WHS, JAGs or SAHS

[verynewlondonmom]

Dear all, we have moved recently to the UK from the US and got 3 offers for our daughter's 2022 reception year: Wimbledon High School, JAGs and St. Albans high school. The plan is to settle here and let her study in the same school until the college. Could you please advise which school to pick. The priority is the best quality of education for our daughter (the reason why we chose the UK). We are flexible from the the perspective of the location. I do enjoy the city and miss New York a lot, my husband loves the nature but is fond of London. We are mixed couple: white/Indian. Thanks so much in advance.

jags if ur going for the best academically.

JAGS Junior is very good academically and is supportive of individual pupils.

JAGS. Dulwich is a lovely villagey area to live in but easy to access central London from. Sounds like you’d both enjoy it. Also there are some great places to go out in E Dulwich and Peckham.

@verynewlondonmom

Dear all, we have moved recently to the UK from the US and got 3 offers for our daughter's 2022 reception year: Wimbledon High School, JAGs and St. Albans high school. The plan is to settle here and let her study in the same school until the college. Could you please advise which school to pick. The priority is the best quality of education for our daughter (the reason why we chose the UK). We are flexible from the the perspective of the location. I do enjoy the city and miss New York a lot, my husband loves the nature but is fond of London. We are mixed couple: white/Indian. Thanks so much in advance.

Academically, Wimbledon High is very slightly ahead of JAGS, see rankings. Good luck.

Definitely JAGS

That’s literally splitting hairs @pkim123 - 0.3%!

Jags has great academics, sporting and music facilities plus a sense of space that you don't really get at WHS.

WHS is probably slightly higher because they game the statistics a bit - girls can drop a science quite easily while most other schools require triple sciences. It's things like these that can change ranking quite drastically, along with encouraging native speakers to take their native language for GCSEs etc.. We had three offers and chose the lowest ranked of those for best fit and because they were all in the top 100 schools in the country so it would literally be splitting hairs.

JAGS all the way.

Nicest area to live too, St Albans is a commute to London, but Wimbledon can feel isolated ( it did when I lived there for a while) Whereas Dulwich has the same village feel as Wimbledon, but its not isolated and your DD can attend JAGS and you can live close in areas like East Dulwich and Peckham Rye which are generally safe, ethnically diverse and have lots of families living there, with a great London vibe.

JAGs would be my recommendation as well. If you live in Dulwich you can get to central London in 15 minutes but its green and leafy (parks, woods etc). JAGs is also very diverse - lots of international families and lots of mixed race and non-white families.

Good luck with your choice.

You’ve probably already chosen OP but if not I’m voting for WHS to even it out a bit! Wimbledon ( and SW London in general) very well connected, tubes, trains etc.
Where will you be working?

Wimbledon has much better transport links than Dulwich! Mainline into Waterloo in 15 minutes and two tube lines. Wimbledon town centre is much more fun for a teenager than Dulwich and you get both the Town and the Village.

@HoneyMobster

Wimbledon has much better transport links than Dulwich! Mainline into Waterloo in 15 minutes and two tube lines. Wimbledon town centre is much more fun for a teenager than Dulwich and you get both the Town and the Village.

The only nice part of Wimbledon is the village - which hasn't even got any train station and the main town is horrible - Starbucks and chain after chain.

Dulwich village has a train and you're 10 mins drive to hipster hang outs like Brockwell park, Peckham, Brixton and East Dulwich, very odd teenager to prefer Starbucks and blandsville than the epicentre of cool London??? Unless they're 15 going onto 45.

Let’s not get into a SW/SE London debate! People tend to prefer one or the other!
Not sure Dulwich can be described as the epicentre of cool London😀

@Wordlee

Let’s not get into a SW/SE London debate! People tend to prefer one or the other! Not sure Dulwich can be described as the epicentre of cool London😀

I'm not sure Dulwich can be described as the epicentre of cool London neither, that's why I didn't say it, I said "you're 10 mins drive to hipster hang outs like Brockwell park, Peckham, Brixton and East Dulwich".

I've lived in both areas and the actual villages are much the same, it's the areas immediately around it that are vastly different.

Just recognised your username from another thread- will step away now!

@Wordlee

Just recognised your username from another thread- will step away now!

@newsibling123 - I was thinking more of 11 / 12 year old girls starting secondary school and hanging out in Wimbledon for a coffee after school. That's exactly what my own DD did. Once they hit 15 they're in central London or at their mates houses.

[quote HoneyMobster]@newsibling123 - I was thinking more of 11 / 12 year old girls starting secondary school and hanging out in Wimbledon for a coffee after school. That's exactly what my own DD did. Once they hit 15 they're in central London or at their mates houses.[/quote]
Fair enough, I see your point. I can see that for Wimbledon

Ultimately OP should spend the weekend in all three areas and get a gut feel, they're all great schools so there's no 'bad decision' really.

[quote HoneyMobster]@newsibling123 - I was thinking more of 11 / 12 year old girls starting secondary school and hanging out in Wimbledon for a coffee after school. That's exactly what my own DD did. Once they hit 15 they're in central London or at their mates houses.[/quote]
I don’t know the other areas, so can’t compare but
there are definitely plenty of options for a cafe stop-off either in Dulwich, East Dulwich, Herne Hill or in any of the many local areas that the girls hail from (Peckham, Honor Oak, Forest Hill, Penge, Crystal Palace).

To be honest it comes down to whether you prefer SW or SE London. Having lived in both I prefer SW but both are pleasant.

If I were the OP I'd choose where I wanted to live and send my daughter to the nearest school.

Wimbledon and Dulwich are both very nice areas to live. They will appeal to slightly different people so have a look around and see which you fancy more.

I'd say Dulwich and East Dulwich have fewer chains and more independent shops as well as being less built up than Wimbledon. It also feels more like you are in London as it's in Inner London and is also more international and closer to some 'trendier' London neighbourhoods.

Ultimately, where you like and where you'll commute into are probably more relevant than the academic differences between JAGs and Wimbledon High. You are spoilt for choice really.

Hi OP, this is probably not what you want to hear but I wouldn't make a move to the UK for the education system. The pressure UK children are under is immense and there is a mental health crisis among teenage girls at the moment. There are of course a number of contributory factors but our pressurised education system is definitely one of them. So many girls think they are failures if they don't get all top grades, it's really shocking.

I don't know if it's too late for you to consider elsewhere but if not, I would seriously look at other countries. I tell my dds to consider raising their children abroad if they have them. I don't know much about other countries but I think the Netherlands and Estonia are faring better.

The schools you mention are very good academically but please do consider other factors. Pastoral care is so important. What are these schools actively doing to improve the mental health of teenage girls?

@bendmeoverbackwards

Hi OP, this is probably not what you want to hear but I wouldn't make a move to the UK for the education system. The pressure UK children are under is immense and there is a mental health crisis among teenage girls at the moment. There are of course a number of contributory factors but our pressurised education system is definitely one of them. So many girls think they are failures if they don't get all top grades, it's really shocking.

I don't know if it's too late for you to consider elsewhere but if not, I would seriously look at other countries. I tell my dds to consider raising their children abroad if they have them. I don't know much about other countries but I think the Netherlands and Estonia are faring better.

The schools you mention are very good academically but please do consider other factors. Pastoral care is so important. What are these schools actively doing to improve the mental health of teenage girls?

What an odd post.

Mental health issues for girls has so many factors, society misogyny and sexism being a major factor. Choosing to send your DD to an all girls environment is a very positive step.

As for leaving the US and heading to the UK for education, it's not a bad idea, especially as the US is a country built on race and this is a mixed race couple.

Estonia for a mixed race couple, really? Have you been? Netherlands also is far behind the UK in looking at its Colonial past, it's like many countries in Northern Europe that claim to be non-racist, but are only starting to look at the way they treat non-white people. At least it's an active debate here and has been since the 1970's.

The pressure you talk of comes in large part from many tiger parents , and the pressure you talk about is normal for very high achieving children, how does one become a QC or top surgeon ? The problems arrive when those not suited are pressurised for these type of roles.

I know a few parents at JAGS , none at WHS, but its part of the GDST and I know a few parents at other GDST schools - while both are academic, a DD who starts in reception who cannot cope with the pace will be 'found out' by 11+, 7+ even.

@newsibling123 no I am not an expert on other countries, I am pointing out the failings of the UK education system.

Pressure does NOT just come from pushy parents. I have always been supportive yet relaxed about my 3 dds' education (I have 3, aged 20, 19 and 15). There are so many other influences out there. My youngest said to me recently she wants to get all 9s in her GCSEs. Why? She certainly hasn't been under pressure from me.

Your last paragraph is very telling. A 4 year old should not have to 'cope with the pace'. In other countries a child of this age won't have started formal schooling yet. It's a real shame making such young children jump through hoops.

The OP said she’s here and that was in January so I don’t think she’s likely to up sticks to Estonia anytime soon…
I know a ton of teenage girls at London single sex schools. Most (including my DD) are all pretty happy teenagers, not super stressed etc. Obviously some put pressure on themselves but all the schools are pretty switched on to mental health issues these days. More issues have occurred due to Covid but I don’t think that’s a problem purely for British children.