Sydenham High School any thoughts

[abdinhk]

Hello, we are considering moving to the Dulwich area and accepting a place at Sydenham High School for my 14 year old daughter. I had seen some posts on some other forums that the school, while nurturing, may not push the kids academically. Most of those posts are a bit dated and I understand that the school has a relatively new and dynamic head mistress. Does anyone out there have any recent experience with Sydenhams. I do want my daughter to be challenged, though I don't want her a in a pressure cooker. Any thoughts or insights would be greatly appreciated. Also they run a bus service from East Dulwich to the school. Anyone know how long that would typically take in the morning. Thanks

[Sonners]

As well as the school minibus service you can also get the 176 or 197 from East Dulwich to Sydenham which I think most of the senior school girls would use. On journey times it?s about 20-25 mins from dulwich library to school gates depending on traffic. The time for the minibus depends which route you are on/where you?d pick it up. One of the routes picks up at Upland Road/Court lane part of lordship lane at 7.45am and I think gets to junior school around 8.15am.

My daughter is in junior school so no experience of how the girls are pushed academically in seniors but I went to the senior school open day last week and was impressed. Mrs Woodcock is keen for all girls to reach their potential and it seemed a very happy environment.

[mybaby178]

My daughter started in year 7 in September, so far we love the school, it is certainly not a pressure cooker in year 7 but she certainly gets enough h/w usually three pieces a night and 4 over the weekend.

We live in Herne Hill but don?t use the school bus , I drive her on the way to work as they can go in from 7:30 and I either pick her up or she gets the bus with friends . The 176 is very popular route for a lot of girls.

DM me if you need any further details.

[bjm]

We have a daughter in year seven, she is so happy. We are thrilled with he school so far, it's small and friendly, the communication is really good and they seem to really care about the girls. They have so many opportunities and events.

[Candy2019]

Hi my daughter attended Sydenham for a few years. She started off at Oakfield Prep, then went onto join Sydenham High School. The school is a good school and I thought academically pushed the girls always at one level above. My daughter was very academic and achieved high grades in all her subjects. However our family moved abroad and my daughter was placed in a USA Catholic High School with a class of 12. It was only through assessments did I find out that despite my daughter being a high academic achiever in the UK, she lagged behind her US counterparts when tested. Realized that Sydenham was not Ofsted monitored, so no one was monitoring output of studies, grades or academia, this was all set in-house.

Good outcome due to positive competition, my daughter finished high school with 9.4 average and full scholarships with Ivy League colleges.

[bonaome]

I have a daughter there in year 9. She didn?t go to the junior school (went co-ed state) joined Syd year 7.

She?s been very happy there.

Pastoral care has been great.

Academically I think they do push kids who they think will respond to it. It?s certainly not a pressure cooker, but like any school, they are Very well aware of the kids they can squeeze a couple of 8s and 9s out of.

Like all schools they publish their GCSE results, which seem to be very good an improving. I think Mrs Woodcock does have a plan and ambition to strengthen the academic side of the school overall.

It?s a very small school but they offer everything most would want at GCSE and promise to be super flexible for GCSE choice. Though of course there are limits.

We?re happy enough with it. Though it?s not without its faults - but then nowhere is.

Overall I would recommend it.