Graveney, Chestnut Grove or local private schools eg Emanuel

[todayortomorrow]

We're based in Balham and thinking about our secondary school options. Reading yesterday's terrifying thread about the state of the UK's schools has made me think about our options. Are any current secondary parents who have faced the choice between our great local state schools and our great local private schools happy to share their thoughts & experience through the process. We're not looking at single sex schools. Thanks!

DD went to Ricards Lodge to 5th and Graveney in 6th form. Both are OFSTED outstanding schools though Ricard achieved this just after she left. She preferred Graveney. She went on to get a good degree, Masters and a well paid grad job. I supplemented her state education with tutoring in her two weakest GCSE subjects and one A Level subject.

Look at Bolingbroke. I hear good things.

I doubt you will get into Graveney from Balham unless you pass the test as the catchment is tiny.

DS is at Chestnut Grove for sixth form and loves it. He has made some lovely friends even though he was new to the school. Highly recommend

Graveney catchment area is basically only the dozen or so streets that immediately surround the school. The test needs either a lot of prep or a lot of smarts, some candidates squeak in with an only modestly impressive dash of both.

Chestnut is a pretty ok school, especially the further you go through the years, but has bullying issues which a number of this year's year 7 parents have been trying to get sorted.

There are lots of threads about Emanuel on here - used to be seen as a really mediocre place for 'nice but dim' types, but driven I suppose by the very rapid growth of jobs in finance and whatnot starting at the back end of the last century became I suppose affordable to a lot more people, mostly from this hugely expanded 'professional' class, so is now way more popular and has way higher standards.

SW London has excellent state schools. There are a whole set of reasons for that both historic and recent e.g. the increasing affluence of the region and (as a result) the large number of kids who go to private school.

The main challenge for state schools going forward is the falling roll (number of kids in the schools) driven by demographic factors and net migration out of London. What you will see is some primary schools closing, other ones merging, and secondary schools forming multi-academy trusts to support local primary schools. This is already happening and will only grow due to the close ties between schools in the area.

If you have the finances and preference to go private then go for it. If not, I wouldn't hesitate sending your kid to a state school in the area. We're very fortunate to have them. Visit them with your DC and go with what you feel is the best fit (albeit some are very difficult to get in with small catchment areas).

The main challenge for state schools going forward is the falling roll (number of kids in the schools) driven by demographic factors and net migration out of London. What you will see is some primary schools closing, other ones merging, and secondary schools forming multi-academy trusts to support local primary schools. This is already happening and will only grow due to the close ties between schools in the area.

This is true but I think it will make the best state schools even more desirable.

I am new to mumsnet and will be new to London soon. We are a German/South African family and have been expats for more than 17 years. My husband’s company is looking to move us to London. We will be there early in July for a look see to choose and area and hoped to visit and enroll into school before they close in July (The office will be in Chiswick Park) but that is proving to be a lot more difficult than we thought.

We have two daughters - Year 9 (28/04/2010)
And Year 6 (08/08/2013)

We thought to start by seeing what our State school options are and how we could enroll them but that has proven to be difficult. Just got an email from the Richmond council explaining we can only apply once we have an address and even then they will only offer spaces three weeks after schools start in September 🙈 of course that means the girls won’t be able to start school at the beginning of the term and also we are not guaranteed they will get into the school of our choice and then it means we rented a house in an area that might end up far away from the school they end up in.

So, we are now thinking it will have to be a private school but even that is proving difficult with some schools website making that sound like a very complicated/difficult process and some mention waiting lists etc.

If a private school is not an option either then I guess we have to go to an International school and hope that the enrollment process would be easier for foreigners 🤷‍♀️

Having said all of this, we have decided after doing a lot of research that although they are currently at ISKL (Kuala Lumpur International School) (IB school) we would prefer to put them in a British Curriculum. We think that our artsy/creative children would benefit more from choosing only 3 subjects that will most certainly be art and design, graphic design, product design, drama, media studies etc. STEM subjects are definitely not there strong points so we suspect the IB isn’t a good choice. I would appreciate recommendations for private and state schools (if it would be possible to get in).

I think ideally we would like to be around the Chiswick Park where my husband’s office will be but he is happy to commute 30-40min or longer if he has to (max. 1/1.30Hours if he has to) door to door. We prefer to live close to the school (in an ideal world where Kids could walk to school) but of course going on a bus is totally ok too although this probably just adds to the already expensive school fees.

Having said all of this (I know it’s a lot), would anyone be able to help guide us to find the best school or schools if we have to put our youngest in a primary school for Y6. Once we have narrowed down our top three school choices and confirmed that they have space we can look at finding a house to rent (feel free to comment on that too in terms of areas where 4 bedroom houses are more affordable that has easy access to trains or underground).

Thank you 🙏

Adéle

You need to put this out to the new post to get more feedback.
Check out London preprep website to get ideas.
Year 6 is the 11+ exam year to go to secondary schools.
Year 9 is GCSEs.
London secondary schools are super selective, selective, grammar or comprehensive. Applications is a minefield and you need to get lots of information and ideas together and start reaching out. London private secondary school is not about rocking up with application forms and deposit. Lots of exams and testing in English, Maths, NVR, VR.
Really time to get a list but it is not easy since kids been applying from last year to get a place for this Sept with exams and interviews.
Bus is free for school kids, they have reduced rate on Tube or train.

Thanks. Clearly I am new here and don’t know how to post even. Thanks. It sure is overwhelming. Just have to do the research and take it step by step I guess.

Yes, ideally start your own post @DelBeuthe however I really think your company needs to hire a relocation education consultant for you. London school places have pretty much been fought for via rigorous testing over the last year….bypassing that is nigh on impossible in many cases. The consultant will have contacts and know which places have spaces (but bear in mind you will have little choice at this point). On the bright side it sounds like a less academic institution will suit your kids better where more spaces will be available.

Wonder if you had to choose between Sixth Forms- would you choose Ricards or Graveney?

@DelBeuthe Do your children speak German? Have you considered the German school in Richmond?

I suspect she has sorted out schools at this point…

Would you know if things at Chesnut Grove have improved? Sorry for bringing up an old thread but news about this school is thin on the ground at MN.

Possibly looking for a space in Year 8 for DS.

Was the bullying resolved? DS would be in the year below but anyway, bullying doesn't sound good though we have a friends there who are happy in the year below, year 7 and also year 12.

My DS is just about to go onto Y8 and had a great first year at CGA. He went in knowing only a few people but soon made friends.

I can't comment on any bullying as thankfully we haven't experienced that within his friendship group. From our point of view we'd recommend it but appreciate that others will have had a different experience

Thank you for the reply. Do the boys play computer games and that kind of thing? And is there much sport at the school? DS not very sporty but likes gaming but at his current school didn't find anyone to play Fornite or even Minecraft to play with. It's been a tough Year 7 for him.

We've found at his school all the boys are so competitive and put each other down over and over again whether it's in lessons or games or any kind of activity. It's become really toxic and that's why we are looking for a move.

DS is a sporty nerd, so has friends he talks sports with but also those that game more and are slightly on the geek side.

The enrichment clubs are a good mix of sports and STEM clubs so he is like to find his tribe.

What sort of sports do they do? Thanks so much for your answers.

And does it matter if you're sporty do you think? Does it give you a kind of 'status' or is not such a big deal.

I think I read that they can do PE after school a few days a week? But maybe there are other specific games clubs.

It's making me feel more positive.

We are also looking at St Cecelia's but feel like CG is probably a better fit and seems to be on the up generally. The recent ofsted was really good too.

Do you think the teaching is good also?

I think that Football, Basketball and Netball are the main ones but I really don't think it's a school where Sports are the main thing. The school Musical is a big deal for instance.

DS seems to like most of his teachers, we haven't had any issues. His maths teacher did reach out to us to tell us about a maths scheme she thought he'd enjoy as a stretch programme. They also impressed me on a recent trip to France when DS was really homesick and they were really caring.

I don't know St Cecilia so can't help with comparisons

The trust that runs the school is fairly lacklustre and not very inspiring in its ambitions. It’s an ok school with some lovely students but others with massive behavioural issues. Quite a small site with little outdoor space and the design feels like a prison. High teacher turnover and don’t know anyone who loves it but doing reasonably well given funding and recruitment issues all schools face and not a sink school by any means.

Thanks for all of this, it’s been so nice to read! It could be so much better than where DS is now.

Ah ok, not quite so positive. Massive behavioural issues sounds worrying. That’s part of the problem at my DS’s school.

There are some kids there that have no ability to follow rules and don’t care for detentions. They boast to their friends about them. Getting into trouble makes them look cool. School doesn’t do lift about it so the problem continues on.

Is there much bullying then if there’s those sorts of behavioural issues? DS a bit vulnerable and has been bullied a bit in the past. Don’t want frying pan into fire.

@NewNoo23 could you please hint at what school is your DS at? My friend is choosing where to apply for Y7 and lives in the area. Parents in their school (not feeder for Bollingbroke) try for Graveney, and consider Bollingbroke, CG and even Hurlingham. But more children get onto Graveney than onto B.

Experience of Graveney here with three DC. My view is you can really judge a school when your kid has an issue and how school responds.

One of my kids was hardworking and studious. They did very well academically and teachers loved them. Based on their experience I would not hesitate to recommend the school.. Some amazing teachers.

Two of my kids had/have issues and I am not sure they knew how to support them. Some of teachers were amazing but general SN support was slow to establish.

So a mixed review from me.