Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

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gulat
Posts: 119
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:16 pm

Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by gulat »

Hi

I am looking for feedback, pros & cons for the above two fabulous school. While it is difficult to be absolutely sure before 1st March I think we have a good chance and was looking for feedback from parents who currently sent their daughters to these school. What is good, what can be improved etc.

DD is a sociable individual, who loves music (plays multiple instruments) and singing. In terms of subjects she tends to incline towards Maths and Science as opposed to English

I have gone through the websites and also visited the schools on their open days. DD liked the feel of wally girls (we had a very very friendly guide) but liked the HT talk at Nonsuch + they have a astronomy tower (Yep u guessed she is a Harry Potter fan :-))

I am visiting the schools again tomorrow but nothing like a parent's view

Many Thanks in advance
kprad35
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2018 6:30 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by kprad35 »

based on the latest A level results plus leavers destination Wallington seems to have done better than Non such.Check their website for the details.Wallington appears to be more organised as they ve a dedicated team for Oxbridge preparation.
Gringo64
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:00 am

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by Gringo64 »

My daughters are in year 10 at Nonsuch and they are very happy there. One of the things we like about Nonsuch is that they teach Latin from year 7; many girls drop it, but my daughters love it and are taking Latin GCSE; they have also just started learning Greek which they also enjoy. I may be wrong but I don't think Wallington Girls offer Latin.
Bluearrow
Posts: 71
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:37 am

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by Bluearrow »

Gringo64 wrote:My daughters are in year 10 at Nonsuch and they are very happy there. One of the things we like about Nonsuch is that they teach Latin from year 7; many girls drop it, but my daughters love it and are taking Latin GCSE; they have also just started learning Greek which they also enjoy. I may be wrong but I don't think Wallington Girls offer Latin.
I think Wallington Girls also offer Latin from year 9. But it is taught after school, more like a club sort of things.
Moon unit
Posts: 654
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:14 am

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by Moon unit »

Latin GCSE at Wally girls is done as a twilight GCSE after school.
Instead of Latin in year 7 they all do two MFLs from German, French and Spanish.
Wallington has a friendly relaxed vibe to it.
Not pressurised and non of my daughters friends have any coaching outside school
that I’m aware of.
Pastoral care is excellent.
RuedeWakening
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 11:56 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by RuedeWakening »

DD has just started at WHSG. She's managed to get a part in the school production so is going to rehearsals twice a week after school, she does the junior orchestra at lunchtime, and has instrument lessons in school from an external music teacher. She wanted to join the choir but it clashed with something else, there's lots of chances for music!

They seem to have done quite a few experiments in science already, which she is enjoying - very different to her experience at primary. However, a science teacher left a few weeks ago, and her class currently have a long term supply teacher, as I believe the science specialists are concentrating on covering lessons for the exam year groups.

She's doing French and German, Latin starts in year 9 as a twilight GCSE for those who want it.

Homework is much lighter than I'd expected tbh! The school now have a policy of setting a maximum of 20 minutes homework per hour of teaching, so each subject should have no more than 1 hour of homework per fortnight. There's a lot of emphasis on mental health, and the school have been auditioning a support dog, which will be in the pastoral office a few times a week - I don't really have any thoughts on this at the moment, but it's an interesting idea.

DD has been well supported, I've been very impressed with it so far - she is in receipt of pupil premium, and was given a grant to buy uniform, since she started we've been told she doesn't have to pay for the enrichment trip to London Zoo happening next month, and she's just been given a tablet that she can use in school on the pupil wifi network, and at home.

There's a strict rule in year 7 that no devices are allowed in school (they have to be switched off unless a teacher gives specific permission), so that they do actually talk to each other and make friends in tutor time/breaks/lunch.

Hope that helps a bit - DD also wanted the astronomy tower!
amchel
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:27 am

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by amchel »

Also, I note both the schools have ofsted rating of 'Good' which is uncommon for grammar schools as almost many grammar schools have 'Outstanding' rating. Despite having good records in GCSE and 'A' level results, Is that some missing in both the schools and even the recent 2017 ofsted inspection resulted in only 'Good' rating? Can any parents comment?
Northern Line
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:47 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by Northern Line »

I visited Nonsuch yesterday, having missed the open day. I really like the feel of the school. The children look very happy and confident, and the environment is beautiful. However, I didn't get a chance to visit Wallington due to work commitment.

Can you share your views on the two schools? Is there any difference in class size between the schools? How about homework level, provision of extra curricular activities etc? My DD likes music. Hence, I would prefer one that offers more music activities.

I'm leaning towards Nonsuch, but it is really difficult to decide as both schools seem excellent!
rocky
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:12 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by rocky »

I've been to both schools and to be honest I'm not sure how much I could really say one is better than the other. Both appear to be excellent schools. The factor to bare in mind is that schools change all the time and your DDs experience at her chosen school maybe difficult to predict given so many changing variables.
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington High school for Grils

Post by loobylou »

amchel wrote:Also, I note both the schools have ofsted rating of 'Good' which is uncommon for grammar schools as almost many grammar schools have 'Outstanding' rating. Despite having good records in GCSE and 'A' level results, Is that some missing in both the schools and even the recent 2017 ofsted inspection resulted in only 'Good' rating? Can any parents comment?
I'm not from your area but Ofsted ratings have changed over recent years. Historically it was much easier to get an outstanding rating than it is now. Must schools are now just aiming for "good" as outstanding is so unlikely. But historically, "outstanding" schools then didn't need to get insisted again for a certain length of time (I don't know how long but longer than normal) so they kept their outstanding status whilst other schools, which are inspected more frequently, are doing very well to keep their good status. If you look at a lot of outstanding schools their last inspections were a long time ago so one could argue that they can't be relied upon.
(This is ignoring the fact that Ofsted is making decisions based on things that one might feel does not affect one's child's education in the first place).
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