The Sutton Grammar School Experience

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Hi to you All, this website has been invaluable in helping prepare my son for the grammar school tests and a thankyou to all for your informative posts.

We are thrilled our DS has been offered a place at SGS and I am calling all parents of past and present pupils for their opinion on a few questions:

-does the school offer pre Year 7 induction 'get to know each other' days?
-Discipline within the school. I've heard it's very strict.
-Which sports does the School compete in, which take precedence and how seriously do they take their sport in general?
-quantity of homework at Year 7
-likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses of the school

Any opinion or experience regarding SGS would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

[999 mum]

Hi,

My DS is in his second year at SGS and is having the time of his life there.

does the school offer pre Year 7 induction 'get to know each other' days?

There was the open day for new boys (July in his time) where two classes are invited in at a time.
A barbecue in the evening (with parents)
3 days of sports in the summer holidays (your choice as to which days to attend as there were different sports)
an afternoon in school for the new boys before the start of term
(This info was for a 2011 start - so might have changed by now)

-Discipline within the school. I've heard it's very strict.

Haven't come across any issues.

-Which sports does the School compete in, which take precedence and how seriously do they take their sport in general?

A football school
There are lots of sports clubs after school.
Lots of activity at Northey (sports ground) on Saturday mornings.

-quantity of homework at Year 7

Not much - not set to a timetable, only when relevant/appropriate to what is being covered in class

-likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses of the school

pastoral care is good.
teachers will use phone or email to contact you if necessary.
Email address of form teacher was given out to parents at beginning of year 7
Website could be a lot more informative
Reports don't give national levels but grades (but they do let you know how many children in the class got each grade)
Admissions Lady used to be on here. (Now at Graveney) - new one doesn't seem to be one here.

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

A massive thankyou to 999 mum for your reply.
Everything I've heard about the school is positive, and your comments are really helpful.
You get a feeling for a school, and when I visited It felt like the right school for my son. Of the 3 grammars available it was my first choice, My son preferred Wilsons only because of his peers, inspired by parents selecting it as 1st choice.
Wilsons obviously a great school, but I really could not understand why it is so clearly the preferred choice amongst everyone. Can anyone enlighten me why this is so?
Results are comparable between schools so is it based on reputation?
My DS is not a total brain-box but prefers a mixture of stimulation, particularly sport and I got the feeling SGS whilst achieving fantastic results offers a more rounded enviroment.

[panicattack]

I'm not so sure that Wilson's is always first choice above Sutton. Funnily enough kids who look round often seem to prefer the more modern look of Wilson's to the more traditional feel of Sutton and Wallington (which the parents like!). Sutton has better transport links and is smaller. Wilson's has the large field on site which allows for more lunchtime sporting activity. Both get excellent results as you'd expect (maybe Wilson's has had a slight edge in recent years). Hear lots of good things from parents at both schools.

Are there any hard facts out there about first choice preferences?

[Gringo64]

I haven't got any hard facts, but among the boys in our primary school, Wilson's was not always first choice: some boys preferred Wilson's, but others preferred Sutton Grammar or WCS.
Believe it or not, there were 2 or 3 boys from our primary, who sat the WCS and Sutton tests, but not the Wilson's test, because they 'didn't like the school'.