Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Did you choose LU over GL and SPGS for sporty DD?

119 replies

Alexia234 · 11/02/2022 18:35

Would love to get in contact if you chose LU over the 2 Hammersmith girls schools for a sporty DD. My DD got all 3 and we really loved LU for her but having second thoughts when other 2 Schools thrown into the mix and Concerned the sports isn’t as strong for girls in latymer and that dreaded great western road with the pollution . Any parents out there who wouldn’t mind me PMing them?

OP posts:
pkim123 · 15/02/2022 08:13

@Alexia234

Would love to get in contact if you chose LU over the 2 Hammersmith girls schools for a sporty DD. My DD got all 3 and we really loved LU for her but having second thoughts when other 2 Schools thrown into the mix and Concerned the sports isn’t as strong for girls in latymer and that dreaded great western road with the pollution . Any parents out there who wouldn’t mind me PMing them?
LU is sporty, but it depends on the sports your DD does. For example, they don't regularly play girls football. So yes it's sporty, but only if your DD does their sports. And away from that, post Everyone's Invited LU for DD, really? And lastly, what about academic results? LU can't compare to the other two. Congrats on all your offers.
wineebaygo · 15/02/2022 13:16

I have a DS there but happy to answer any questions! There are a lot of girls there who will have had offers from all 3 schools. I wouldn’t worry about Everyone’s invited or it being ‘less academic’ than SPGS/G&L. It’s certainly academic enough not to make it much of a decision on that front.
I think being Co-ed is the main difference and possibly parents- G&L currently seems to be attracting a lot of Uber wealthy!
School is currently doing very well at girls football and hockey and is also v strong on swimming and rowing. The head of sports is female and joined fairly recently so there is a bit of momentum there.

pkim123 · 15/02/2022 16:25

@wineebaygo

I have a DS there but happy to answer any questions! There are a lot of girls there who will have had offers from all 3 schools. I wouldn’t worry about Everyone’s invited or it being ‘less academic’ than SPGS/G&L. It’s certainly academic enough not to make it much of a decision on that front. I think being Co-ed is the main difference and possibly parents- G&L currently seems to be attracting a lot of Uber wealthy! School is currently doing very well at girls football and hockey and is also v strong on swimming and rowing. The head of sports is female and joined fairly recently so there is a bit of momentum there.
You have a DS, so why would Everyone's Invited be a concern, right?
wineebaygo · 15/02/2022 16:42

I have a teenage DD at another school and lots of friend’s with children at other schools, all of whom were mentioned heavily on Everyone’s invited and in the newspapers. Every school in the land has issues and it’s how the schools react going forward which matters.
Of course the whole issue is a concern but I wouldn’t let it influence my choice of school as they were all affected. If I listened to every story I was told when looking at secondary schools I would have never have sent them anywhere! Everyone has something to say- usually about schools their children are not at.

OP- all good schools. Go with your gut and that’s usually the right choice.

pkim123 · 15/02/2022 16:47

@wineebaygo

I have a teenage DD at another school and lots of friend’s with children at other schools, all of whom were mentioned heavily on Everyone’s invited and in the newspapers. Every school in the land has issues and it’s how the schools react going forward which matters. Of course the whole issue is a concern but I wouldn’t let it influence my choice of school as they were all affected. If I listened to every story I was told when looking at secondary schools I would have never have sent them anywhere! Everyone has something to say- usually about schools their children are not at.

OP- all good schools. Go with your gut and that’s usually the right choice.

Agree, they all have issues. However, LU seems like a lightening rod of issues. First it was the drug use: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/latymer-upper-school-forces-out-seven-over-drugs-c29wgvsnl

Then there is this:
www.latymer-rape-culture.com/

What's next?

Poseidon54 · 15/02/2022 16:52

Thank you both for your views. @pkim123 I’m not too concerned about everyone’s invited as it is not a school specific issue sadly but an endemic one that I hope all schools have taken seriously and from what I’ve heard latymer has been very proactive to change the issues that were raised so honestly I think after a bombshell like that it’s probably pretty good risk to join a Co-Ed school as they more focused than ever to change, perhaps I’m being naive but I have heard some awful
Stories from all three Hammersmith schools perhaps even worse so I do think it’s a bigger problem which is hard to avoid by choice of school only. Sport wise my DD plays club hockey and netball and it seems latymer netball is Non existent compared to hockey and swimming ( which she has no interest in ). We loved the teachers we met there hence finding the decision hard as the sport is a
Big factor for us as is the pastors care which we get very mixed reviews about.
My DD is keen on Co-Ed as not girly and needs a school that doesn’t go over the top on rules as she’s strict enough on herself.

wineebaygo · 15/02/2022 16:58

Ok- you’re not a fan - I understand- but the OP was asking about sports compared to 2 other schools.

pkim123 · 15/02/2022 16:58

@Poseidon54

Thank you both for your views. *@pkim123* I’m not too concerned about everyone’s invited as it is not a school specific issue sadly but an endemic one that I hope all schools have taken seriously and from what I’ve heard latymer has been very proactive to change the issues that were raised so honestly I think after a bombshell like that it’s probably pretty good risk to join a Co-Ed school as they more focused than ever to change, perhaps I’m being naive but I have heard some awful Stories from all three Hammersmith schools perhaps even worse so I do think it’s a bigger problem which is hard to avoid by choice of school only. Sport wise my DD plays club hockey and netball and it seems latymer netball is Non existent compared to hockey and swimming ( which she has no interest in ). We loved the teachers we met there hence finding the decision hard as the sport is a Big factor for us as is the pastors care which we get very mixed reviews about. My DD is keen on Co-Ed as not girly and needs a school that doesn’t go over the top on rules as she’s strict enough on herself.
I think if you DD wants co-ed, then that's the answer. It's a good school and the choice of London day independent co-ed schools is tiny (LU and Highgate). So, there's really not much to think about or decided, go co-ed. The only other option is go to girls school for senior and switch to co-ed for sixth form, but that's not the same.
wineebaygo · 15/02/2022 17:03

OP - they do netball one term and hockey the other - I think they’re ok at netball- certainly have a lot of teams. The lower years lost out a lot with team games and covid so I think they’re trying to make up for it now.
Happy to answer some questions on pastoral care, rules etc as we’ve had a little bit of communication on that front..
I have a DD at an all girls school, not in Hammersmith but a similar sort of school and can see differences in the pastoral side- not in a bad way, just a different way!

pkim123 · 15/02/2022 17:05

@wineebaygo

Ok- you’re not a fan - I understand- but the OP was asking about sports compared to 2 other schools.
I apologise, I did not mean to upset anyone. Please forgive me. Sincere apologies.
wineebaygo · 15/02/2022 17:12

A good tip is to look at school sports fixtures pages and then you can see how many teams they field, what schools they play against etc. in the younger years you’d hope schools field lots of teams to encourage those who may not be particularly sporty or who have come from primaries where they don’t play much sport.
Good luck with whatever you choose- having been through it twice it all tends to work out ok!

Utility · 15/02/2022 21:28

G&L is a Tier 1 hockey school, Latymer Tier 2. G&L has a hockey pitch on site and would have the edge there. But generally speaking, both have excellent coaches and good representation at academy centres.

YesterdayandToday · 16/02/2022 17:41

SPGS does lacrosse and netball. G&L and LU do hockey and netball. I think they all do cricket. SPGS and LU have pools. LU fields are further afield. If you read hard in this forum, there are those who gave up SPGS for either for the sport. And, LU is co-ed!

Grandjany · 17/02/2022 18:16

That’s right no hockey at SPGS - lacrosse 🥍.
I think G&L is quite girlie given they do Food Science and Sewing.

Grandjany · 17/02/2022 18:21

One thing you might want to ask yourself is do you like the ‘end product’? I’ve heard LU is more ‘street’, G&L more ‘posh’, SPGD more ‘driven’.

namethattuneinone · 17/02/2022 20:03

@Grandjany

One thing you might want to ask yourself is do you like the ‘end product’? I’ve heard LU is more ‘street’, G&L more ‘posh’, SPGD more ‘driven’.
Hahaha, Hugh Grant's old school is 'street'....Confused
Grandjany · 17/02/2022 22:02

I know! It’s hysterical 😭

Original poster
Alexia234 · 18/02/2022 11:34

Thanks for All your comments lots to think about. @Utilitycan you elaborate on what tier 1 and tier 2 hockey score means?
Really great tip to look on the Sports fixtures page @wineebaygo and it seems they don’t win very much which doesn’t sound good.
I do think only doing one sport for one term is not helpful. How did Covid affect this surely they still had PE lessons and practice?
@YesterdayandToday not sure if I’m not searching correctly can’t seem to find very much other than very old threads. My DD not hugely keen on SPGS for other reasons and also the lacrosse thing so think it’s more between GL and LU at this point. Also not sore what @Grandjany means by “street”😂 Ironically when we looked around music felt at LU quite a few of the children we saw were overly geeky at LU and deff not street that my DD was a bit shocked. Personally I think all school should do food tech and sewing it’s an essential skill.

OP posts:
Grandjany · 18/02/2022 12:27

I was at a lunch with a mum who said that LU kids were more like a state school product than a private school product which is what I was trying to say; she was just giving her perception. I guess it’s a really big school with a lot more diversity than G&L.
Personally, and rather surprisingly, my experience with staff at LU was that they were arrogant and unaccommodating and lacked manners… so we did not apply in the end. This may have been the upshot of the fact it is such a massive school and they don’t have such a personal approach.

Grandjany · 18/02/2022 12:57

Look at website www.schools hockey.com and you will see that G&L usually beats LU

Original poster
Alexia234 · 18/02/2022 13:53

Thanks will look it up. My reservation about GL is the Recent toxic girls atmosphere I’ve heard about with some real mega rich alpha girls ending up at the school and it not being As pastorally strong as previously reputed for. It’s a much easier transition for my all Rounder DD who is at an all girls prep but Doesn’t really take part in that all girls clique culture

OP posts:
Grandjany · 18/02/2022 14:11

I see. I chatted to a mother at G&L and she said there was no bitching or cliques. She said the alpha females went to SPGS.

Original poster
Alexia234 · 18/02/2022 14:36

😂 good that we’ve discounted that one then. In reality you just never know who shows up on the day to your child’s chosen school a lot of it is very much down to the cohort that year

OP posts:
Grandjany · 18/02/2022 15:03

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

wineebaygo · 18/02/2022 15:24

@Alexia234

Thanks for All your comments lots to think about. *@Utilitycan* you elaborate on what tier 1 and tier 2 hockey score means? Really great tip to look on the Sports fixtures page *@wineebaygo* and it seems they don’t win very much which doesn’t sound good. I do think only doing one sport for one term is not helpful. How did Covid affect this surely they still had PE lessons and practice? *@YesterdayandToday not sure if I’m not searching correctly can’t seem to find very much other than very old threads. My DD not hugely keen on SPGS for other reasons and also the lacrosse thing so think it’s more between GL and LU at this point. Also not sore what @Grandjany* means by “street”😂 Ironically when we looked around music felt at LU quite a few of the children we saw were overly geeky at LU and deff not street that my DD was a bit shocked. Personally I think all school should do food tech and sewing it’s an essential skill.
I mean that in games lessons they do one sport a term. So my son did rugby last term and football this term. That is common in a lot of schools. But he also has PE lessons and various extra curricular sports clubs. At DDs girls school they concentrate on hockey one term and netball the other.