Advice on local GDST schools: Wimbledon/Putney/Streatham and Clapham

[needwine1]

Hi all,

We’re based in Clapham and a similar distance to all three of the above schools. GDST schools appeal as they’re not as expensive as other private options, plus my daughter would prefer single sex.

She’s fairly bright within her cohort (top 5-6 in the year in both Maths and English but not St Paul’s/JAGS level, I wouldn’t have thought. When she did standardised tests on ATOM, she came out with scores in the mid 120s, slightly lower in Reasoning as she doesn’t do that in her current school. She’s really consistent academically across the board, pretty sporty and loves dancing, swimming and gymnastics.

Could also consider Sydenham, although that’s a bit more of a trek.

TIA.

Streatham is easier to get into than Putney and Wimbledon. They have different 11 plus exams and often girls get into one and not the other. I wouldn't rule out JAGs - again, it can be random as who gets in where and wouldn't say it is much 'above' PH and WHS.
Lots of gymnastics etc at all. WHS has a swimming pool- not sure about Sand CH.
I'd look round them all as you may well have a feeling which may suit your daughter more.

What much lower are the GDST schools tuition fee? JAGS seems charges lower fee than WHS but I'm not sure.

What 11+ prep has she done? Is she still using Atom? Did she get 120s straight away with Atom? If yes, then she is in a really good position and you could consider the more academic schools.

Thanks for that.

I’ve also heard that Streatham is easier to get into but wouldn’t want her to be bored. She’s not someone who’s motivated innately to push herself; she’s competitive and pushes herself in comparison to her peers, especially if she perceives them as doing better than her, if that makes sense?

Though wouldn’t want her bumping along at the bottom of PHS/WHS : hopefully with ss scores in the 120 that wouldn’t be the case?

Hi very little so far but we will be getting her a tutor in y5.

You are worry about school choice too early. Can just try sit all schools above next year and then decide when offer comes, via the process you and your DD will know more about the school culture and fit.

You have plenty of time and her scores are already high! I would aim for more academic schools tbh. For putney they say aim for above 116 on Atom and she is above that already and it seems like you have not even started to really prep. If she does prep, she will probably score in the high 130s after a few months.

The Atom scores are also adaptive to the year group. And practice score is not the same scale as the one to do the mock.

I am sorry, I do not quite understand your second sentence "And practice score is not the same scale as the one to do the mock." Please could you elaborate?

And yea, I know the atoms cores are adaptive to the year group, but if she is doing well in this year group, she will surely do well next year as she continues to learn?

There is practice SAS and mock exam SAS, I believe these scores are normalised by Atom differently. So most reliable measurement is probably try atom mock exam on different schools (grammar and private) and sample the score range.

"if she is doing well in this year group, she will surely do well next year as she continues to learn"

I agree, just saying the SAS score in Y4 maybe subject to a higher level of sample bias. In other words, there will be more high ability children who takes 11+ serious signed up for Atom at year 5 than year 4.

PHS and WHS are very nice/good schools and full of bright sporty girls so that could be a very good fit indeed given what you said about her.
@SamPoodle123 I would not rely much on Atom scores to judge the "academicness" of a child, as it can be very very misleading/inconsistent. Think a proper paper mock test gives more of an idea of where a child sit.

Ah yes, true. I did not think of it like this, there will be more bright dc joining in year 5 so SAS marks may change.

I agree, PHS and WHS are very nice schools. We almost sent our dd to Putney, but she decided she wanted G&L. What I meant to the other poster, was don't just assume your dd does not have a chance at a more academic school (if that is what she might want). At the start of my 11+ journey, I almost got discouraged by some parents talking about how highly academic the schools we were considering and it made me wonder if we were reaching for the stars. I used Atom to help judge where we should apply to and it worked well for us (dd got into all the schools she applied to). W out using Atom to get an idea I would have really had no clue, as our state school was not helpful. And how could I know how well dd was doing compared to kids out of the school.

But yes, the scores in Atom mocks can jump so it is hard to be sure....but then again some dc can do well on mocks and nerves get the better of them during the actual exams...you can just never know.

I am curious to see how the results for G&L and alike will be once the first cohort of consortium atom based will do their GCSEs. Thinking there might be a drop in English scores notably where no creative writing or proper written comprehension is assessed.

You will be surprises that at GCSE level the public result difference by the means of intake selection format is not much. The most explanation factor is still how selective it is no matter what the selection methods are.

For example, QE boys is one round only all multiple choice no creative writing or written comprehension. It is GCSE English language is 86% 8-9, with this compared to Tiffin girls, whose intake has a significant portion focus on writing and comprehension in the second result, the GCSE English language is 83% 8-9...

Not sure tbh. However, my dd also got into schools that had written comprehension and creative writing. As did some of the other dc we know going to G&L. So I assume many can write well enough ;)

Yea agree with @PreplexJ , GCSE's are not that difficult for a bright dc with good teaching whether they are at a state comp in the NE or a west London private they will achieve almost the same grade which is how it should be.

Our DD has just gone through the 11+ process, so sharing in case useful (we considered the 3 of them, applied to 2 of them and chose WHS against other offers, including of schools of similar academic standing).

Location is important - you mention the distance, but I would also consider frequency of transport and options (i.e. what happens if there is a train strike or a similar problem). Also, which location might be preferable for your DD when older (whether in a residential area or in a town centre).

Academic results are important but not the be all and end all. The vibe / ethos is quite important and there is substitute for visiting the schools. PHS and WHS usually get grouped together but, for us, they were actually quite different - we eventually decided not to apply to PHS (limiting the number of exams was also a factor) despite being very local to it. We have friends that loved PHS, so very much personal views but it reinforces my point that you need to focus on what works for you.

SCHS is usually referred to as easier to get an offer from and we did have it as one of the so-called 'back up' options (a bit of a horrible term, but meaning basically that we would have been happy for DD to go there but there were other preferable options). The fact that it was easier to get an offer from seemed confirmed by the fact that she got a (rather sizeable) academic scholarship. But it is important to note that different schools use different selection processes

• WHS's first round only covers VR and NVR - two of my DD's friends, strong all rounders with offers to other academic schools (including PHS) did not pass that first round (which is quite time pressured). So, if you are applying to WHS that is worth considering in terms of the prep.
• PHS and SCHS use adaptive testing on English, Maths and Reasoning... so worth using Atom to familiarise your DD with this type of tests. But I would take the Atom advice on what is required to enter each school with a pinch of salt (or two!)
• All 3 schools have some form of interview / group exercise. WHS's second round is long and very much focused on assessing creativity and logical thinking (with elements of maths and English thrown into it). PHS is a mix of English, Maths, group exercises and individual interview. SCSH has a group exercise at the very beginning of the selection process (for all) and creative writing but no interview.
• Sports are different - WHS has a swimming pool (the others don't), PHS does lacrosse and seems to favour specialisation is what the girls want (a friend with a girl that is very strong in gymnastics was told that they were happy for the child to focus only on that). WHS and PHS do rowing, SCHS doesn't.
• Language options are different (if you come from a bilingual family, that may play a role).
• All have a strong extra-curricular offer (another things worth asking about, including on the dancing front)

Fundamentally, they are all good schools and quite a few people apply to all of them and many to at least 2 of them. As said above, it depends on what you feel is best for your DD.

PS Fees for WHS and PHS are very similar (some £500 higher) to JAGS. I think that SCHS is lower.

Thank you all: so helpful!

SCHS- can anyone shed any light as to why they failed the ISI inspection? It says it was a safeguarding issue and I'm sure they've sorted it but slightly concerning....
SCHS- inspection

I am not sure what the issue was. But the head left the school at the end of the academic year just a month before the unannounced inspection. He went to Immanuel College in Bushey and I have heard from my sister-in-law that the safeguarding is a huge issue there and many parents complaining about the new head who is quite "odd". The acting head of SCHS had only been in place for a month so I feel sorry for him that he had to face that so soon into the role.