes but can anyone remind me what Surbiton High entry is? Is it 8 forms..it seems rather large.
Worried dd will just be a number?
Is anybody definitely accepting? We are in the fence if numbers are that huge..

Thanking you in advance!

@FunkyT that’s why we aren’t going for it. 240 in a year! It’s crazy numbers. They reduced to 6 forms this year because parents were worried about the size, but they said up to 240

Thanks @1forward2back.
It is such a shame.
We have been super keen on Surbiton all along but there is a little niggle now in my mind.
How many come up from junior school?
Has anyone heard of anyone who wasn't offered a place?

@FunkyT Surbiton is the guaranteed back up in our prep - 14 applied, 14 places.

@1forward2back @FunkyT that’s useful to know thanks. I am sure there was something on their website previously that said max 6 forms of 25 but they’ve taken that off and I can only find a statement, in the well-being section, that max class size is 25 (nothing about max number of forms). We’ve really enjoyed the 11-plus journey with Surbiton and, after a lovely set of scholarship offers, our DD had it neck-and-neck with PHS. But 200-240 would be game changing for us. That’s a huge number. To answer the other question I don’t know anyone who has been rejected from Surbiton this year. I guess that fits with the bulge in numbers.

@squirrelofsw19 and @FunkyT This is from the SHS website….
We aim to have six forms for Year 7 and a year group of 144 pupils. This made up of six forms of 24 pupils, on average. The majority of girls from our Prep School move up to the Senior School, so we look to recruit around 100 external candidates each year.

@Flyingbytheseatofmypullups wow this is useful!
Did you see this recently? I must have a look again on website
Those numbers I can live with. It just doesn't translate with everyone seeming to get an offer. They must massively over offer if only 100 girls get through.

@FunkyT My neighbour is in year 10 and there are definitely more than 150 in the year! I think Surbiton pretty much offer everyone who applied because it will be up against LEH, KGS, pHs, WHS

@1forward2back. Thanks for the info! As an existing parent, what are your thoughts on the school? Have you been mostly happy?
I just worry that if you are not sporty or massively academic...you will get lost.
I am also worried that this amazing brochure of clubs will all be over subscribed anyway and is there any point of moving dd out of current setting which would take her to 18..
Thanks so much for the help!

@FunkyT It’s in the FAQ at the bottom of the 2022 admissions page.

www.surbitonhigh.com/admissions/entry-process/senior-school-entry-process/

@FunkyT I’m not a current parent - was considering it fir DD but have been put off by corporate feel and size to be honest.

Current parent of DD at Surbiton and it's certainly NOT 240 in each year group. Where on earth did that come from?!

DD is in Year 9 and there are 144 girls in her year group approx. It could be up or down from there like 142 or 146 - but they don't go above 25 ever in each class. It started out as 144. She's had as low as 22 over the years and I think now it's at 24 again.

The year below her I think they over offered so have 7 classes - so that's 168 approx.

current year 7 I'm not sure.

I'd call after half-term and ask to speak to someone in admissions if it's a worry.

It's a lovely school and DD very happy there. It's run by United Learning which is also runs Guildford High for Girls.

The pastoral care is excellent. Of course you'll get others who say different things but I love the school and so does DD. Not a hot house crazy academic affair but quietly on the ball all the time and very responsive.

But who knows! I could be wrong and there's some kind of expansion plan I don't know about!

Feel free to ask any questions. I'm not sure why I'm poking around the 11+ girls thread here. Reliving old memories LOL.

Thanks so much @Talk4000. Yes booked onto a discover more event after half term so will certainly ask then. Glad your DD happy and thriving at SHS. Have heard so many good things about the school. Fingers crossed the “bulge” turns out not to be so.

Seems to be a lot of misinformation which is leading to alot of panic. Perhaps give the school a call or email them and ask the direct question ?

I cannot see it being as high as 240 and 140 seems more reasonable. Yes, every couple or few years the schools have an extra class so the number may swell but surely not as high as that ??!

Also, does anyone know if the schools even start looking at their waiting lists until the deadline has passed for accepting ? To me it seems that parents would end up in some cases paying 2 deposits ??

Thanks @Talk4000 that is all very reassuring.

Hi can someone confirm please do LU or G&L have any school buses? Do many parents drive their DD’s there from west London?

We went to the SHS discover more event this week and were impressed. It was great to be able to speak to some of the teachers, the head of pastoral and various others. DD very keen.

@FunkyT I know of DD who did get an interview and were not offered a place at all...we have an offer and its a definite contender but torn between it and our other choice so all advice re surbition greatly received

@Talk4000 can I ask how your daughter finds the use of ipads in lessons at SHS? I do have some concerns around teacher-pupil engagement, and the lack of text books to annotate (I was a prolific highlighter and fan of post-it notes at school!)

@PricePoint similar confusion for the waiting list. DD got 3 offers and 3 waiting list, which seems super tricky to us, for our first and second choices are both WL.

DD got KGS but not Surbiton after the interview. DD didn't appear to be interested at SHS interview at all and it probably explains why she didn't make it.

I'm now in a dilemma between KGS and CLFS. I know CLFS is out of the catchment for many of you in this thread. CLFS is our first choice as I still have younger DC and hope they can all go to same school for easy logistics. But there are mixed opinions on CLFS in MN. Both schools are coed, which we prefer, their exam results and leave destinations all look similar. Are there existing parents to give some insights?