Guildford High School or Surbiton High School on academic scholarship

[cath112]

We’ve narrowed down our decision to either Guildford High School or Surbiton High School on an academic scholarship for our daughter. We really like GHS and think it would suit our daughter, however we live within walking distance of Surbiton High School. Those people with girls at GHS, do many girls travel on the train from Surbiton?

Also wondering about academics at both school. We’re aware that the girls are set for maths, but is there sufficient stretch/challenge for more able girls at SHS? Conversely, is there an excessively high level of academic pressure at GHS, especially at GSCE or A level? What is the pastoral care like at GHS, especially in terms of off setting academic pressure in such a high achieving school?

Would be interested to hear from those with scholarships at SHS, whether it really offers much additional benefit to students? From a financial perspective, are there different levels of fee reduction offered?

SHS feels like a very high number of pupils on a relatively small footprint-does it feel overcrowded from a pupil/parent perspective. I know they had an extra 2 forms in the current year 7. Has this had a negative impact? It feels a little disjointed wrt buildings/classrooms being on different sites with a busy road in between. Does this work ok from a pupil perspective?

As you can see, we are struggling to decide! Do we go for the academically higher achieving school with a 30 minute train journey, or the bigger less academic and slightly cramped feeling school on our doorstep? Will a bright child achieve as well in both environments, and do we just choose the easier journey? Our daughter is confident and resilient and enjoys being stretched, but we don’t want her to be under excess pressure to succeed.

Would be very grateful for any insights/thoughts?

This really is a lovely thread with some great contributions to your initial question. I can only add that our DD (Sixth Form now) has enjoyed GHS and largely we think it is good.
Travelling in by train is fine/ok when it works, but countless round trips for anything that the train doesn't support is hard - weekend rehearsal, sports, late nights after 6, early morning practice, train strikes and cancellations all add up. It can also make for very early breakfasts!

Good luck of course with deciding.

It is 30min jorney on paper. The fastest direct service takes 31min, but most of direct servises take 36min. Your DD will need to be at the station at least 5min earlier, plus time to get to the station (say 10min? unless you live next to the station) plus 5min to get off the train and to walk to GHS. So, a jorney is only a few minutes short of an hour.
Is it doable? Yes.
Is it worth it?

Hi Cath112
Interesting to read your thread as we have the exact situation - an offer from GHS and also SHS (although no scholarship). I had my mind set on GHS depsite the extra travel time, but having gone to the SHS open morning yesterday am now a bit torn, with all the potential clubs and activites on offer - that seem more than what GHS offers.
really struggling to decide what is best.
Do you turn down an opportunity like GHS?
However SHS is so local, with whats seems like more on offer outside of work.
It's tough!

Regarding clubs and activities, some of them are held outside weekdays actually. You need to think about whether you would in practice give up some of them in the future at GHS just because of the extra travel time.

When you say outside of weekdays - assuming you mean they are on weekend then?

I had heard that GHS sometimes do clubs before school which would make a very early start - do you know if that is true?

@susie852 , I'm just being nosey as a current SHS parent at the end of the school, did they say anything about the size of the year 7 cohort for Sept 23?

Yes to both your questions

GHS parent here. Clubs are either before school or lunchtimes, including all sports practices. Usually at least one early (7.45 start) and one lunch practice per sport per week. Netball/lax matches are after school and Saturdays, swim/gym often more during day. HTH

Did Op say her DD wasn’t sporty? I’m sure she will be involved in lots of activities, but I’d imagine a lot if the early morning stuff is sport.

Without a doubt, life is harder when you have to travel a distance to school. It’s a question of if the distance is worth it and if you think you’ll later regret your choice if you don’t go for it. Lots of girls do the kind of journey you’re talking about to GHS. It’s very common. Presumably most of those girls could have gone to a different school without the journey, but their families chose to do it.

Another GHS parent here. DD is in Year 8 and blissfully happy, it's a fabulous school in every way. Academic but not pushy, great pastoral care and plenty of clubs and activities to cater to all interests. Girls are allocated to classes on the basis of where they live so she is unlikely to have classmates from the other opposite side of Guildford. Going on the train is an important social part of the day where they make friends, and new Year 7 are given train buddies. We are local in Guildford and DD feels she misses out on the train journey fun!

@sailingsunshine they said that aiming for 7 form entry and deliberately offered fewer places after last year.

@kittybloom , thanks for that, my dd's year was 7 classes, it's manageable for the size of the site.

@DancerSwan thanks so much for your perspective. As well as the practical aspects of getting to and from GHS from Surbiton, we’re wondering about the impact on friendships, socialising outside school and clubs etc.

Did the distance make it harder to attend clubs (other than sports), cause difficulties in participating in events etc.

Did it have any impact in terms of socialising outside of schools, especially as the girls become older and presumably go out in Guildford and the surrounding area?

Wrt the new head, I’m assuming they haven’t yet been appointed? There seems to be a separate head for the senior school (and juniors), and Fiona Boulton is Executive head for the whole school?

@SurreyParentOfTwo thanks so much for your helpful comments. Could I ask if you’d happy to share any aspects of the school that you haven’t been entirely happy with, as you say it has been “largely good”?

@susie852 do you live in Surbiton as well? Have you made a decision?! We were also impressed re. clubs on offer at SHS, and it definitely swayed my daughter’s thinking! Though from what friends tell me, interest in clubs tends to drop off after the first couple of years at senior school, unless you’re participating in sport, music, drama etc at a high level? It’s a shame that GHS don’t hold a similar event.

As you say a tough decision, and GHS is very hard to turn down!

@GuildfordMum77 thanks so much for the helpful information re. clubs. In terms of non-sporty clubs, do you know if they’re mostly held at lunchtimes? Are there many non-sporty clubs held before/after school. Similarly, in terms of evening events that you might need to go back to school for after the end of the school day-is there much of this sort of thing that everyone needs to attend, or mostly just if you’re musical etc?

@Auroborea your DD sounds like she’s having an amazing experience. The information about class allocation is really useful. Sounds like she would be placed with other girls travelling in from Surbiton and the same train line into Guildford, so would have company to travel in with.

@WombatChocolate thanks so much for all of your insightful input. You’re absolutely right about not letting our DD feel the responsibility of making the ultimate decision (as much as she feels she wants to!) We didn’t handle this very well wrt to the decision about sitting for Tiffins. However, she does need to be prepared to get up early and get herself there, and be prepared to commit to doing this. She seems to struggle to do this at the moment.

Also your point about not going around in circles about it in front of her is spot on-we’ve certainly made this mistake previously, and are very conscious not to be doing it now!

I had a child at a school further away and it meant he needed lifts to other areas to see friends, but motivated him to pass his driving test aout 5 minutes after his 17th birthday!
I can see this is a really hard one for you and perhaps i am underestimating how amazing GHS is. Can you find out about pastoral care? Way more important than clubs - as u say this drops off when they become surly teens. (Although lots do still do drama and rowing at SHS).

@cath112 Non sporty clubs are mainly at lunchtime with only one or two after school - unless it’s music/drama and I don’t have much knowledge on these, sorry. There is after school drama for all every Friday until 6pm in the first term of Y7 as they put on a panto. It’s a great school if you’re looking for fast-paced academics in a supportive atmosphere.

which school did you choose in the end, OP?