which independent school do you recommend (living in Charlton, SE London))

[shesheshe01]

hello,
we have some offers from independent schools for my DDs. they are 4 and 11 years old so we are looking for both seniors and junior school. which school would you advice in near Charlton area?

Thank you

Well, where have you had offers from?

Hi,
Sydenham High School, Bromley High School, Blackheath High School, and Colfe's.
Many thanks.

@PenguindreamsofDraco

Well you’ve got offers from three GDST schools of varying distance from you and a coed school. They’re all good schools. You can look at rankings and leavers destinations if you’re interested in academic achievement but obviously there’s a lot more to it than that.

First question is do you want coed or single sex?

@DaveGrohl we prefer single sex school. Colfe is close to us so we wanted to try that one as well. Distance is not problem at all because all school has good coach routes to our house. I will drop them to stop in the morning and they will come back with coach. I work from home so its not a problem for me to drop them. I didnt have chance to visit the schools. Just searched online but my girls liked Bromley High and Blackheath when they have done assesment.

Having a coach route is one thing but how long they’re on the coach is another. For us it made a difference whether the kids were on a coach for 20 minutes or an hour - it adds up over the weeks and years. Plus factor in after school clubs, sports fixtures and other activities. I pay for the coach service but spend my life going to school for one thing or other and dropping off for 7am swim club or 8am ensemble practice. Proximity to the school really will make a difference to your and your DDs quality of life, all other things being equal.

@DaveGrohl sure. Colfe’s and Blackheath High closer to us. When I check the ratings they are similar. Do you know anybody that attends to those schools?

I have DD in Y5 and DS in Y8 at Colfe's. They've both been there since Reception/Nursery and DD will progress to Senior. I went to a GDST school and was very happy there, however, wanted co-ed given I have a girl and boy and preferred that they both go to the same school. We're very happy with Colfe's, both mine are very sporty and from what I've seen at inter-schools competitions, Colfe's definitely has the upper hand when it comes to sport. We're very happy with their academic progress as well as the pastoral support, the parents are a lovely bunch and we've made some good friends. Highly recommended by me!

@edwinbear thank you for your comment. Really lovely to hear that. Hope my DDs will be happy in their new school too🙏🏻 May ı learn which GDST school do u advice in this area? My daughters want to go to GDST but they are really good in sport. So would like to compare which on will be better for them. We do have offer from GDST Bromley, Blackheath and Sydenham High x

How can you choose a school for your child when you haven’t been there? There’s so much to get a feel for as much as you can when you visit? You’ll be choosing a school with little idea if it will suit your children?

We live locally so only have experience with Blackheath, we have friends who send their daughter there and some of the Colfe's Junior girls go there for Senior school. The families I know who send their girls there are very happy with it, I don't believe they have their own swimming pool though which would rule it out for mine as they both swim competitively.

@taj0112 unfortunately we moved to Charlton recently. We used to live in SW and my daughter had exams in that area too, just in case. We were unsure if we will be moving here because we were trying to sell our house in SW and made offer to house in SE etc so it was really difficult busy time for us + ı was pregnant and was feeling so sick. But you are right, definetly I had to but unfortunatly I coudnt... 🤷🏻‍♀️

@edwinbear thanks for your comment

Confused. This is thread number 4 on the same thing?

Surely you have to make the final decision soon. Too late to be constantly seeking advice from strangers?

You need to look round the schools and ask for an extension in the deadline?

@ChnandlerBong hi:) thank you for reading my all treatds yes this is no 4 or 3 or 2 or maybe 5 I dont know actually. I have time until 30th of March but still thanks for the advice.

The deadline for 11+ acceptances for Blackheath High and most independent schools in London was 4 March……

I am talking about for my DD2 who is 4 years old. She recently got offer from colfes. Thats why ı started more than one treatds

So the older one is going to Blackheath? So you like that school and you like single sex.

Go with that.

Or go and visit the schools rather than starting 5 threads?

Surely better to have them at one school? Traffic is pretty solid through Charlton into Blackheath so I would only consider Blackheath High and Colfes personally. Both solid performers and popular but if you're thinking of the Grammar schools for secondary then you'd need to tutor on top.

The journey to Bromley and Sydenham would be awful and it would be an early start. Not much fun at their ages at all and as a previous poster said, they'd miss out on the extra curricular. Also a pain for you to drive to those two schools for events.

@ChnandlerBong even if I visit the school it is good to know experiences from parents. Viewing is different then experiences. When you view school you see advantages positive facts about it, when you ask somebody what is their experiences etc they do also add the negative sides. I can create even more than 5 threads it is totally up to me. Have a great evening.

OP not sure how long you’ve been on here but 5 threads about the same thing is not in the spirit of Mumsnet.

This thread has is under secondary education but you have just revealed it is about your 4 year old. It is in the wrong place.

Lots of people have given you their opinions on each and every thread you gave started.

Enough.

I know a few girls who have gone to Bromley High, parents were happy with the school but to be honest the journey from Charlton & back would be abysmal, I think you’d be mad to even consider it. The kids would be exhausted with all the travel time.
As your children get older having friends who live reasonably close by will be important for them, school isn’t just about the academic stuff, they need to be able to make friends they can meet up with & take steps in to independence with - kids from Bromley high are not going to be travelling to Charlton after school for play dates

Hi OP, we can see you've got a few threads about this subject - we're going to close the others as it can get confusing for people offering support

Best,
MNHQ

@Turmerictolly thank you so much for your comment and time.

@nancy75 thank you so much for your comment and time.