SW London schools: info on Graveney, Chestnut, Hurlingham etc

[PForParent]

I would like to get some thoughts on secondary state schools in the Wandsworth area.

We are ruling out single-sex schools, and super-strict schools like Ashcroft.
Private schools or moving to another area are not realistic options, for a multitude of reasons.

Our priority is to find a reasonable balance between a school which is reasonably rigorous, but not to the point that it crushes kids' spirit with petty, capricious, unnecessary rules and punishments. Eg think of the scandals at Holland Park School or Mossbourne, with well-documented cases of emotional abuse.

Our impressions so far:

Graveney: seems great if we can get in with the test (we appreciate it's not easy).

Chestnut in Balham: seems less academic than Graveney but still a reasonable balance.

Ashcroft: never ever ever. Detentions for cycling to school? Please. And the supposed "catch up" if you miss a day is bs: they simply put you in a detention room, there is no teaching. Way too much homework: the kids we know who go there have given up all their other activities, have stopped reading, that's really extreme.

Hurlingham Academy in Fulham: Impressions were good. Seemed a reasonable balance. Some doubts about the school not having sixth form.

Saint Cecilia: we know many families whose children are happy there. But it seems one of the least academic, and with very little homework (the opposite problem to Ashcroft)

Harris Wimbledon: very mixed feedback. Some say it's a very good and very academic school, some say it's far too strict.

Harris Battersea: very mixed feedback, but in the opposite sense to Harris Wimbledon: some say it's good, some say it's not academic enough.

Southfields Academy: terrible impressions. The kids seemed feral. It seemed the least academic of the whole list.

When sharing your thoughts, please:

• respect our preferences. If Ashcroft or a single-sex works well for your kids, I am very happy for you, but don't try to convince me to send my kids there. If someone asks for a Chinese restaurant you don't tell them that Indian food is better :)
• please try to take into account not just your personal experience, but how someone else's experience might differ. Eg our kids are reasonably happy at their primary, but I'll be the first to say it's one of those "my way or the highway" type of schools, and it's not a good choice for anyone with any kind of special needs

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks a lot!

PS I appreciate that, on one hand, many families have been leaving London, many primary schools have been closing all over London, and this will have an effect on secondary numbers, too, while on the other hand the VAT on private schools is likely to mean more students going to state rather than private schools.

If the two effects will offset each other is anyone's guess.

I have also noticed that some past discussions on those schools got very very heated. I would like the discussion to remain civilised. Again, the question is not whether Ashcroft is a good school, but what schools you would recommend for a family who will never send their kids there (if yours are thriving there I'm very happy for you, but that's not the question).

Thanks!

Families like this send to grammar, Graveney, Bolingbroke, then probably Chestnut or St Cecilia. Or Lady M. or FBS.
Kids from H. might be less feral then Southf., but still.

What do you mean with "families like this"?

I know lots of children at both Graveney and Chestnut Grove. Both have routes in that don’t rely on distance (70 places for the academic stream for Graveney, 30 for ML and 30 for Art at Chestnut Grove). Otherwise both have tight catchment areas.

Local consensus (& the 2024 exam results) show the gap between the two schools academically is closing. Graveney has the selective stream but is a big school with a range of abilities.

They were state choice 1 & 2 for DD (she has an art place at Chestnut Grove and did very well in the Wandsworth Test) but she is going to a private school next year now. If it wasn’t for the fact that the school she is going to caters for a specialist interest/ability I wouldn’t have hesitated to send her to either school. DS who is currently in Y10 in a private school is looking at both for 6th form.

It was literally in your question
"Again, the question is not whether Ashcroft is a good school, but what schools you would recommend for a family who will never send their kids there (if yours are thriving there I'm very happy for you, but that's not the question)."

I have access to locrating, so if you want to know where people from particular primaries actually send there kids, I can post some screenshots.

Personally, kids that gave us a tour of A. were lovely, but if the child is not very confident, he might not appreciate their approach to discipline.
Ours is not a troublemaker at all but we decided against A., though it would be very convenient for our family and the kids from A. I see around Putney are well behaved.

On the basis of your observations you have already narrowed it down to Graveney or Chestnut Grove so I don't really see the point of your post.

My information is out of date as we looked in 2009. My recollection from that time was that with the exception of Graveney (which for our child would have been a hideous journey( not a single Wandsworth School offered the quality of education we were looking for: three separate sciences, a classical language and a choice of MFL.

We applied to two state schools, neither were in Wandsworth and both were single sex and cofe.

I appreciate that isn't helpful but I suspect the quality if the education offered is just as bad as ever it was.

@RosesAndHellebores A. I think used to have 3 separate sciences for half? of their pupils, but now it tends to be only around 30% (3 top sets I heard).

No classical language though. I can't recall their MFL provision. In any event, it wasn't a school we spent much time considering. I recall it being the backstop for families who didn't meet the church criteria for the church schools.

I feel like most children from faith schools in this area tend to continue in faith schools, and non-faith secondaries get everyone else.

This one is for Bolingbroke, some people succeed in securing in-year places in feeder primaries.

And St Cecilia

2009? Are you having a laugh? Sixteen years ago! You have form for looking down on posters so I take all of this with a large grain of salt.

OP, I wouldn’t touch Southfields with a barge pole. CG has improved vastly and I know many people with thriving DC there. Harris Wimbledon also seems to be performing well. The DC I see around the place are always perfectly behaved which is not the case for students or other schools in the area.

Very interesting that less than 5% of St Michael's children now attend St Cecilia's. It was very highly rated in Southfields when it opened but clearly has not lived up to expectations. I recall it had a very rocky start due to the appointment of a poor head. We had some friends with dc there in the early days and I understand there were significant issues with behaviour. It also sounded as though it was a bit of a tale of two cities with very different expectations for the two demographics in the school, the local dc v those who came in on the bus from other parts of the Borough.

It's still one of the main destinations, but a lot of children commute to LM and FBS. In terms of results LM is a no brainer.

I have stated the facts from an educational perspective, as I assessed them at the time. I doubt much has changed unless you can tell me that lots of Wandsworth schools have radically improved. I suspect not and neither have I made personal comments to be unpleasant on a personal basis.

Thank you I had read the figures incorrectly. 5%of those going to St Cecilias but 19% from that school. That makes more sense. 19% still seems low.

Harris Battersea

Harris Wimbledon

Every time I think MN has reached peak ridiculousness, here comes someone who thinks the quality of education is "bad" in SW London because of the lack of a classical language (which the vast majority of state schools dont offer given the shortage of teachers for core subjects, let alone classical ones) and on knowledge from 16years ago - before the DC in the OPs question would even have been born.

OP, if you don't want single sex, faith or private schools, I think you've answered your own questions. Probably worth getting on Balham or Tooting mums FB group and asking for current real life experiences from parents with DC at those schools.

FWIW, I grew up outside London, in a fairly affluent northern part of the country but with only one state secondary school in a 12mile radius plus a couple of private schools that were well out of reach of my parents (and who probably had never even heard of a bursury). No classical language, no triple science (we did dual award). I did 3 x MFL GCSEs, 2 x MFL A Levels and 1 x MFL degree. Not studying Latin certainly didn't harm my life choices or career. Even after discounting faith, single sex and private schools, you still have a choice of 8 different schools listed in your OP. What a great position to be in compared to probably the vast majority of all other parents in the country. You sound like a mum who values education, which counts for a lot and I'm sure your DC will have absorbed your values. Has your DC been to visit any of the schools with you? Do they have a preference?

I've lived in the area for many years and lots has changed. It takes time for the community to change its mind on school once they get a reputation. I have friends who's children have gone to Graveney and they are mostly happy but if your child has any problems then their pastoral care is not very good and neither is their SEN dept. They seem to be only interested in results.

Chesnut Grove has improved lots and i would say it's on par with Graveney. They seem to do lots of school trips which sound amazing.

My kids go to Southfields and I'm sorry that your impression was that the kids were feral. It's not like that at all. My kids are doing well there and their pastoral care is fantastic. They work closely with CAMHs and offer counselling without any waiting. Both my children have used this. It's a very mixed school and I think that puts people off but it shouldn't. Their exam results are improving year on year.

I also have friends who kids go to St Cecilias and they rate it highly too.

"It was literally in your question"
@WHM0101 Thank you, my bad. I got confused because I think you mentioned some single sex schools

@11plusinLondon That's very interesting, thank you.
May I ask what differences you have noticed between Graveney and Chestnut? I understand that Chestnut divides into sets for maths only, whereas Graveney for more subjects. Opinions are divided on this.

@WHM0101
Personally, kids that gave us a tour of A. were lovely, but if the child is not very confident, he might not appreciate their approach to discipline.

It's not a matter of confidence, but of the potential impact of certain environments. I welcome strict but fair rules but hate petty capricious ones. Just look at the cases of Holland Park Schools and Mossbourne: two supposedly outstanding schools, where emotional abuse was rampant. Thanks but no thanks.

@RosesAndHellebores
On the basis of your observations you have already narrowed it down to Graveney or Chestnut Grove so I don't really see the point of your post.

?? No, I haven't. Hurlingham and two Harris are very much potential options. St Cecilia wouldn't be the first choice but it's a potential plan B so still interested in hearing feedback on that, too.
I am not sure how relevant someone's experience in 2009 would be today, to be honest. And I couldn't care less about classical languages, that will certainly not be the main criterion driving the choice.

Tank you, that's very interesting. Thank you so much for taking the time to share this data.
Can you help me understand how to interpret it?
Does that show the students who were admitted by August? Or does that include in-year admissions, after the August admissions were finalised??