GRAVENEY / Cardignal Vaughan / Sutton Grammar / Wilsons

[lost7in3thoughts]

Hi,
could I possibly have some feedback on sport and extracurricular activities from the parents who have DS in the following schools:

Graveney
Cardignal Vaughan
Sutton Grammar
Wilson's

My DS is a keen footballer (less so keen on rugby) and enjoys sport in general so trying to gather first-hand experience information to help me make decision on where he could fit in better :-). Thank you in advance!

I suppose you're unlikely to get someone who knows all four schools well.

I know Graveney and Wilsons reasonably well. They have an intake of c150 and c180 boys respectively so a boy has to be genuinely good to get in the first xi.

As with all state schools, there's not much sports budget to go round, so there's a strong focus on the first team (unlike the best resourced private schools where almost anyone who wants to play can). I'd probably rate the Wilson's provision as stronger, 10/10 at first xi level and maybe 6/10 below that. Graveney might be more like, say, a 9 and a 4?

oh, sorry, and Wilson's pitches are incomparably better (much better also than those of Sutton GS).

Thank you very much @puffyisgood, very informative.

For other readers - perhaps I did not phrase my question correctly :-(. I was sort looking for feedback from the parents that have their DS in any of those schools, i didn't expect one parent to know all four schools well 😅

right.

also relevant - Wilson's has a special football aptitude test, with a bunch of 'football scholars' recruited every year. kids have to be genuinely good to get one of these. generally the kids who get in via this route will form the bedrock of the school first xi.

CVMS has sports pitch miles away from the school. You can only get in if you’re a practising Catholic. Hopefully someone will come along with more info.

Have you looked at Kingsdale? Sports scholarships and they recently won the ESFA U15 A Team, U15 B Team and U14 B Team PlayStation Schools’ Cup.

Huge amount of sport on offer including archery and horse-riding, and big extra curricular offer for the non-sporty.

No catchment so lottery entry or via a sport or music place.

DD went to Graveney 6th form - it was excellent

Thank you all for your kind replies.

Sutton has massive sports complex in cheam - 9 teams plaing at the same time. They don't do rugby. The rest is up to the child. The issue with any of them is your DS will have to sit and pass two rounds of tests, not only pass but be in the top 300 to get into willsons or sutton grammar. 7500 sat the stage one test. we are doing a lot of praying