Parents views on Sydenham School, Dartmouth Road

[alisonfitzp]

We are looking to move close to Sydenham school and have heard very mixed reviews about it. My daughter will start year 6 in September, at Dog Kennel Hill school and if we move, Sydenham Girls School in Dartmouth Road, will be just around the corner. We will obviously go and look around on the open days in September but I would love to hear from locals with children at the school or those who come into contact with the students what they think of the school? The ofsted sound very promising but not always what I have from parents. Can anyone help? Thanks. Ali

[marymck]

I live nearby. Obviously I can't say whether my experience is universal, but I find the girls a particularly foul mouthed and aggressive bunch. Not all, I hasten to add. But my heart does bleed for some very decent and well behaved girls I come across, who appear to be vastly outnumbered by the feral types. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the feral ones just make more noise, so that they appear to be the majority. But that's the impression I get.

The sad thing is that I believe some of these girls could respond to encouragement and education. I was sitting beside one of them in a bus shelter once, when she did a particularly vile gob on the floor between her feet. She saw my disgust and said, "Like that did you love?" I said, "no, my grandmother died of TB". She asked me what TB was, so I explained. She actually listened and when her bus came, she thanked me and apologized. I think a school has a responsibility beyond the tick boxes of the curriculum and, on the evidence I've seen, they're not fulfilling it.

I'm going on a bus to Peckham this afternoon and there are some very pleasant and considerate girls on that route who wear a different uniform. If they're on the bus today, I'll try to find out which school it is and post the details.

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[wrightie]

Ali, it’s an inner city comprehensive with a fairly wide catchment. Unlike certain schools, it doesn't use tricks to skim in order to admit only the best and brightest, or encourage only people from certain social backgrounds. Given the broad intake I feel the school does extremely well, extracting the best from most students. In this case I believe the Ofsted reports are accurate. Of course there are some who simply don't want to learn, or are unsuited to our model of education.

My daughter is now in year 9, and I'm very happy with her progress, both academically and socially. The building work has now started and should be completed in a couple of years (if not sooner), which should improve things even further. Anything you want to know in particular just ask.

marymc, there are rough elements in every school, unfortunately only the loud voices are heard, much like with other aspects of our society. I find the behaviour of the girls from Sydenham Girls no different from any other school in the area, the exception being Sydenham High! Yes a school has some responsibility, but personally I feel parents should ultimately shoulder the burden and we should not expect the state to do their job!

[marymck]

Wrightie I quite agree with you about parental responsibility. But I do think the school could do more. For example, teachers on duty at bus stops and teaching the true meaning of "respect", both for their own bodies and for others.

I actually think that if pupils behave badly out of school when wearing the school uniform that they should lose all privileges, as they're getting both the school and its other, more industrious and decent, pupils a bad name. I did write to the head about this a while back, but received no reply.

I've no idea how the schools compare academically and of course I'm commenting as a neighbour, so of course my experience is subjective. The main thing is how happy and safe girls like Wrightie's daughter feel.

I'm lucky that I'm not faced with having to make a choice.

Alison, could your daughter spend a day at each of the schools on her shortlist? She can then see how welcoming and adaptable both pupils and staff are and decide where she feels most happy. I know this happens at schools out of London.

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[alisonfitzp]

I live nearby. Obviously I can't say whether my experience is universal, but I find the girls a particularly foul mouthed and aggressive bunch. Not all, I hasten to add. But my heart does bleed for some very decent and well behaved girls I come across, who appear to be vastly outnumbered by the feral types. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the feral ones just make more noise, so that they appear to be the majority. But that's the impression I get.

The sad thing is that I believe some of these girls could respond to encouragement and education. I was sitting beside one of them in a bus shelter once, when she did a particularly vile gob on the floor between her feet. She saw my disgust and said, "Like that did you love?" I said, "no, my grandmother died of TB". She asked me what TB was, so I explained. She actually listened and when her bus came, she thanked me and apologized. I think a school has a responsibility beyond the tick boxes of the curriculum and, on the evidence I've seen, they're not fulfilling it.

I'm going on a bus to Peckham this afternoon and there are some very pleasant and considerate girls on that route who wear a different uniform. If they're on the bus today, I'll try to find out which school it is and post the details.

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Thank you Mary for your views. All the info is useful. I would be interested to know which school the polite kids on the bus go to. I'm glad the girl at the bus stop learnt something from you and said thank you. Maybe they have learnt to be tough as a defence and positive interaction with adults helps break the cycle?

[alisonfitzp]

Ali, it’s an inner city comprehensive with a fairly wide catchment. Unlike certain schools, it doesn't use tricks to skim in order to admit only the best and brightest, or encourage only people from certain social backgrounds. Given the broad intake I feel the school does extremely well, extracting the best from most students. In this case I believe the Ofsted reports are accurate. Of course there are some who simply don't want to learn, or are unsuited to our model of education.

My daughter is now in year 9, and I'm very happy with her progress, both academically and socially. The building work has now started and should be completed in a couple of years (if not sooner), which should improve things even further. Anything you want to know in particular just ask.

marymc, there are rough elements in every school, unfortunately only the loud voices are heard, much like with other aspects of our society. I find the behaviour of the girls from Sydenham Girls no different from any other school in the area, the exception being Sydenham High! Yes a school has some responsibility, but personally I feel parents should ultimately shoulder the burden and we should not expect the state to do their job!

Hi Wrightie,
Thanks for your comments also. I'm pleased your daughter is doing well and enjoying her experience at the school. Let's hope the building work isn't going to be too disruptive to the teaching and learning. I've been exploring the area last week and glad to see they are doing the very noisy work during the holidays. I hope they can move swiftly, as it must be very hard to concentrate with this going on during term time? The plans look amazing and will surely benefit the students. I had not intended my daughter to go to a single sex school. Has that been an issue with your daughter? I can see that girls often develop at a different rate to boys and could benefit from learning in a single sex environment but also feel that girls must learn to grow up with boys and learn how to live and deal with them. Does the school encourage interaction with Forest Hill boys school with after school activities. I'm wondering how many boys attend A level stage of the school and whether this is a good thing for the girls?