CLSG vs NLCS vs Latymer grammar school

[ayahcip]

We’re so blessed with amazing 11+ offers from the following schools:

• NLCS (with xx% fees reduction scholarship)
• City of London School for Girls (with £xK per annum scholarship)
• Habs Girls (with xx% fees reduction scholarship)
• STAHS (with xx% fees reduction scholarship)

We also very likely will get a place at the Latymer School (grammar school in Edmonton) as DD ranked within Top 40 from the Jan-25 third rank, we live in school catchment and we put Latymer as our top choice on our CAF.

Financially, we should be able to afford private school fees (we have only one child), but those money can also be used elsewhere (e.g. DD's university fees, or retirement funds, etc).

We narrowed our choices down to: NLCS, CLSG, and Latymer.

No preferences in terms of co-ed V single-sex schools, or private V grammar. Commuting time, Latymer is closest (15 mins by bus), CLSG (30 mins by overground train), and NLCS (50 mins by coach).

DC strengths are in maths and sciences subjects, and does okay in language subjects.

DC is quite academic and musical. Not sporty, and quite shy sometimes.

Wondering out of the 3 schools (NLCS, CLSG, and Latymer grammar), which one will provide DD with biggest academic opportunity and support girls confidence? Latymer has been our top choice, but now feeling swayed by NLCS and CLSG offers.

Grateful for your thoughts please 🙏🏻

@Babydoc5 thanks for your comment. Earlier this week we did a trial run of school commute, and indeed the overground train to Moorgate between 7.00-8.00am isn’t packed at all and there’re seats available throughout the journey from our house to Moorgate 😊

@Solasum thanks for your comment. Yesterday we tried the commute journey from our home to our nearer grammar school option (the Latymer School in Edmonton). Although door-to-door to Latymer it takes exactly 25 mins, but we found that at after school time (3.45pm to around after 4pm), the buses from school is really packed and there’s really no room to squeeze in the bus. As DD plays instruments, I am not sure if carrying instrument case (violin) together with her school bag and PE kits to commute in a busy bus (where there’s no seats and very packed) would be a better option compared to taking an overground train to/from Moorgate where there’re seats (although train commute will take 20-30mins more time compared to bus option to a nearer grammar school)… 🙈

Thank you @ayahcip -- it seems reasonable. Was there anything mentioned about 6th form plans? Now 6th form is in the ex-museum of London, but if the construction is to go ahead, they would presumably move back to the main building or elsewhere.

@ayahcip empty train sounds better than crushing onto a bus, I agree

How crowded is the Overground at home time? As you observed with Latymer, there can be difference between conditions at 07:30 and at 16:00. And would you expect your DD to have after school music on some days, so 17:00?

Hi @LoZpy - I asked CLSG just now and below is their response FYI:

Dear Mrs XXX

Thank you for your email.

To reassure you, plans are already under way to secure what will replace the Museum of London Space – likely to be a more ambitious space and better accommodate some joint teaching with CLS. Museum of London was always intended a ‘stepping stone’ to this. It may be a future developer that accommodates us within the new site, or we obtain a completely new space.

I do hope this helps but should you have any further questions please do ask.

Hello @user149799568 - On way home, overground Great Northern Rail trains will depart from Moorgate, and Moorgate is the first stop of the line. Trains during weekdays at school finish time runs twice an hour (roughly every 30mins). Given it’s the first station (and overground rail train has more space compared to local bus), so presumably the chance of DD getting a seat is higher 🙈🤞

I take Great Northern from Moorgate regularly. I'd say if you went in half term it's noticeably quieter just FYI. Same with Mon /Fri compared to mid week.
The train is great but often delayed. Especially in the mornings. Not always a lot but enough that you'd need to allow contingency for a school commute.

@Whyherewego - great point about contingency plan when trains delay (and if that’s the case, journey to/from school from ours will be horrid, so might need to drive or get an Uber) 😭

DD’s current primary school is 5 mins walk from home, we never thought how lucky we were until just now that we have to think about commuting farther to secondary 🤯

Driving to the City is impossible these days I'm afraid. The advent of LTNs and traffic measures mean that you'd spend a long time in traffic. !

As an update - we attended NLCS offer holders’ event last Friday. Although we were blown away by everything the school has to offer and feel incredibly fortunate to be offered a place and a music scholarship from NLCS, we found the commute (50mins+ on a school coach, x2 a day, x5 a week, x7 years) too much for DD (who unfortunately get car sick easily especially for a long car journey). Also, when we did a trial car commute to NLCS, we found the traffic from our house to school horrific, and as DD would have to stay after school for music rehearsals (as part of music scholar’s R&Rs) a few days per week, this made commuting to NLCS a lot of hard work (and we have no plan to move house). So we have decided to decline NLCS’s offer.

So we are now down to the Latymer School (grammar school) vs CLSG.

We tried commuting to Latymer via a local bus; on the way to school it’s very easy (max 25 mins door to door), however the journey home around school finish time was somewhat unpleasant. The bus (W6) was extremely packed (not just Latymer pupils but there’re so many local people on the bus), and the frequency of the bus is not very reliable. There’s really no room to stand (let alone space for DD’s instrument case, PE kits, school bag, etc)…

From school commuting POV, wondering if it is easier to take overground Northern Railway to/from Moorgate (recognising that if trains got cancelled it would be very hard to get to CLSG as it will require bus+tube multi stops journey), or is the shorter (but unpleasant) local bus ride to/from Latymer in Edmonton (very rough area) a better option? We have until 9am this coming Wednesday to decide 🤦‍♀️

DD loves Maths and Science - Latymer seems to focus on STEM so that’s great.

DD is passionate about music - CLSG (and its music provision) is top-notch and probably better than Latymer.

DD attended a small all-through private girls school, so CLSG may be an easier transition? But Latymer can give real-world experience for her to learn from friends from more diverse socioeconomic and family background (but CLSG has great diversity in terms of ethnicity too). So hard to decide! 🙈

I'd go Latymer. CLSG commute is a pain and girls will come from all over London. This means that friendship groups can be really dispersed. This has been an issue for my North London boys who go to a school in London but near Essex. They have got friends in Essex and its really annoying to see each other out of school. Requires driving and I don't have a car so is expensive Ubers etc.
Ive also heard that CLSG has a fair cohort of very high net worth girls who can be quite snobby/wealth ostentatious and this may mean your DD starts comparing or feeling left out. But this is just hearsay as I don't have a DD at the school

At some point you as a family are going to have to make the decision knowing there is no certainty whichever you choose but also more than likely whichever one you go for will probably work out great

lots of people have given an opinion on this thread including myself but no one can make the decision for you

apart from the academic outcome you are now choosing between two very different options

I would say if she goes to Latymer which is definitely not the best area - could she not use an Uber to travel home if need be? All the saved fees could fund a few of those

Hi @ayahcip . I'm a current Latymer parent. On the friendship point, they do tend to be quite spread around London too. Dd1 has friends in Muswell Hill, Hackney, Walthamstow and Enfield. It's fine but they don't hang out as much at the weekend as DD2 who is at the local comp. CLSG may have an even wider spread though. I think if you're in the leafy part of Enfield though (N21), there seem to be quite a gang that live round there.
The buses can be a pain. We live further away from you and Dd started off getting the bus (not W6) in Y7 but quickly switched to overland/tube in the afternoons as the buses were so busy. I guess they will always have other people to travel with though so it seems intimidating but actually they get used to it pretty quickly. Also lots of others with instruments too. It is a very musical school.
No real advice but dd1 went to Latymer not knowing anyone else there and had been very happy, despite being on the quieter side.

Make sure you let us know what you decide!

Hi @FlakyShark thanks for thinking of us!

After very careful consideration, we have decided to accept CLSG’s offer, and released Latymer (grammar)’s (and NLCS’s, Habs Girls’, and STAHS’s) offer to other DCs who’re waiting for a place at these amazing schools.

Considering daily commute (and the fact we have no plan to move house in a near future), we decided to decline offer from NLCS, Habs Girls and STAHS.

DD is our only child, and coming from a small private girls school, we feel a transition from her current school to CLSG will be easier (hopefully). Financial commitment for the next 7 years is a big consideration for us, but we feel that an investment in DD’s rounded education remains our top priority. More importantly, after CLSG’s school visit (offer holders event), DD said she loves the school’s environment and she can picture herself coming to CLSG every day and making a lot of new friends. Latymer grammar school is of course an incredible school and we feel so fortunate to be allocated a place here, but we feel the school seems to focus a lot more on STEM and we aren’t sure if they will be able to provide as broad subject options as CLSG (in case in the future DD finds her passion in humanity or creative art subjects…). It’s a tough choice, but we think CLSG is the best fit for DD at this time :)

Well done for deciding.
The Latymer was lace that will become available will absolutely thrill a family who are on the waiting list, and quite possibly don’t have a private option available to them.

For NLCS what were the timings for the offer holder days please?

Wonder where you've decided at the end? We are looking at CLSG as well. Hope your daughter has had a great start in her first senior year!

Tricky one. I don't have DC at any of the schools and, if you can afford private, it should probably be down to your dd which feels like the best fit for her.

The commute to CSLG is quite tough yes, but on the flip side, one can't ignore the fact that Latymer is in a fairly rough part of town, unfortunately.

I'm far from being a hysterical parent, and lots of kids attend Latymer with no problems whatsover - but I'd rather a tube ride from central London than navigating buses from Edmonton tbh.

Have you decided which school your DD will go to?