Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Apologies if everyone is bored of hearing about secondary school allocations...


We expected Sydenham, because in the past neighbours daughters have always got a place there. But of course catchment areas change from year to year, so we got Harris Girls ED instead.


Can anyone on the forum share any information on the relative merits of the two schools? Are they very different? Do they suit different sorts of pupils? They both look like good schools with great facilities and decent results, so I'm keen to hear people's opinions on them. Please feel free to PM me if you'd rather do that than post on a public forum. Thank you in advance.

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/219657-harris-girls-ed-v-sydenham/
Share on other sites

I don't know Harris I'm afraid, but my daughter is in Year 7 at Sydenham. It's been a lovely transition, and I can't recommend it highly enough - I thought it would seem big and impersonal, but she's been really excited and has taken them up on many opportunities from chess, to orchestra to lots of stuff run by the library - and has joined a band. Made lovely friends too. The academics are good and she enjoys the Latin and is keen to go in the morning. But from what everyone says Harris East Dulwich is great as well. My daughter does have one friend who moved from Harris to Sydenham when a place became available in mid September, but I think that was much more to do with the fact her primary friends were all at Sydenham rather than anything at all that was wrong with Harris. Good luck - the waiting lists do move if you decide you want to go for Syd, but from what people say both are good choices.

We were in your position last year and our daughter is now at Harris Girls ED.

We are incredibly impressed with the school, its results are excellent (better than all others in the area) but it is also very pastoral and has an old school mix of firm discipline delivered with warmth. The teachers are excellent, very personable and they 'get' the kids. Our daughter has small group music lessons of instrument of choice (guitar for her) and is performing at the globe theatre later this year in Henry V.

There have been one or two friendship 'issues' which have been dealt with swiftly and well.

Our daughter is fairly academic and the lessons are challenging and she certainly grumbles about the amount of homework (I suspect that'd the same where-ever she is).

Happy to chat further if it'd help at all


Good luck where ever your daughter goes - we're very lucky to have a number of really good schools in this area

Harris Girls ED is the school my Year 5 daughter is most likely to attend.


I?ve seen a lot of secondary schools in the area and the teaching team at Harris ED is the one i?m most impressed with.


Having seen the school in consecutive years, the improvements are visible. On my last visit, I was pleased to see how they had improved what was once a rather uninspiring library for example.


The only thing that?s a problem for me is the MFL provision, which currently includes Spanish and Italian. I really really hope they?ll add French, which is a must for me.


Hope this helps.

Hello Monkey,


My daughter in yr 5 will most likely go to Harris Girls and when I spoke to the languages department I too was disappointed that French wasn?t included. Though they did say if there is interest from a number of parents they will consider adding it as some of the language teachers are already qualified to teach it, in addition to Spanish. I have written to the school and expressed my interest in them adding it so if other parents do this it may build momentum.

Hi, good to know, thank you! I?ve spoken to the head and deputy head about it directly two years in a row now and will follow up with an email - good idea. It?s good they added Spanish already. We?ve also registered her at a French school just in case. Let?s keep in touch.
We went to see the school and I was very impressed - with the lessons, facilities, after school activities and enthusiasm of the teachers. The question of languages came up and the school said they were thinking of offering French if there is demand for it. I got the impression that the school will adapt the curriculum in line with needs/interests of the pupils.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • According to what I can see online, Dynamic Vines and Cave de Bruno sell totally different kinds of wine to each other.  Dynamic Vines  "work with independent winemakers who produce outstanding wine using sustainable practices in the vineyard and minimal intervention in the cellar".  Cave de Bruno specialises in French wines and spirits from small independent producers. So two different USPs, and no doubt two different but overlapping customer bases who can afford these wines. Probably different again to the people mainly  shopping for wine at Majestic or the Co op. On the other hand, the two empanada shops appear on the face of it to be selling virtually identical products. But time will tell, won't it? Let's see how they are both doing in - say - a couple of years' time. Impossible, of course, to compare that with how they would have done if there had been only one of them. I just feel more  sorry for the original one than for  the one which can apparently already afford to have a number of shops in places like Mayfair and Highgate.
    • Not only can he turn olive oil into Vermouth, but also water into a wine. A true miracle worker.  I wouldn't say a wine shop sells a wide variety of things - and there are two right next to each other.  And once upon a time, upmarket pizza shops were very specific. So were burritos etc. These Argentinian cornish pasties are clearly becoming mainstream; we should consider ourselves lucky to be witnessing this exciting upward trend within our lifetimes and on OUR HIGH STREET. We can tell our grandkids that we remember when there was no internet and no empanadas.  I'm sure that if the family empanada people have a good business head, they'll be able to ride this wave of competition, just like Bruno has. 
    • Very economical. Are you available for events? I've got a gathering of 5000 coming up soon. What could you knock up with two little fishes and five loaves of bread? Cod in breadcrumbs? Fish finger sandwiches? Spanish-style croquetas de bacalao with a Romesco sauce? It's BYOB for beer, so there's no need to worry about that and I've managed to do an unbelievable deal on water and wine. Drop me a DM on here or ask for Dave or Jesus (pronounced 'Hay-Zooze') in The Herne, left hand side of the bar.
    • You may want to see if anyone on this site can help: http://www.camberwellboroughcouncil.co.uk/folletts-music-shop/
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...