Secondary school options for girls’ schools, advice welcome

[LovingPanda]

Hi everyone,

I’m starting to look into secondary school options for my daughter (currently in Year 5) and would really appreciate any advice or experiences.

We’re not religious and grammar school probably isn’t for us. We’re leaning towards girls’ schools, as we feel that environment might suit her best. We recently looked at Wimbledon High School GDST and really liked their ethos and approach.

I’d love recommendations for good girls’ schools (state or independent), plus any tips on the admissions process or things you wish you’d known earlier.

Also, if anyone has experience getting into a Catholic school without being religious, I’d really value hearing how that worked in practice.

Thanks so much 🙂

I cant reccomend a school as i don't live near you (assuming you live near the school you mentioned) I live in middle of no where so I didn't have too many options for my son without travel being difficult. I took him to view 2 schools so he could have a comparison. I also took advice from people with children in both schools. We decided to go with our catchment school even though it hasnt performed well as speaking to parents who have older and younger children in the school they were really impressed with how it was changing and how the new head teacher had really turned things around. It also ment out of a class of 22 in yr6 my son would have 18 of those children going with him. Hes made new friends as hes a social kid but I know this has really helped some of friends who struggled more with the high-school transition. Not everything should be about money but also our other option for school was £800 a school year for the bus and we felt that money could be better spent on other things (maybe even a tutor if he needed one for GCSEs) if this school had been amazing yes we would have gone for it but their high grade gcse score was lower and a couple of mums told me if they had to choose now they would have picked the catchment school.
In regards to a catholic school i went to one my mum did know the local vicar so got him to write a letter to back up my application, I went to school with kids who had never set foot in church so it maybe possible. Something to think about thought if you aren't really religious we used to do a mini mass maybe once a week and definitely there was always prayers in assemblies etc....... also I don't think they allow to drop RE/RS as a gcse so its another subject to study. I actually moved to another school for my GCSEs so cant remeber exactly (also it was a long time ago 🙃) so someone else might beable to correct me if im wrong. Not sure if this helps at all but good luck with which ever school you decide on.

Our DD is at WHS (Y9) and we are (and, crucially, she is) very happy. It was our top choice on account of the ethos and approach. For us, the girls' vs co-ed issue was not key (found that the ethos and vibe was more important) and we also really liked KGS.

Depending on location, you may want to consider other GDST schools - worth noting that there are some commonalities but approach and "vibe" can be quite different.

On the non-private front, we have friends with girls at Ursulines and they are happy.

if you go down the private route, and with your daughter in Y5, I would strongly advice you to ensure that, at least, she is familiar with the entry tests... which can be quite different depending on the school (eg. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning for WHS first stage vs iSEB for SCHS) - you might consider a tutor or to do at home (there are lots of online resources and books that can be really helpful).
Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

Maybe have a look at Ricards and Putney High, but I think Wimbledon High has a good reputation and I think now has some links with KCS.

Where do you live and how far you wanting your daughter to travel?
Boarding or not?
What sport does she want to play? Lacrosse or hockey?
Is she musical or not?
Depends also on how bright she is some of these schools are tricky to get into probably need a back up school too.

Yr 5 you will need to start prepping her if she isn’t in a prep school - 11 plus is hard work

If your budget can manage it and you are looking at all through schools I would try and move her for year 6 so that she can move up to seniors with her cohort. Easier to gain entry at year 6 point and she will already be comfortable with the school.