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!

My dc will start at Harris Wimbledon in September, so I can't say much yet. I would like to see these statistics, because 1) it is a fairly new school (opened in 2018) and 2) Merton apparently does not disclose all stats like Wandsworth (it is what I heard, but I don't know for sure. We went in the open day, we liked it and we know parents with children there, but that's as far as our knowledge goes for now. I like that they teach Latin too, but this is a personal choice.
The reason we chose it is because there were a limited number of acceptable options: Graveney you need a high score in the WT, which my dc didn't quite get it high enough. But we also felt it was a bit too big and intimidating. I wasn't hugely keen on the headteacher either.
The other options would be the usual St Cecilia, Chestnut Grove and Ashcroft. The latter we dismissed straight away as we really didn't like it. Harris we got a music place and St Cecilia was dismissed due to the poor results. What I heard about it was that pastoral care is good, but it's a school more focused in the "average students", so if your child is bright or more to the bottom, they aren't so good. Chestnut Grove would be a matter of catchment, but as we put Harris as a higher choice we weren't on the waiting list.
Like others said, no school is perfect, but I really hope we made the right choice...

The state I quoted are published for all schools

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk

For further insight you need to look at individual websites

stats!

One thing that I would praise Graveney for is their 6th form results. They have lower entry requirement vs a lot of schools but dc still do well.

I have friends with dc who went to Harris schools or worked in one, not the Wimbledon one. They are quite marmite as some find them too strict & bad with SEN but some sites certainly do a lot of intervention to help the GCSE cohort which my friends appreciated.

It's very easy to get swallowed up by the secondary school obsession in London particularly with many slogging their guts out for a grammar place or a private place. A bright child with invested parents is likely going to do well in the majority of schools.

I know of families with children in CG and Bolingbroke, both seem excellent schools and the kids are doing well. The parents I know are happy with their choice. My childnren have been/are at Graveney. Mine have thrived there, despite coming from a fairly small primary - it’s a big school but split with the juniors largely on one side and seniors in the other. The 6th form has been excellent and very supportive (mine have completed/are completing/will chose 4 A levels, all STEM based). Very much a mixed community but I like that. It is true if you’re child is academic they will definitely thrive but as far as I’m aware (I haven’t checked in years) the less academic pupils still achieve better results than some other local secondaries. For what it’s worth I come from the lower social-economic end.
Realistically I think most schools have some problems but if your child is supported at home they will do well in the choices you are leaning towards.

@Mnjmnj Realistically I think most schools have some problems but if your child is supported at home they will do well in the choices you are leaning towards.

Academically, yes. I am strongly convinced that family background is one of the most important factors driving how well or not kids do at school. Which is why the great results of grammar and private schools must be taken with a truckload of salt: they select kids who'd have done well anywhere.

In terms of social life and emotional wellbeing, however, no, not in all schools would kids who are well supported at home do well. An environment where bullying or emotional abuse are rampant would take its toll. Some of the stories told by ex students of Mossbourne and Holland Park school are chilling.

I have read most of the very long thread on Mossbourne and emotional abuse; one comment which stuck with me was that it is easier to organise tutoring if a school isn't great academically, than to organise and pay for psychological support if the school allows emotional abuse (not all that damage can be undone). And if you can't afford tutoring you're even less likely to be able to afford a child psychologist (and good luck with the NHS)

The grammar school results come out the same time as the other secondary (ie national offers day). If you're in the area where OP seems to be (based on the schools being mentioned) then the only grammar options are single sex

@Mnjmnj "Realistically I think most schools have some problems but if your child is supported at home they will do well in the choices you are leaning towards."

For much parents support their children at home, if the schools are not supporting them and ignoring them, like is the case at some, because they want to get rid of certain students do not meet their criteria and didn't want them in their school in 1st place, is difficult they can thrive in an unwelcoming center. These sadly happens a lot in Academies and in particular with the most vulnerable children.

@77summers Yes. What I meant was:

if the school isn't great academically, but doesn't treat your child badly, you can compensate

if the school is good academically, but treats your child badly, it is much harder (when at all possible) to compensate for that

we haven't had the full effect of the private fees increase yet, the fees that families are currently paying include the VAT minus some concessions but those fees were calculated and announced to the parents before the Oct budget where the employers NI and pension contribution increase were announced. It's less clear whether the Business relief loss, has already been integrated in the fees, I don't think so as I believe it's was not firm at that time.

in the private side, have you looked at LPS and Thames Christian ? they seem to have a different take, and some kids with SEN seem to be doing really well at both

Yes, these stats are all an indication, but they do not define what the school will be specifically for your child.
Again, Graveney is a much larger school, has been going for a lot longer than Harris and has the selective stream, which inevitably puts their stats higher.
Looking at all the available schools, we thought Harris Wimbledon was the best option for our child. This is not to say it would be for another child with a different profile or socio-economic background.
At the end of the day, your feel for the school is also a huge factor isn't it, so you just have to go to all the open days.

There was an article about Harris Wimbledon this morning in the DM.

I’ve been exploring this website and am amazed by the wealth of information available. As a new parent applying for secondary schools, I’ve come across some details about Graveney School but would appreciate info on how its system works.

1. Class Allocation
2. If my child secures a place through the proximity criterion (rather than the Wandsworth Test), will they be placed in a separate class from those who qualified via the test?
3. Or are all 280 Year 7 pupils mixed together, with classes formed randomly?
4. Grouping by Ability
5. If classes are not random, how are pupils grouped? Is it solely based on the Wandsworth Test, or do SATs results also play a role?
6. Does the school use streaming (general ability-based classes) or setting (subject-specific ability groups)?
7. Movement Between Groups
8. If classes are streamed (e.g., higher, middle, or lower ability), can students move between groups if their performance improves?
9. Support for High Achievers is this streaming?
10. Are there additional opportunities (e.g., extra classes, clubs, or accelerated learning) for academically strong pupils?
11. Other Details

Thank you so much !!

I went to have a look now and it seems typical DM tabloid sensationalism. I will ask a parent I know some more details about it, as it seems the article is only listening to the mother's side.. Who live streams an argument with the school? Surely you might film as evidence (questionable), but live stream? I'm not surprise the school took action...

Apparently the mum has a TikTok account, it's not the first incident involving her and she was trying to bully the school. But of course the DM did not publish the school or the teacher's side of the story... Who live streams a visit to the school? It's madness...

@PatientVesta I think locking down is a bit wild but the parent seems wild too.

@Camisqui

1. Class Allocation - If your child pass the Wandsworth test with high score, then in theory you get put into one of the extension classes.
2. If my child secures a place through the proximity criterion (rather than the Wandsworth Test), will they be placed in a separate class from those who qualified via the test? - Most definately will end up either of the middle set, Enrichement or lower set Endevour, they mention that do check SATs results and profile information form the primaries, to do select forms to be in one of the other.
3. Or are all 280 Year 7 pupils mixed together, with classes formed randomly? No, there are 3 kind of forms, Extension, Enrichment and Endevour.
4. Grouping by Ability - sort of when they are given the form, by the name you know in which area you have been put down.
5. If classes are not random, how are pupils grouped? Is it solely based on the Wandsworth Test, or do SATs results also play a role? - the top sets are based on Wandsworth test. The other take into consideration the Sats and reports from primaries, or at least that's why they mention on the paperwork you get.
6. Does the school use streaming (general ability-based classes) or setting (subject-specific ability groups)? Streaming at the start with, it seems later on, thery may be grouping by ability in certain subjects.
7. Movement Between Groups - some children that start in extension can be moved to other sets, they do randon test on the 1st term and after the half term of February, there is movement between forms.
8. If classes are streamed (e.g., higher, middle, or lower ability), can students move between groups if their performance improves? - In theory yes, or they can also moved across the same set, but to a class that may be better "suited" as they put it.
9. Support for High Achievers is this streaming? - Nothing that I am aware of, there isn't a Gifted and Talented policy, and if the are more able, I guess they will be put on the extension classes, that's the theory, the practice is another story.
10. Are there additional opportunities (e.g., extra classes, clubs, or accelerated learning) for academically strong pupils? - there are sports and music clubs, some science and computing clubs, but not for acceleration academically speaking.

It because apparently she entered the school by following some children, so it was an unauthorised person in the premises, and she was being very aggressive. So the school had to act and also locked the kids in their room as a precaution. It could be that they school was a bit OTT, but I think the mum sounds like a nightmare…

It would worry me that someone can just walk in after kids, there should be staff on the gates...

not disputing that she sounds cuckoo

100%! I think there is a lot more to this story than hearsay and what the daily mail says...

@camisqui I would add that opinions vary on whether Graveney can be a good choice if your child is not in one of the top groups.
Some say that it's really like two schools in one, and the bottom groups are a tougher crowd and don't do as well.
Other people disagree, eg pointing out at the progress report and other metrics, and feel that even the bottom groups make decent progress at Graveney.

These are, simplifying, the opinions I have heard. I do not know enough to have an informed opinion myself