Any views on Waldegrave Girls, Teddington?

[SleepyRoo]

We're thinking of moving into the catchment of Waldegrave Girls school, Teddington, having seen its impressive data, and visited a (rather brief) open day. This was fine, but the Head's talk was vague, and she took no Q&As.
As we are not from the area we can't get any parents insights into what the school is actually like.
It looks quite academic, but does it expect enough from its "mid-range" pupils?
How is the teaching?
And what's with the 2.30pm finishes - does this actually benefit the girls education?
Any insights at all, very gratefully received.

Thanks Claire. We're aiming for all girls. Hoping to do their favoured sports out of school (which we do now anyway)

Great to know about the change to early finish times. It did seem bizarre.

Hi! We have recently moved to Richmond from overseas and have been offered in in-year place in Year 9 for our DD. She’s probably mid-range student and quite musical (plays cello) and is lively and full of beans but tends to not get along with girls who are queen bees / popular even though she’d like to. She’s never been at an all girls school before. I am quite confused because we’ve been offered a place at Christ too but it doesn’t have results as good as those at Waldegrave. Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

The results are similar enough to make no difference: teddington.nub.news/news/local-news/results-how-boroughs-schools-performed-in-2022-gcse-and-a-level-exams-156408

In your position I would go with the one I lived closest to, to make it easier for my daughter to make local friends and not have a long commute. The bus routes between Richmond and Twickenham can be very congested at rush hour.

They're both great schools - you're lucky to have a choice.

@mellowmiaow thank you so much! I am lucky to have a choice. I am also tending towards Christ’s which is nearer to me but Waldegrave has such a outsize reputation that I’m confused.

Waldegrave had a fantastic Head for many years, but she left on a high, warning of budget constraints ahead. If you search through enough threads on here, somewhere you might find a link to the letter she wrote to all parents at the time, asking for big voluntary donations. It was always going to be difficult for whoever took over the reins. In the meantime, there is now a new Ofsted framework which judges schools on different measures to before, and is deliberately aiming to reduce the number of schools worthy of the Outstanding label. So there is no guarantee that Waldegrave will be Outstanding at its next inspection, or any other school that was inspected after September 2019. It can take a long time for a school to build a good or bad reputation, and a long time for them to lose it, because parents move on but assume the school has stayed as they remember it. Also, forums like Mumsnet bring up threads that are years old.

If you can't get school tours, do the morning commute to both schools with your daughter, stand outside and watch the kids go in, then stand outside at the end of the day too, and commute home again. Also, do a deep dive of the school websites for old newsletters etc. That may help. But if not, toss a coin. They're both great options.

@mellowmiaow I did tours of both schools. You’re right - both are great choices. I found Waldegrave intimidating and Christ’s more friendly but I think that might because of the size and also because of the guide….. I’m also from overseas so I don’t really know what I’m looking for….

Is there any Whatsapp group for current Year 9 parents fkr Waldegrave? We joined mid year and haven't had a chance to meet any parents.

@FromIndia Are you happy so far with your choice?
Hoping to join in Sept Y7

@SleepyRooster my DD joined mid year in Year 9 and seems to have settled well. It's early days (she was there for a couple of weeks before Christmas and now since school started last week). I just feel like other than the usual random emails from school no effort is made to ensure we know the teachers or the school. This might be because DD is in year admission and also because Y9 they are expected to be quite independent. DD is happy enough and doesn't have any complains but she's also the sort to just go with the flow.... Sorry can't be more specific or helpful.

@FromIndia sounds fairly typical for secondary school from what I hear. I hope it goes well for your DD.