Sir William Perkins Query

[Dhatrader]

Hi All,

Our daughter got an offer letter for Sir William Perkins, which we are delighted with. We are moving from abroad, and given we are not familiar with UK 11+ cirriculum, we are very relieved that our eldest has a footing into the school system.

I have read a lot of review on the forums, and by all accounts it is a very down-to-earth school where girls get a solid foundation to succeed in life. Personally, this is a very important aspect for me, as i want my daughter to have strong pastoral care, as it will provide the baseline for her education. If anyone could provide additional perspectives on the following, it would be appreciated:

1. Can anyone share experiences of how they have felt about the school in the past few years?
2. It is difficult to ascertain academic performance sitting abroad, as A Levels is the only reference point. How do you think the school balances this aspect and is it becoming more academic with peer schools?
3. How has the school fared in coping with the continued uncertainity of COVID?
4. Where do most families live? In Chertsey or in sorrounding areas such as Weybridge, Esher, Cobham or Oxshott?

Responses would be much appreciated.

Sir William Perkins School - SWPS - PROS and CONS www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4167341-Sir-William-Perkins-School-SWPS-PROS-and-CONS

There was another post about this school a few days ago... might be useful

I went there many years ago (around the Millennium) so can give you an outdated reply and hopefully some others with current knowledge will come along soon.

I had a fantastic experience at SWPS. It definitely matched your description of down-to-earth whilst also being supportive and promoting excellence.

I’m not sure I understand your second question but if you’re asking whether it has good academic standing then yes, absolutely - it was seen as one of the best schools in a wide area from that standpoint. Only the Guildford schools (Guildford High and whatever the other one is!) were real competitors on academics.

Girls travelled from quite a wide area to attend: Chertsey, Ottershaw, Weybridge, Woking, Pyrford, Walton, Esher, Chobham, Camberley, Ascot, Staines, etc.

My 3 daughters went to SWPS. Last one left in 2020.

We were really happy with it, and more importantly, so were they. It has a very strong sports programme, which my DDs did not excel in, but fortunately, the music/drama was excellent too, as well as DofE.

Academics are strong. A girl who can get 3 A at any school, will get 3 A at SWPS.

My DD missed the last part of school due to COVID, but reports here suggest they have done well.

You can look at the school bus routes to see where girls live. We are in Egham/Staines and many of DDs' friends were in the Woking area, but they also had friends from Windsor, Walton and Twickenham.

When I had my first encounter at a SWPS open day, the headteacher at the time said to choose your school by how the students can get there independently. You might be happy to drive them as freshly scrubbed Y7s, but not so by the time they are in sixth form.

Look at public transport routes (train to Weybridge and into London, with connections to Windsor and Guildford, for example); local buses to Staines, Shepperton, Woking; school buses; parent power.

Noticing that you said your DD is your eldest, some of your decision making might be due to what you are doing with your younger DCs.

Academically it’s in the top 100 indie schools in the country and down to earth as well. Congratulations!!

We have 3 DD’s at SWPS and the girls all decided to go there above other schools in the Weybridge and Guildford area.
My eldest is about to leave and has been successful in her Oxford University application as well as offers from all other Russell Group Universities. This is a testament to not only her own abilities but also to the dedicated and limitless support she had received from her teachers. She has also become and very motivated and proactive young adult which has been encouraged and nurtured by the school. She will be very sad to leave but has been so well prepared for her life beyond SWPS.
My other 22 DD’s are in Year 10 & 8 and thriving there. Academically they are challenged and stretched. Sport is fun and inclusive for all with a sports scholarship introduced this year. As with most other schools, a lot of the girls attend sports clubs outside the school and represent the school in that given sport. Rowing is the exception and SWPS produces rowers at a high level. Drama is also a lot of fun with the recent ‘Annie’ production very entertaining!! The music department is also very strong.
The school is a modest, high achieving school with a lot of hard working families making sacrifices to send their daughters there. It is by no means faultless, as we have yet to find the perfect school, but it has proved very successful for my 3 DD’s.
Bad behaviour is not tolerated and addresses accordingly. Pastoral care is also taken very seriously and no subject is taboo.
Mr. M has recently announced his resignation after 13 years and will be missed. He has left the school in a great position. What an exciting opportunity for the school to appoint another dynamic and devoted head? I am sure this will be a hotly contested position, as on the whole, it is a great all round school but my no means perfect…’Excellence not Perfection’.

My experience of SWPS is not a good one. We had to pull our daughter out following bullying. We were then told to pay one and a half terms fee as a punishment. We have had no response from the school other than a letter from their debt collectors. They have failed to engage with us on any level and have expressed no sympathy.

My daughter was at SWPS and I wish I had taken her out in year 9, the friendship group was a nightmare. The school do nothing unless you step in with facts.

If your daughter is happy there let her stay, but, as soon as you see issues, I would move and the issues dont go away. I made that mistake and did not move my daughter like other parents I know.

In case any one considering SWPS in chertsey, WARNING best keep away from this scam/ poor school.

1. School management/ teachers disorganised, with poor facilities and out of date technical education. Took month of emails just to obtain microsoft office cloud login! Others, even free schools offer automatically at start.

1. It’s extra curriculum clubs are very limited for private school

1. Cases of bullying that are ignored

1. This year I know many parents so disappointed and withdrawn

1. If any parent decided to withdraw despite giving them almost 3 months notice they fail to write a letter then love to use their debt collector friends to charge extra fee then refuse to respond! i’m sure there’s a scam going on.

1. The standard of education is very poor, my daughter found it Mickey mouse, easy education compared to the new school which was many times higher.

1. During covid lock down totally inconsiderate and expected full payment without even any home schooling at start!

1. For private school poor, impractical and dengerous facilities for parking

I’m sure it was a good school in the past but this year I know many parents very disappointed and withdraw this year, do not waste your time, money and risk daughters education.

This school seems like a scam and just after your money together with their debt collector racket. It is really average free school and DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED. I’m sure there’s proper private schools in Guildford and other places far better worth considering.

You seem to have had similar issues to me. I am being chased by their debt collectors as I only gave half a terms notice after withdrawing my daughter following mental health issues, I asked on five occasions for a discussion but they ignored all my letters and only communicated through debt collectors. A heartless school only concerned with the money.

Blimey. I know 4 families currently there who are very happy.

It is very interesting to hear families different experiences. There is no perfect school but we certainly have only experienced positive aspects of SWPS with our 3 daughters thriving there and the eldest sad to be leaving having achieved great academic and personal success. The teaching, dedication and support from staff through out the last 2 years have been very evident to us. We also got a reduction in the fees during lockdown which I am assume all families received ‘’miuk’ with teaching online very robust. So I am unsure why you were paying your fees in full.

Comparing it to other in dependant schools, my daughter finished her A level syllabus well before the Easter hoildays and has been revising whereas other schools were still covering the syllabus. The teachers are still marking examine papers/essays for her as part of her revision whilst she is on study leave and she will most likely take her place at Oxford University. There have also been new starters who have joined the school in the other year groups. Every school will always experience leavers and joiners and SWPS is not unusual in that way. With Mr. M and Mrs. H retiring opens up a new era in the school’s history.

Schools will always have those who settle in well and those who do not enjoy them for a variety of reasons. All the best in your new schools and I hope your daughters enjoy them and they live up to all your expectations. It is important that they are happy at whatever school they attend.

Another happy SWPS parent. Appreciate differing views, but want to make sure the feedback is balanced.

All pupils received a reduction in lockdown and in my opinion the lockdown teaching was excellent. We all know the conditions of withdrawing children when we sign up, so whilst there may be extenuating circumstances, I don't find it surprising that the school hold people to a term's notice as per the contract.

Agree with the comment re extra curricular clubs - think this has been impacted by covid and they have been slow in ramping them back up.

Comments re teaching and standards are not our experience - the school is academic and teaching excellent. Atmosphere is lovely, DD has a great group of friends and most importantly, she loves the school.

New head has opportunities to improve it but fundamentally we are very pleased

I thought that Sir William Perkins’s set up this school with an endowment to educate the town’s. children in the 18th C. Although it was originally for boys initially it swiftly expanded and taught an equal number of girls. I believe their is an is an inscription that states something along the lines of set up for 50 children to be educated and clothed in blah blah. Go out and do the same.
How a school can be set up and endowed in this manner for the benefit of Chertsey’s town children in the 18th century but then becomes a private fee paying school with fees, that just for one child, that have been set at only just below the total take home pay of an U.K. worker, defies belief!
The last 40 years and especially the last twelve years has seen the biggest defunding of schools throughout the U.K. and a myriad of other public services resulting in the fact that 50% of the population are struggling and many many failing to be able to afford the basic requirements needed tool live: accommodation; a nutritious diet; a phone; an constant supply of electric; heat; Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi being almost impossible to live without, especially as most organisations require individuals to become unpaid customer service representatives for such organisations and companies). Even dr’s surgeries were defunded who byfar see the most individuals who are unable to respond to demand;; youth services have been effectively decimated to the point of near extinction,; sick pay is insufficient for individuals who have been effectively found themselves on the bread line deciding wether to eat or eat; social services have been cut; day centres for vulnerable adults have been squeezed , many closed; access to work schemes have been permitted to perish; increase in longevity that had grown every year for over a century flatlined prior to the pandemic. Whereas women on average have lived longer than men by a few years, now the richest 500,000 of men now live on average loner than the average woman for the first time. In the extreme scenarios the difference between life expectancy in the very poorest borough compared to the very richest borough is a staggering 19 years! Single women above pension age receive the worst services for generations. The list of failures in enhancing a sen e of common welfare and community has dissolved as the wealth of the very few has soared whilst the levels of poverty amongst the poorest 50% has reached epidemic levels. The list goes on and on. It seems that Sir William’ Perkin’s endowment and vision, being not only ignored but reversed by the example of a good school that was well funded by governent being permitted to become private is symptomatic of neo liberal policies that were put in place at the turn of the 70’s into the 80’s is best displayed by whatever mechanism that permitted an endowed school set up for the common good of local people is symptomatic of a nation that has put a break on and reversed even Adam Smith’s principals of how a successful economy should be run. Neo liberalism has gone against free markets has enabled monopolies to thrive to the. point that the world’s billionaire’s were nearly 1.5 billion richer post pandemic in just two years. How are such scenario’s achieved? The commodification of even state endowed schools founded on principles diametrically opposed to what neo liberalism has encouraged. Private schools refuse to accept accusation’s of bullying; ignore even the abuses committed by teaching staff that work in the private sector. Educational standard’s of teaching staff working in the private sector are often less rigorous than the state funded systems. Exposed abuse and bullying is not seen as to be promoting the product which such organisations wish to project.
If people wish to supplement the educational opportunities of their children then they should take direct responsibility of such a goal rather than effectively trying to pass such responsibilities onto a school merely by paying 16,000 pounds per child. Opportunities outside school hours would be the best way to invest in supporting one’s children to be exposed to extra education opportunities. If an individual can afford such extra educational opportunities then take such initiatives personally and if a parent is able to do so then ensure one or two of your child’s not so fortunate friends are funded by those who wish to motivate their children to learn how to learn and importantly to learn how to think creatively to solve the dramatic problems that are begging to engulf more and more people, especially children every single day.

@James56

As a lifelong socialist I totally agree with your analysis of what has happened in this country in recent years. It is heartbreaking.

You correctly identify the role of neoliberalism. This is a systemic issue. It is not the fault of any individual, and there is no way it will be solved by the actions of a few individual middle class parents deciding to send their children to state schools. As long as this situation continues and people can afford it, they will decide to send their children to selective /private schools. That is what parents do. That is what parents SHOULD do. I doubt anybody wants to live in a society where people don't do what they can for their children.

My background is working class and immigrant. People from such backgrounds often tend to be the most keen and understanding why privileged people choose selective and private schools and given the funds, that is what they would do themselves. I find it interesting that those who attack parents for choosing private or selective schools are almost always middle class and have had the benefit if not of selective or private schools then certainly the social and cultural capital to negotiate all the hurdles necessary to succeed in life.

@James56 leave the OP alone. She is trying to do the best for her child. We should all be voting to make sure the system works better for all, collectively. Attacking individuals only further compounds the divisions.

Hi horological. I feel no malice towards anyone who wishes to send their children to private school. Of course people should look to do the best for their children. However, William Perkins school was a non paying fee school until around 40 years ago and open to anyone who was successfully admitted, completely free, for all schoolchildren that gained a lace until 1980ish. It had an excellent reputation with many pupils going onto the best universities across the U.K. If the school had remained a non fee paying school and extra fee paying school had been set up in addition that was fee paying that would have been so much better. The loss of such an excellent school that had been state funded up until then has meant one of the best state funded schools for miles around was lost to all regardless of if their parents had money or not. This has further reduced the life chances of ordinary children. Such a loss was a catastophoty for bright youngsters in the area. Sadly state funded schools in the U.K. like so many excellent state funded schools have been lost to the general public which is as you say heartbreaking. Further in the last -2 years state funded schools have been defunded year on year. Children leaving school soon would effectively been taught during 12 successive years with their budgets being reduced year on year. To make things worse two of their school years have been utterly disrupted due to the pandemic.
At the very time when school leavers increasingly require more skills and education the exact opposite has been permitted to occur. So many youngsters leave school now with substandard educational opportunities expected to compete in work environments that desperately need well educated school leavers. Consequently millions of children have been dis-abused by the policies that reduced life chances further and further.
I can fully understand parents wishing to provide better opportunities for their children. I myself went to a Public Boarding g school and I am sad to report that many British fee paying schools, bullying is institutionalised and so many children will be broken by such schools, whilst frequently almost leaving the parents near or actually bankrupt.
I wish the enquirer all the best for their children. However, sometimes paying frequently does not lead to better outcomes and can easily impoverish the parents as private fee paying schools charge from 16,000 to a heady 50,000 pounds a year. Stony tops out at just under 50,000 pounds per year and that is before the cost of their very expensive uniforms and all a child’s expected additional activities. Even 16,000 pounds a year which is at the lower end is an astronomical amount to pay for one child for essential less than 40 weeks schooling per year. Frequently the parents would be far better served if they used some of such money per year to pay for extra school tuition to supplement a child’s state schooling. Up to 6000 pounds a year would assist a child so much whilst the remainder could be saved each year to ensure their child could pay their uni fees without debt whilst ensuring that they also had a good amount of capitol to put down as a deposit for a house. Eton was originally set up for 70 poor children to educate them by Henry the 6th (?). However, now the school charges just shy of 50,000 pounds per year before additional costs. The school is still reliant on trusts and endowments which were originally provide by a monarch to provide free schooling for poor children. Now the school possesses some 600,000,000 in assets but only funds well under 2% of their students who could not possibly pay out 50,000 pounds per year for 7 years!!
u wish the parents the best of luck in trying to secure the best educational opportunities for their child.

Kindest wishes

You have to choose a school that suits your son/daughter's abilities and personality. No point choosing a school that just churns out maths scholars for Cambridge if you child is the next JK Rowling! It's all about fit and making sure they fulfil their potential whilst having a happy life at the same time. League tables are helpful but the devil is in the details... Make sure the glove fits!

Sorry to hear about these bad experiences. I have one DD there and she is very happy. Great academics and good sports. Lockdown learning was very good compared to my children at a different school, but the head master will be missed.

We pulled our daughter for same reasons that 'miuk' listed above and to add to your list some serious safeguarding issues at school. Chased by debt collectors for the extra term because we served a notice of leaving 10 working days too late (4 months before the start of the new term that they are asking money for). Never got the deposit back. Regret ever allowing my daughter stepping foot in this school. It should be under serious review

Dear Catsrule23,
I am so sorry your DD was unhappy at SWPS, it clearly was not the right school for her and I hope her new school meets all your expectations.
Although SWPS is not at all perfect (like most schools), the majority of girls there tend to reach their potential and have a really positive experience. My 2 DD’s continue to thrive in the SWPS environment and it also prepared my eldest DD exceptionally well for Oxford University so much so she copes with the workload admirably, as have her friends who have progressed to prestigious universities. SWPS works very well for a lot of girls, but clearly not all.
There is also a lot of excitement relating to the announcement of the new Headmistress who looks really impressive and starts in Sep 2023.
As with most independent schools, if you do not abide by your signed contract then they will insist on full payment via debt collectors. This is reassuring to all fee paying families at SWPS to avoid those debts ultimately being passed on. Ofsted inspections will scrutinise safeguarding processes within the school and they can be reviewed/inspected at anytime.
All the very best for the future and I hope your daughter finds happiness and success in her new school. 💗

Do not waste your money because that is all they care about; MONEY. You will regret putting your child here. Girls are exactly what the school describes the students as not being; unstuffy. So many problems here, in the background that it's just a big joke. If your child is unhappy in any way, especially due to friends or some of the teachers, pull them out and take them somewhere with normal people and no racism or any other prejudice. Also, if you and your family are from Greater London, don't go to this school - there are plenty of amazing places for your daughter to go to, in the best city in the world. In conclusion, for your own good, don't come here, you will end up regretting it once your child gets to around GCSE or maybe, even earlier!

Following up on my entry "miuk · 15/05/2022" sickened to say SWPS is so bad, inconsiderate, and unprofessional that they couldn't be even bothered to write a letter! A new staff email went to my spam which I missed instead of writing me a real letter they referred my case to their debt collector friends to charge me an extra fee and then they refuse to reply! Is this doing of a good school I really don’t think so!

Why isn't ~2+ months' notice to leave a school sufficient, obviously most of these schools a scams and only after your money!?

Fortunately, my daughter managed to get a place in a Grammar in Y10. Fyi, here is her feedback compared with SWPS.

"SWPS work was a lot lot easier and it wasn't taught in much detail. The maths lessons at SWPS moved quite slowly and when I moved there were a lot of topics they had completed in yr8, which I was unsure how to do because I was doing Constructions and Symmetry most of Yr8.

I think the clubs at SWPS were a bit more organised because they had an app dedicated to signing up for clubs, but SWPS most weeks only had 1 or 2 clubs some weeks even none. In my new school they have many clubs, most days morning, lunch and after school and you can even start your own club if you want.

Overall the teaching methods in my new school are much more effective in helping you actually remember the information you learn in lessons. SWPS mainly just gave you the work and explained it a bit."

It's clear even the education standard is very poor at SWPS. From the sounds of DiscontentedCustomer entry appear to have got worse. I would rank SWPS education as average compared to 3 free secondary schools I have experienced with.

I attended one of the lowest performing schools in my city with no O-Levels but still managed to attend multiple Universities and studied Masters in Electronics and MBA. So it very much depends on the pupil and certainly doesn't need to attend a private school to do well in life.

It's very easy for parents to get carried away with Private Schooling I think in most cases they are likely wasting their money. I'm sure many not attended Universities and drop-outs done exceptionally well in life eg Bill Gate, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson so keep this in mind.

I can't read and ignore this thread any longer. In my experience these negative reviews of the school are not representative of the vast majority of parents. I would not want people to base their decision on this school on the views of a small minority of parents

I agree wholeheartedly howlongtillwegetthere, my daughter attends this school and these reviews are very odd.