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Secondary education

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Sydenham High School: honest views please

27 replies

thethirdcoming · 29/01/2022 13:40

Looking for advice: my DD has been offered a place for Y7.

Based on everything I have seen (tours, talking to former pupils and other informal feedback) it seems really nice, very pastoral etc. Has improved its academic reputation a lot recently and the culture seems to be a good fit for her.

For context my DD is bright (but not absurdly so), leans very much towards humanities/arts, Above average but not stellar at maths/STEM. She is adamant that she doesn't want to be educated with boys and is fairly shy and doesn't do well in large mixed groups, finds them intimidating. My sense is that she would do pretty well with a single sex school like this with a lot of emphasis on pastoral care.

My question is, is it worth the cost really? There are other state single sex schools in the area available which she has a good chance of getting into (clearly much bigger and probably more limited resources but not bad). I can just about afford it but it will be a stretch and may mean the difference between a bigger house or not. I'm fully prepared to do this if it will make a real difference but I don't want to pay for an independent school just for the sake of it IYSWIM.

Any advice welcome.

OP posts:
vcfromhk · 16/04/2023 18:52

How will the group compare Wimbledon gdst vs Sydenham gdst? We live closer to Sydenham but online we see Wimbledon has a better ranking. Not sure if difference isn't material to send DD to Wimbledon.

QuiteAJourney · 17/04/2023 09:05

vcfromhk · 16/04/2023 18:52

How will the group compare Wimbledon gdst vs Sydenham gdst? We live closer to Sydenham but online we see Wimbledon has a better ranking. Not sure if difference isn't material to send DD to Wimbledon.

If you look at GCSE results there is a marked difference (eg, SHS has 3/4 at 9-7, vs 92% at WHS). But worth noting that it is always quite difficult to disentangle the effect from different cohorts (WHS traditionally more competitive at entry) and that coming from the teaching.
Personally, I would advise you to visit and get a feeling for the school and also factor the distance. We really liked WHS curriculum and ethos and we are lucky to be rather close - its academic standing did play a role in our decision (our DD is starting in September) but was not the only factor (I am a bit sceptical of league tables, including for the reason outlined above)

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