Godolphin vs SPGS

[11plusmom]

Hello, DD was lucky enough to get offers from both schools and I’m finding it hard to decide between them. She is very sporty so based on hearsay and reading the threads here it feels like Godolphin would be the sportier of the 2 schools. However, am also finding it hard to say no to SPGS. Any thoughts please on how to choose? Anyone turned down SPGS for G&L and willing to share their experience? Thanks so much.

@11plusmom

Hello, DD was lucky enough to get offers from both schools and I’m finding it hard to decide between them. She is very sporty so based on hearsay and reading the threads here it feels like Godolphin would be the sportier of the 2 schools. However, am also finding it hard to say no to SPGS. Any thoughts please on how to choose? Anyone turned down SPGS for G&L and willing to share their experience? Thanks so much.

Congrats on the offers. SPGS does plenty of sports. Is there a particular sport that she is very focused on? Maybe one school is much better at that sport? The other thing I'd say is, when people say kids are very sporty, all the schools play a lot of sports. Is she going to be a professional athlete? My DD is extremely sporty, but I could never see picking a senior school based on sports. Not to mention that many serious athletes do their sport separate from schools anyway.

@11plusmom

Hello, DD was lucky enough to get offers from both schools and I’m finding it hard to decide between them. She is very sporty so based on hearsay and reading the threads here it feels like Godolphin would be the sportier of the 2 schools. However, am also finding it hard to say no to SPGS. Any thoughts please on how to choose? Anyone turned down SPGS for G&L and willing to share their experience? Thanks so much.

Two great offers, well done to your DD! Let's be serious, you are not going to turn down SPGS because G&L is "sportier". Accept the SPGS offer graciously and move on.

11plusmom:
Which school did / do you prefer? I would send her there.

As a SPGS parent, there’s an offers morning on Thursday. Email and book a place. My daughter loves the school and is really enjoying the creative side of it, which many seem to think doesn’t exist.

Thank you for all your responses.

@MaryleboneParent I am booked to go to the Q&A session on Thursday. Slightly disappointed that girls aren't invited - just parents, but hopefully it will help answer some questions.

@pkim123 My DD loves netball. She is not going to an elite athlete at all, but I want her to have the opportunity to be a part of teams and do fixtures etc. From what I've seen and heard, that will exist at SPGS but they don't necessarily do that well.

@Utility I think I prefer SPGS but I think DD will have more friends going to G&L.

You'd be mad to turn down SPGS for those reasons, as I'm sure you must know.

I agree, and just so you know there will not be any material difference in netball between 2 schools. It is an absolute non issue. There are 4 teams in each year group at SPGS playing fixtures with all levels of skill from a few girls in franchise hubs to occasional players, also both schools are in the country final tournament this year and both have won it in the past.

County

Girls used to go, so assuming it’s because of the pandemic. Happy to chat offline re SPGS, just DM me and you can call me. I helped several mumsnet parents last year and their girls are all happy at SPGS. We keep in contact via emails.

@11plusmom

My DD loves netball. She is not going to an elite athlete at all, but I want her to have the opportunity to be a part of teams and do fixtures etc. From what I've seen and heard, that will exist at SPGS but they don't necessarily do that well.

One thing I was massively impressed by at SPGS when my daughter joined a few years back was that they held netball tryouts but then basically just made as many teams as there were people who wanted to play. So there were 8 teams in Y7 and they all got fixtures (this may be why they did not do that well). Lacrosse etc may have been more competitive but there absolutely was the opportunity to play sport competitively for anyone who wanted to do so. Sportier schools may be fussier about who they have in their teams.

There is no need to insinuate that other schools are "fussier about who they have in their teams". The FACT that many of these independent schools have up to Team F (or H) indicates that they are open to all abilities. No fussiness. These schools have to organise competitions with the same level teams from other schools.

Thanks all for your feedback.

@MaryleboneParent I will send you a DM.

Congrats to your DD. SPGS sports provision seems v good as far as I can tell from the girls I know there. But, personally I'd ignore the 'you'd be mad to turn down SPGS' comments - and go with your gut instinct (and bear in mind what your DD feels about it all). We turned down a place there for DD last year - albeit not on sports provision grounds - and a few people said we were crazy, which made me a bit nervy at the time but we've never regretted it. I do think SPGS is a terrific school but there is never just one right school and I'm sure your smart, sporty girl will thrive wherever she goes.

@TheWindsorKnot

There is no need to insinuate that other schools are "fussier about who they have in their teams". The FACT that many of these independent schools have up to Team F (or H) indicates that they are open to all abilities. No fussiness. These schools have to organise competitions with the same level teams from other schools.

I don't know about any other independent schools because I don't have a child at any of them and I'm not insinuating anything. I'm just pointing out that the opportunity is there at the school I do know about.

I've replied to everyone who had DM'd me and will aim to speak to you all today/tomorrow.

Enjoy the offer morning!

There are always good and bad points for all schools.

We have recently been looking back at our daughter's time at SPGS and we are really pleased she moved from NLCS. She's been nurtured and is really enjoying all aspects of the school. We do not regret moving her and she's incredibly happy.

Netball and lacrosse have teams and they are chosen by ability, but no one is excluded. The best players will be in the A, B and C teams, so they are not mixed ability. Lots of new sports in the LV (year 9) and rowing is introduced, for those who want to try. Synchronised swimming and the life saving course have also been fun. They start water polo in the summer term.

As the girls get older, I have noticed that they appear to help each other more in the academic lessons.

Lots of academic and creative lessons/opportunities. Thanks to the pandemic, our daughter sadly missed the photography/darkroom side of art.

The school teaches the girls how to learn any language in the first month of the MIV (year 7) and my daughter has now been applying that knowledge more over the years. It's been interesting to watch her explain things to us.

They have split the IT GCSE into Creative Technology (includes film making) and Computer Science. These are both SPGS GCSE's and are much harder and more specialised than the government IT GCSE. Drama, Music and History of Art are also harder, SPGS written GCSE exams. These are not shown on their GCSE results page, as they cannot be compared to the normal GCSEs.

If OP hasn't made up their mind (or anyone else in this situation), happy for you to DM me and get the G&L perspective.

lurker here - my daughter has just had a waiting list offer from SPGS today and we're also currently in the same situation of deciding between the two schools - OP have you decided yet? And if yes, what drove the decision? Same story with me - I am more keen on SPGS whereas DD on the margin prefers G&L.
We're unfortunately too late for offer holders morning at SPGS and the acceptance deadline for both is Monday 7th.

Any wisdom gladly appreciated! xx

@MaryleboneParent would you mind explaining more what you mean by SPGS GCSEs? You say They have split the IT GCSE into Creative Technology (includes film making) and Computer Science. These are both SPGS GCSE's and are much harder and more specialised than the government IT GCSE. Drama, Music and History of Art are also harder, SPGS written GCSE exams. These are not shown on their GCSE results page, as they cannot be compared to the normal GCSEs As far as I am aware, GCSEs are set by exam boards. I have never heard of GCSEs which are only taken by students in a specific school and nor can I imagine why a school would want to to do this is they can't be calibrated against other GCSEs?

spgs.org/academic/departments/art-and-design/

spgs.org/academic/departments/computer-science-and-creative-technology/

spgs.org/academic/departments/drama-and-theatre/

spgs.org/academic/departments/history-of-art/

spgs.org/academic/departments/music/

From their website

As students move through the school, they are increasingly able to specialise in the areas that interest them most. In the V and VI (Years 10 and 11) students study seven subjects in the core curriculum: English language, English literature, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics and a modern foreign language. In addition, they choose four additional subjects from a list of 18 options, providing significant breadth in curriculum choice. Subjects are then studied to GCSE or IGCSE level. In art, drama, history of art and music, students instead follow school-directed courses, which allow for more in-depth study and a more diverse, engaging curriculum. Non-examined general studies courses encourage students to develop their academic interests away from the constraints of defined specifications, prompting cross-curricular connections and broader, more wide-ranging discussion that prepares them well for A level studies.

@MaryleboneParent

From their website

As students move through the school, they are increasingly able to specialise in the areas that interest them most. In the V and VI (Years 10 and 11) students study seven subjects in the core curriculum: English language, English literature, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics and a modern foreign language. In addition, they choose four additional subjects from a list of 18 options, providing significant breadth in curriculum choice. Subjects are then studied to GCSE or IGCSE level. In art, drama, history of art and music, students instead follow school-directed courses, which allow for more in-depth study and a more diverse, engaging curriculum. Non-examined general studies courses encourage students to develop their academic interests away from the constraints of defined specifications, prompting cross-curricular connections and broader, more wide-ranging discussion that prepares them well for A level studies.

Absolutely brilliant curriculum, thinking outside the box. The head is a very strong opponent of current GCSE's (you can google that). Intelligent students should be free to explore and challenged themselves academically.