SW London Private and Grammar - applying for Year 7 in 2023 (Part VI)

[QuiteAJourney]

Following from our previous thread (link below)

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4731973-sw-london-private-and-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023-part-v?page=40&reply=123775541

Looking forward to continuing the journey together!

@WimMum2015 G&L's IB program appeals to me though I figure my daughter can apply to IB in Sixth Form. G&L seems slightly better in pastoral care (just by researching / reading from MN and other forums). I also read that LEH can be straight in terms of hw submission and my daughter isn't the most disciplined in this area. She will for sure struggle though one might argue that LEH will train her up.
G&L's GCSE and AL results also seem to be more consistent and progressive in the past few years.
LEH's facilities are outstanding however my daughter isn't the most sporty type and music isn't her forte.

oh and last but not least, G&L has a fencing club while LEH doesn't. My daughter has been fencing for over 4 years and is really passionate about it.

what's your take?

Strict, not straight

LEH does do fencing. My daughter is at the school and lots of her friends fence.

Oh! Good to know. Now they are equal on this front...

@ParmaHamQueen if you don’t mind, I am sending you a PM.

Any current Ibstock place parents on here who can tell me which junior and prep schools tend to feed into Ibstock?

I can’t see the school featured on ‘destinations’ for a few of the local preps so is it mainly Sheen primaries and Ibstock juniors that go on to the secondary?

Roche and Hurlingham get a few offers every year

Hi there. We are trying to choose between WHS and LEH. Grateful if anyone had to make that decision in the past or is trying to make that choice now could share their take on it.
many thanks in advance.

@Ernern
So Pastoral Care would be an important factor, so I will try to find out what I can as well.
Sports - my DD enjoys sports and both schools have a more or less equal offering ,so that's not a concern. LEH having a pool is a plus for my DD but not dealbreaker.
Commute: The coach is a 3-5 min walk from home. Life would be FAR easier compared to G&L which would be nearly 1 hour with changing of trains/tube.
Friends/Community: LEH not as local, but still several from our side. G&L would be very scattered - which has it's pros and cons.
Academics - I am conscious that we should not read TOO much into the numbers. But I have a done a detailed comparison anyway!
A* results in 2022 is the same for both schools - GCSE and A levels. I would need to decide if the difference in results is worth the daily commute to G&L.
GCSE: LEH English has come out stronger recently in GCSE. Science comparable on average. G&L languages are stronger, but LEH has good scores in Latin. G&L strong in Art/DT and a popular choice.
A level: LEH has stronger results in Eng, Maths and Science. G&L has 22 taking Fine Art and all A*. LEH offers Philosophy and Psychology which G&L does not (currently, but can change 7 years!). G&L has a higher no. doing an EPQ.
Leavers destinations both are good - but G&L has IB ofcourse.

Eventually I feel both are schools of repute and will work hard to support girls academically. I would check that I am comfortable with pastoral care in both. And think of the commute twice a day x 7 years. And can always consider a change at 6th form if needed.
If anyone has any feedback on pastoral care in these schools - would be much appreciated.

@WimMum2015 We have found the pastoral care at LEH to be very good.

@ParmaHamQueen have you been happy with the pastoral care and diversity in the school. I've heard some negative stories in the past but I am hoping things have changed for the better. Please PM if you prefer.

Thanks @confu5ed

One point to note though is the number of LEH students, about 15%, taking combined sciences (or sometimes called double sciences). In comparison, almost everyone at G&L took three sciences. The other school I know that is doing so is SPGS. This probably explains why LEH had a higher % of grade 9s in the three sciences.

We didn't apply to LEH due to journey but know happy girls there. DD is at WHS and is also very happy.
Ignoring academics which are probably much of a muchness, they are very different in terms of location etc. Lots more space at LEH obviously with I presume sports on site whereas WHS have to walk to their playing fields about 10 minutes away. Both have swimming pools. Rowing for WHS is near LEH!
LEH- a lot of the girls will come by bus and will therefore come from a far bigger geographical area. It's not easy to get to by public transport. At WHS lots of girls live in Wimbledon and apart for a few further afield most come from SW postcodes.
Again, the location makes it easy for the girls to pop out to get food if they stay at school for drama, music productions etc and gives more freedom for sixth form.
LEH, I'm assuming once you're there you're there!
DS nearly went to Hampton so we weighed up the location a lot. It wasn't easy for us and would have been a pain to get to for all the parent events.
But both great schools so a hard decision. Does your DD have a preference?

@woohooho. Thanks. Our daughters are leaning towards LEH but it’s the facilities that are attracting them there. They also say they felt more comfortable n LEH than WHS when they went for exam/ interview etc.
My only concern as you mentioned is the commute each day as WHS would be 15-20 minutes compared to 40 minutes to LEH one way.
I looked at the GCSE results and A levels which look quite comparable though LEH university destinations are slightly better than WHS but I’m told that’s because the top of the class at WHS moves to KCS or Westminster for 6 form.
It’s proving to be a tough decision.

Have they both got offer holder days? Definitely worth going to both.

@WimMum2015 @Parkerspiece @dimathur and others…LEH has a bus stop near our current home with a 45 mins ride but we won’t be able to move near the school. We are considering a house which would be direct train ride to Putney High. Do you think schools like LEH have a significant academic advantage over schools like Putney? It’s very competitive to gain entrance in schools like LEH but do they actually offer something extra for academic DDs? Please feel free to PM me also.

@Workhar If you do choose LEH, I don't think the 45 min bus journey could actually work out as a good wind down time for her - without the hassle of making her way on public transport.
Academically - hopefully current/past parents can give you some insight.

@Workhar typo - I don't think the 45 min bus journey could actually work out as a good wind down time for her

@dimathur A different decision here but somewhat similar to yours. We have offers to KGS and WHS - WHS is very local (20 minutes door-do-door by public transport) and KGS is some 40-45 minutes away (DD is has only a slight preference for co-ed).
We are planning to go to offer holders day for both for the usual reasons...but also because we have been told that the admissions process at WHS (which we found unnecessarily impersonal) is not very representative of the ethos of the school.
We are also looking quite a lot into curriculum policies - WHS has quite a lot of information about their path to GCSE and beyond (and also about what they offer as timetabled but not examined teaching). Same with extra-curricular.

@Workhar. We too have a place in PHS and think LEH is better academically besides other facilities as compared to PHS. PHS is actually closer to us than LEH. And I’m going purely by GCSE , ALs , university destination and league table rankings.

@woohooho. LEH doesn’t do offer holders’ day though WHS does.

I think PHS, WHS, LEH etc are roughly on the same academic level so I wouldn't worry too much about League Tables, University destinations etc. you could tie yourself up in knots. They will vary from year to year, cohort to cohort etc. All the schools get great results and a fall of a few places in the league tables could be due to one or two girls dropping grades - possibly due to illness etc.
I'd go more with gut feel, journey, ethos etc.

With all the girls schools you can't take the A levels and uni destinations too seriously because they all loose the top performers to the mixed sixth forms (KCS etc) plus many dd want a change, some of them have been there since they were aged 5 or 7 depending.
Also re LEH you have got the new head incoming, I met her at a St J's event many years ago and she seemed very nice but a change of head can lead to changes both positive and negative (if many other staff leave too). Teacher recruitment and retention is one of the biggest challenges facing education both private and state.
Saying that I would always prioritise journey as the decider especially if a bus journey over Kingston or hampton court bridge is involved. Also LEH has sports clubs after school with a limited bus service that you have to pay for extra. Ask admissions for the route of the 6pm buses if your dd is mega sporty.

But LEH girls have fair share of exposure to Hampton boys, especially in 6th form. Then why do they lose so many able girls to KCS?