Grey Coats vs Marylebone CE school

[RosaneRhael]

Hi parents, my daughter got a place at GC and Marylebone for 11+ and I need to decide which would be the first option. I would like to know if any Parent has her daughter in Marylebone as some friends said it can have a "princess" competition mood and it can be bad for teenager years.... so please can you share your experiences? In both schools, please? Pros and Cons asap as deadline is this Monday 31st Oct- Thanks

Hello. We are in a similar situation with these schools. Would love to hear from anyone with a daughter at Marylebone about the atmosphere between girls. We have heard there are lots of cliques and unkindness. Is this true?

Dorian, this is what makes me worried: From Good School Guide website
"Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline
Pastoral care is very strong, affirm several parents. As well as there being systems of support in place among the staff and pupils, there is a strong mentoring facility between the older and younger pupils. This is an intense time of life for any teenager, but one senses that in this school the experience can perhaps become more intense than elsewhere. School says that the intensity is ‘offset by a very caring community feeling which identifies and helps deal with problems' – and denies that this is a school of ‘precious princesses’. Maybe it is part of the performing arts culture.
Girls, on the whole, very supportive of each other, though there is a lot of competition and this has to be managed. Behaviour is good. Cases of bullying rare, we were told. A smell of smoke doesn’t linger in lavatories here, and a zero tolerance approach means that your child may well end up with detention just from talking in class. The bar is high, girls feel lucky to be here and want to behave well. Parents commend the fluid communication lines whenever a problem arrives. Lots of positive feedback when a struggling girl starts to perform well, as well as the more obvious commending of high performance. Much appreciated are the proper, old-fashioned termly reports which don’t just parrot at you what the class has done but actually talk about your own daughter. Good, realistic and collaborative target-setting also works."

But I would like to hear the real voice of any Parent with their daughter there... not a general report website

Thanks for this Rosane. I hadn’t read the report. Is it recent?
That competitive vibe they mention rings true with what I’ve heard .. a lot of girls feeling they’re vying for the same performing arts opportunities maybe..
any parents out there with Greycoat or Marylebone girls?

We are also in the same position with a place guaranteed at either if we put them first, so commenting to hopefully get a bit more visibility!

We live a lot more locally to GC and have met a couple of parents there as a result who couldn't speak more highly of it. Our kids are picked up from school once a week by a GC girl who has just entered 6th Form and who is lovely (very bright, calm and articulate, and who just got stellar GCSE results) and is very happy at the school. We've spoken at length to her dad who also had lots of positive things to say about GC. But we've never met any Marylebone parents or kids beyond what we saw at the Open Day. For us, the local aspect seems to be a big draw for us for GC - DD could walk to school if she wanted and she'd have a lot of friends locally.

@South80s and @RosaneRhael - have you been notified about outcome of language test etc? If so did you receive this via email or letter? Tks.

@Pigsears by letter. Arrived last Wed.

We are in the same position and put St M first, based on the open evening. We felt that we were so rushed around GCH with no time to look at what we wanted to and the girls seemed much shyer and reticent to talk. At St M, the girls were confident and chatty and we could look around at leisure. We let DD make the choice and she was very much St M. Always keen to hear from parents with actual experience at either though.

Hello, I am looking at Grey Coat Hospital School for both my daughters for September 2023. One will be Year 7 and the other Year 10. Any help or comments would be great please? Best, Polly

Polly - what do you mean by “looking at”? Have you applied for the Y7 place in the usual admissions round? If so, offers will be made soon, but your post implies that you haven’t.

Well, we have not applied yet but as my daughter is adopted, she is entitled to a priority place so may be able to apply another route if someone drops out.