Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

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stargazer
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:57 pm

Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by stargazer »

Can anyone spell it out for me the difference between Nonsuch and Wallington? I get it that the results are basically the same, but is it the difference in how they get there? Do either of them teach by repetitive volume method or is it by investigative?

How about this ETHOS jargon? What does it mean for each school? It is so difficult to get a feel for a school on an open day with hordes of other parents.

Do both of them sit the same board for GCSE?

If anyone could shed light on these areas, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you
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Kingfisher
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:08 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by Kingfisher »

I don't live in your area any more but I used to. Isn't Nonsuch a girls' school and Wallington a boys' one? Maybe someone locally can verify/ correct me.

Regarding GCSE, you don't have to think about that really as if your DC is in Year 7 or below, it is likely s/he will be sitting the new Ebacc exam for some of the subjects. Some subjects may still be tested through GCSE until the whole thing has rolled out but different subjects within a same school may be tested by different exam boards. It doesn't make that much of a difference, to be honest. We are all playing a waiting game regarding the EBacc - no one knows what it will involve. Current Year 7 (including my DD) are the guinea pigs.
ThreeKids
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:16 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by ThreeKids »

Nonsuch is girls, Wallington High School for Girls is too. Kingfisher you are probably thinking of Wallington County Grammar School which is indeed a boys school that takes some girls in the 6th form.

As far as Nonsuch & Wallington go I really can't compare a lot as I don't have a daughter at either, but i do know a lot of girls at both. I am sure they are both excellent. Both are going through a period of change with the heads changing and that of course makes it difficult to really know what the experience will be for any girl starting there in the next few years.

My impression - and it is only that - is that pastoral care seems to be quite different at the two schools. At Nonsuch it seems that the girls have to just get on with it, and I know of a couple of instances where good pastoral care was required but apparently completely absent. I also know anecdotally of girls that have left and parents have then commented that they had no idea how unhappy their daughter had been until they changed school. On the other hand I have friends who are very pleased. I think it may well depend on the child, which of course it will anywhere.

Those at Wallington seem happier from what I can tell, and the pastoral care seems a little better.
onetrickmonkey
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2012 4:42 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by onetrickmonkey »

I have pondered about this too.

Nonsuch has a catchment policy for 100 seats; 80 thrown to open competition from anywhere
Wallington has catchment based 110 seats; 100 thrown to DCs from anywhere

Test paper formats are different with Wallington placing emphasis on Mathematics while Nonsuch giving more credence to English. Not sure if this reflects the type of focus schools are meant to have, long term.

Infrastructure wise, both should be equipped to provide what most selective schools are meant to. However, for whatever reasons, Nonsuch has been on a scorching pace in terms of climbing up FT ranking table while Wallington seems just as good in terms of % of A* or A*/AB results etc.

I guess for those who reside in the region, it will be a matter of which is more convenient to commute while for those who apply from outside with an intent to relocate, it will be guided by FT ranking, league tables and of course property prices/rent !
jstar
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Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:31 am

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by jstar »

This may be too late as I know the deadline for application has already gone.

My DD is going to take the 11 plus next year and I am beginning to pondered over this as well. Of course she is going to sit both exams. If she fails both, that will be the end of the story. If she passes one only, then the choice is automatically made. If she is in the fortunate position to pass both, then we will have to choose one. I can imagine sleepless nights if this happens, but it would be an extremely privileged position to be in and I would not mind one bit.

Academically, there is absolutely nothing to choose between Nonsuch and Wallington. Both are selective and the girls who manage to get in will do well regardless. Some may say despite of their grammar school education.

I have heard both good and bad things about both schools from lots of other parents. This has only confused the issue. The comments by some of the other responders to your questions illustrate this.

You probably know more then me about the disappearance of the Nonsuch headmistress.
I am hoping that when my DD applies, they would have a new head in place. But even then, you cannot tell whether he/she is going to be any good. All you will have is a name.

The new Wallington headmistress is more than just a name. She came from Nonsuch and is apparently super dupa. It wouldn't surprise me if Wallington becomes the new Nonsuch in a few years time.

Nonsuch on the other hand has the prestige. The problem is, since the previous head's departure, it is seen as a headless chicken as demonstrated by the re-sit of the NVR test for one group of girls fiasco. Having said that, a new head may be even more super dupa than the new Wallington head. Then Nonsuch will become the new-new Nonsuch. On the other hand, he/she may not. Who knows?

It all boils down to whether you want to play safe or gamble. I call it gamble, but you cannot loose that much really as I am sure that girls at Nonsuch will do well regardless as they are all very bright and motivated (sometimes by parents) girls.

The number of girls choosing Nonsuch may be lower as people may be choosing Wallington instead. Therefore, the pass mark may be lower. I don’t know whether you have considered this when you made your choice. I also don’t know what implications this may have on the academic abilities of the successful girls.

I have deliberately given you what I believe to be a balanced view, but not a clear preference as I do not know how your DD had done. If your DD has passed both exams, then you would have made a choice already. If I recommend the school that you did not put as first choice, it would be embarrassing. Whatever choice you have made, it would be the RIGHT ONE for the reasons above. Lucky you if this is the case. I hope I have the same dilemma this time next year.

If your DD only passed one exam, then you do not need to read this anyway. If your DD did not pass either, get her into a good comprehensive and find her a tutor, or go private if you can afford it.
tiffinboys
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Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Surrey

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by tiffinboys »

jstar wrote: The new Wallington headmistress is more than just a name. She came from Nonsuch and is apparently super dupa. It wouldn't surprise me if Wallington becomes the new Nonsuch in a few years time.

Nonsuch on the other hand has the prestige. The problem is, since the previous head's departure, it is seen as a headless chicken as demonstrated by the re-sit of the NVR test for one group of girls fiasco.
It is true that Nonsuch, at the moment, does not have a permanent head. But the resit of NVR has nothing to do with that. In one of the rooms (just one) the invigilators did not allow time for the practice questions and children probably lost about one to two minutes per section. It was the fault of one invigilator in one of the rooms and it goes to the credit of the Nonsuch school that they immediately admitted the mistake and as fairly as possible, went about correcting it.

The new Wallington Girls head was Dy Head at Nonsuch. Before that she was at a boy's grammar school, probably Wilson's. I am told that at both places she did not stay long. I hope that she stays long enough at Wallington Girls and meet the aspirations of the parents and students there.

By the way, the sudden departure of Nonsuch Head teacher is still a mystery.
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2outof3
Posts: 331
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Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by 2outof3 »

Glad you pointed that out Tiffinboys........how can a mistake made by invigilators in one room during an exam be the fault of the leadership team? One act of human error - it happens :shock:

The fact that I haven't noticed any difference in the running of the school without a permanent head probably says more about the old head than the new leadership team. Things still seem to be progressing - there was a significant amount of work done to the school over the Summer and everyone is happy with the changes.

Really it's very hard to pinpoint the differences between Nonsuch and Wallington. We can all look at league tables, but in the end it comes down to so much more than that. In my case it was gut feel - I knew instinctively without much rational thought that Nonsuch was the right school for us. However, it does not suit every one - what school does? If you have a daughter who doesn't like to be tested frequently then Nonsuch might not be the school for you - they do test an awful lot. Having said that, however, the homework (apart from the revision) doesn't appear to have stressed my two particularly over the years.

It's so difficult to give an objective view of schools as you are looking at them from the perspective of an individual child who will respond to different scenarios in different ways. It has been a great school for my two, however, and I would happily endorse it :D
ambergris
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:03 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by ambergris »

Completely agree with 2 out of 3. Depends on your child, Wallington suits my Y7 child perfectly - her choice. I strongly felt that Nonsuch was not right for her and she agreed (luckily) but I wasn't entirely convinced wallington Girls was either! After half a term I am so impressed with the school. The humanities homeworks tend to be interesting e.g. RS "Are humanists arrogant for rejecting religious artefacts?" Maths is fast paced. All the subjects have regular tests and retests if scores are low to try to ensure a level of knowledge is acquired. Communication and pastoral care are both better than expected too!

The important thing is to try and ensure a good fit between the school and the child. The difference academically is negligable.
Cheammum
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:29 am

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by Cheammum »

I would equally have to agree with 2 out of 3. Trying not to be biased, we are fortunate to have two daughters at Nonsuch and have been fully satisfied with our choice.

Being in a similar position last year, when we were pondering on which one of the schools to give a higher a preference for DD2, we settled purely on distance even though we felt Wallington may best suit DD2 individual personality...

First half term over and we can gladly confirm that DD2 has settled into life at Nonsuch, made great friends and is loving it.

Over the years Nonsuch has had the air of prestige and is deemed to be the more academic of the girls school and the issue of poor pastoral care has been echoed from the time DD1 joined back in 2007 but we have not had nor heard of any student who has fallen victim to poor pastoral care.

However one must not be under any illusion that Nonsuch is an academic school and the girls are continually tested, it does not stop after the 11 plus exams which sometimes appears to surprise some parents.

The issue of leadership or the lack of it does not appear to be a problem and I guess one could argue that, this a clear indication of an organisation with a sound structure and I'm pretty sure the new head when he or she is appointed would only steer the school to greatness.
stargazer
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:57 pm

Re: Nonsuch Vs Wallington in detail

Post by stargazer »

Dear All

Thank you for your viewpoints. I am glad that I had raised this question as shown from the number of hits, it is obviously a topic of interest even though the number of replies have been small. I have been wondering how come there has been only 1 reply representing Wallington?

Both schools have had endorsements . Very few faults or weaknesses have been discussed. Isn't it funny, that it is only when the children have left a school that the parents talk about the real problems that their children experience? Is it a middle class thing?

I have been so focussed with the technique tuition that I had lost sight at what I was aiming for.

Any way I am very grateful for this forum and to all those who have helped me with my queries. I am totally addicted.
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