London grammar and private senior school entry 2025 part 2

[CruCru]

Here is the new thread for when part 1 is full.

It did take a few months and a bit of an effort though.

I wanted to share my thoughts on the SHHS offers holders event today. My daughter and her friends found it quite boring, which was disappointing. Unlike other schools we've visited, there weren't any activities planned for the children, making it hard for them to engage.
The tour was same like open day which didn’t help in getting a clear picture of the school. Overall, it didn't sway my family at all in favor of choosing SHHS.
Has anyone else felt the same way?

Thanks for sharing. We have offer holders days tomorrow and Wednesday and both schools have said they are putting taster classes on and overall have appeared to be using this as a ‘sell’ for the school with the comms so far.

I wonder if SHHS has confidence they will get the girls regardless based on applications and offers they have being seen as a more academic school….

I think Surbiton were the only one to do some sort of activity when my DCs did 11plus! I think DD found it 'boring' so they probably can't win!
I suspect a lot of schools don't have spare classrooms or teachers to be able to put on taster lessons and they're probably quite subjective as will depend a lot on the subject and teacher?

I had hoped the school would create a more engaging experience for the girls today, allowing them to connect with the warm, welcoming aspects of the community. Instead, the event focused on a rather dry presentation about academic success, the myriad of clubs available, and the achievements of older students. While these topics are undoubtedly important, many of us have already heard them during the open day. Today, I was looking for something more meaningful that would resonate with the children. It seems the school is more concerned with conveying its rigorous standards, which may contribute to its reputation for being tough, rather than fostering a sense of belonging and excitement among the new students.

That’s such a shame. Was it top of your list and now slipped? Or was it a maybe which is now definitely a no?

We are going to QCL in the next few days and their booklet, addressed to the girls, states - ‘Take part in Dance, Science and Italian activities, and who knows, you may be joined by your new best friend!’ So the expectation is that it will be engaging (and hopefully have some good cake as they have as the last times we have been there…)

@Namechangenancy99 It was definitely one of the schools we seriously considered. We are also planning to visit Queens, which has quickly become my DD’s favorite. I have a feeling it will be challenging to persuade her to change her mind, especially if she has a great time tomorrow.
We have couple more in the end of the week but they not top of our list for logistics reasons. I was hoping to realise the offers after today , but now totally confused.

Oh I would have shared your reaction to this completely. They’ve all covered the hard sell at this point imo - show us what we can’t see in your prospectus now, thanks! Hope your next visit gives you some clarity.

Our visit today basically started by saying you no doubt already know our results and success stories at this point, so let’s just focus on whether this would be the school that keeps your kids happy and fulfilled for the next seven years, because that’s a long time to be even slightly miserable. And they were totally right - I’ve been through numbers and where their leavers have gone and so forth! I can read all that on the website so yes please tell me why my child would be happy here.

There wasn’t really child mixing today but they had brought in scholars from the older years to mix with the children considering their offers, and gave time for them to answer questions both to the larger group like on an open day but also just chatting one to one, when suddenly my own DC did have questions despite not having any when everyone was listening, so I think that was a wise choice.

We are down to two with one more visit but it’s not till Saturday. I fear this week will feel like a year!

Interestingly, I hear from various sources lately that SHHS is not that academically strong anymore and many girls move to other schools. To the point that I am not sure we will be applying to it. This may be very one sided and I have not yet done any research, but wonder why they are not making any effort to ensure top talent chooses them over others.

@Buru I respectfully disagree; academics are indeed a strong point for SHHS. They consistently rank among the top schools in league tables, surpassing Habs, Putney or Notting Hill. The academics is surely their strong feature.

This is very reassuring to hear

I think SHHS is unarguably still academically strong, but I agree with others that it gave a very cold vibe, not at all warm and welcoming. All about how amazing and high achieving they are and no attempt to make DD feel she will fit in and be happy. That's why we're choosing a school that's slightly lower in the pecking order but feels so happy and warm. Several other families from my DD's school feel the same. People are still making up their minds but it will be interesting to see how many take up their SHHS offers this year.

I’m jumping ahead a bit to GCSEs here but JAGS does three sciences as standard (if I’ve understood correctly) which I’m finding a bit off putting. I think my DD is likely to be more focused on humanities and my concern is that it limits other subject choices and forces a non-science child down a science route. Does anyone have any experience of this or views? We otherwise really like the school but would prefer the flexibility to choose two sciences!

pretty much all schools will make you do three sciences, either in a triple option block or a double option block. The days of just being able to do Biology are long gone!

A lot of academic schools will let you drop one science these days. If you look at GCSE results, the number sitting maths and English ( ie full cohort) is often more than the science numbers if only slightly. Certainly at both my DC's schools they could drop one.

Double option I don’t mind, it’s the thought of three subjects “spaces” being taken up and compulsory. If they did the double option that would be fine but I don’t think they do. Thank you for the thought. The idea of combined science is indeed a bit alien to me!

Did anyone go to the Latymer Upper evening tonight? We had to miss it at the last minute (frustratingly), and I am interested to know what it was like and what colour they added to the curriculum change?

We also couldnt make the Dulwich new head talk tonight. Anyone that went that can shed some light on anything we missed please? Thank you

Hi all

I know I’ve been absent for a while - we were on holiday last week and I had shocking WiFi (and was staying with a lot of friends). We are doing some offer holders’ days this week and plan to accept one place and release the others by the end of the week.

Re Sciences - my school only did single or double balanced science (meaning all three sciences over two GCSEs). I really wish I had been able to do three separate sciences because I did Science A levels at a separate sixth form college and felt at a real disadvantage to those who had been able to do the three sciences. It meant more of a jump when I got to A level.

@wonkymonkey the double award in science is an option at JAGS. They can choose this in Y10.

Thank you! That’s really good to know :)

Any parents of girls at Emanuel? If you have a confident but sensitive, creative perky girl, into her sports but not an A type. Would love to hear of your DDs experiences.
The trip on Insta to Naples looked amazing.
We like the school and seen many positive posts from MN with DS. How do DDs find it?

Not to free up the 10th spot for a different subject, mind you. If you drop to double science at JAGS, or indeed any of the local private schools, you take 9 gcses.

Wow @Llamasarellovely that’s a worry! There does seem to be a slight bias towards sciences at the most selective schools.

Certainly at my DCs schools if they only take 2 sciences they take something else instead. Definitely doesn't result in less GCSEs!