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.

Most requests for reviews of exam marking tend to come from independent schools, where there's a greater likelihood of parents / guardians being able to afford a remark, given that it's parents / guardians that have to foot the bill here: that is the unfortunate baked-in inequality in the current system.

Whilst what you say is true to some extent, in my experience as a teacher in both state and independent senior schools over the years, the vast majority of reviews of marking tend to return with no change to overall grades. You're talking about a fraction of reviews of marking resulting in a grade change; unless there's a clear error in the allocation of marks, or evidence of a rogue marker (unlikely), most marks awarded to papers, when looked at again, are deemed "within tolerance" by the exam boards. Hence though there may be some changes between provisional exam data published by schools in the weeks of exam results and the final confirmed grades several weeks / months later, the differentials will not tend to be hugely significant.

In every school in the country you will find parents who think the school is terrible. You will equally find many who are happy.

@EducatedBridge @CJFJ1 us correct. You have misunderstood the statistics stated.

I agree with Cansu. If you aren't happy take your dd out. Practically None/ few of the girls live close by, most travel for miles, (my friends dd goes all over the county for other girls birthday parties ) so presumably you've got plenty of other choices for schools near you?