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We have put here some of our frequently asked questions about Admissions to our Junior School.
When can I apply for Reception (4+)?
Under our Ballot system for entry into Reception, we accept registrations from birth until the end of September in the year preceding entry into the school. However, please note no priority is given to early registrations.
It is also a requirement for parents to visit the school at least once at one of our Open Events, before their daughter is entered into our Ballot draw. We strongly recommend that parents visit the school at one of our open events prior to making a registration.
We hold regular open events throughout the year. Please see our Joining Reception page for full details and dates.
How many candidates usually apply, for how many places?
We have two classes in Reception. On average, we receive around 200 applications, with the ratio averaging around 4 applicants to 1 place.
How does the 4+ Ballot process work?
The Ballot draw will take place in the October after registrations have closed at the end of September. In order for their daughter to be entered into the Ballot draw parents must have:
The draw will be made in the presence of the Chair of Governors, the Head and the Junior School Head, the Registrar, and a representative from the School’s Auditors. The Auditor will attest that the procedure is fair and follows due process. The published results will be final.
Our aim is to have a spread of birth dates throughout the year group. To ensure this, four ballot draw boxes are set up and candidates’ names are placed in the appropriate draw box depending on their birth month (either September-November, December-February, March-May or June-August).
All names are drawn from the ballot boxes until no more remain. Following the Ballot draw, families will be informed as to whether they have received an offer or if their daughter has been placed on the waiting list. Families in receipt of offers must accept the place by the specified deadline by completing and returning the signed Parent Contract, alongside a deposit payment.
My daughter is young for her academic year – does this matter?
No. We aim to compose our Reception class with girls from an even spread of birth dates throughout the year; this helps to ensure a good dynamic in the class.
To ensure a spread of birthdays across the year group, four ballot draw boxes are set up and candidates’ names are placed in the appropriate draw box depending on their birth month (either September-November, December-February, March-May or June-August). Names are drawn out one at a time from each Ballot box in turn.
My daughter’s first language is not English. Do I need to let you know this?
Yes please. You can let us know on your daughter's application form whether English is not her first spoken language.
Many pupils in our Junior School are from international families and are exposed to two or more languages throughout their early years.
Can I apply for Reception from overseas?
Yes, you may make an application for your daughter from overseas. The registration fee to apply from overseas is £200.
It is also a requirement for parents to visit the school at least once at one of our Open Events, before their daughter is entered into our Ballot draw. We strongly recommend that parents visit the school at one of our open events prior to making a registration.
In what years are Occasional Vacancies available and how do I apply?
An occasional vacancy may arise in any year group from Year 1 to Year 6, if a girl leaves the Junior School.
The first step in our occasional vacancy process is to add your daughter to our occasional vacancy enquiries list using our online admissions portal. This will allow us to hold your details on file and in the event that a vacancy arises in your daughter’s cohort (a family moving out of London for work, for example), we will contact you to invite you to make a formal application and to invite your daughter to attend an assessment with us.
What does the Occasional Vacancy assessment involve?
Our occasional vacancy assessment varies depending on the year group:
Do you have a waiting list?
Following an assessment, we may add a small number of girls to a waiting list if we are not immediately able to offer a place. A girl’s place on a waiting list will be valid until a year after the assessment date. After this, candidates will be asked to attend another assessment in order to be considered for any future vacancies.
Do you have a sibling policy?
Our Junior School is strongly family orientated and we have many siblings throughout both our Junior and Senior Schools.
For entry into Reception through our Ballot process, any candidates who were registered before the published closing date and who have a sibling attending WHS at the time of ballot, will be eligible for a sibling place and will be automatically offered a place. This is the only entry point at which sibling priority is given.
For entry into all other year groups (occasional vacancies in the Junior or Senior Schools, 11+ entry into Year 7 and 16+ entry into Sixth Form) we do not automatically admit siblings into the school; all girls are asked to sit an assessment before the offer of a place can be made. If two candidates are equal in all other ways, preference will be given to the sister of a girl already in the school.
Do I have to attend an Open Day to complete my daughter’s application?
For Reception (4+) entry, it is a requirement for parents to visit the school at least once at one of our Open Events, before their daughter is entered into our Reception (4+) Ballot draw. We therefore strongly recommend that parents visit the school at one of our open events prior to making a registration, however it is also possible for parents to visit after making the registration.
Our Open Day events provide a wonderful opportunity to find out more about the school, our ethos and our approach and to meet some of our staff and pupils. Please visit our Open Day page for a full list of available dates and details on how to book your place.
Can I request a tour of the school?
We hope you can appreciate that as a busy and oversubscribed school, we are not able to accommodate all requests for private tours outside of our usual Open Day provision.
In certain circumstances, we may be able to offer a private tour. Please contact our Junior School Admissions Officer, Claire van der Merwe, for further information. If any lockdown and social distancing rules are in place, we will not be able to offer tours.
What pastoral care is available in the Junior School?
Wimbledon High School offers a friendly community with pastoral care and each girls' individual needs at the heart of everything we do. We are proud of our academic credentials, but equally so of everything else that makes our girls special. We believe that a girl will succeed and reach her full potential when she is at her happiest and so we invest a huge amount of time in getting to know our girls and encouraging their confidence.
Form teachers are responsible for delivering most of the lessons and get to know the girls extremely well. The Junior School has an Assistant Head Pastoral who oversees pastoral care and safeguarding and there is a nurse on site every day. And we can't forget our gorgeous pastoral dog, Willoughby, who also has important duties: to inspire, support and comfort pupils!
Each year group has two parallel classes and through year group activities and our House system also offers a pastoral focus, allowing the girls to get to know one another across the year and inter-house competitions in sports, music, art and public speaking throughout the year also provide a lovely way for girls to get to know their older and younger peers.
Our aim is to help our girls understand how they can exceed expectations academically, whilst developing a strong sense of self, personal worth and ambition.
Do you offer wrap-around child care?
Yes, we offer before and after school care through Apple Pips, which is managed by the school and run on site for Junior School girls. Please visit our Apple Pips page for further details.
What languages do girls learn in the Junior School?
From Reception to Year 3, pupils learn Spanish, in Years 4 to 6 they learn French. They are introduced to some German and Latin in their final Junior School Years. All languages are taught by specialist teachers. We do not currently offer Mandarin on the Junior Curriculum, however we have a Mandarin club in both the Junior and Senior Schools.
How much homework do Junior School girls get?
From Reception we advise that the girls do around 10 minutes of reading with a supervising adult each day. For Years 1 and 2, the girls are set weekly homework tasks, such as reading, spelling, and maths, as well as the occasional topic related task.
In Key Stage 2, every year group is expected to complete reading and spellings and homework is set with the intention of consolidating learning.
Years 3 and 4 are set weekly reading and spelling tasks as well as curriculum related tasks which should last around 30 minutes and in Years 5 and 6, girls have weekly reading and spelling tasks, along side a maths, english or curriculum based topic task, lasting around 45 minutes.
What is the pupil to teacher ratio in the Junior School?
Our target class size in the Junior School is 24. We have 2 classes in each year group.
From Reception to Year 2, each class has a Teacher and a Teaching Assistant. In addition to this, Reception has a Higher Level Teaching Assistant who works across both classes. In Years 3 to 6, each class has one teacher. Class teachers across all years are supported by specialist teachers in sports, music, languages, science and in English and Maths in Years 5 and 6.
What extra-curricular activities do you offer in the Junior School?
From Year 1 onwards, we offer an increasing variety of co-curricular activities and clubs, run by staff, visiting tutors and parents. All pupils are encouraged to attend at least one weekly activity. Clubs range from speech and drama to chess, drumming to fencing, movie-making to Pilates, and from sewing to science, as well as a range of sports clubs and musical and choir ensembles - most definitely something for everyone!
We offer a wide range of co-curricular activities, please visit our Junior pages to view our Arcadia booklet.
What sports facilities do you have?
We have our own 25-metre swimming pool onsite. Swimming is part of our curriculum sport and the girls have swimming lessons from Reception.
Girls in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have their PE lessons on our main school site, where we have a sports hall and astroturf court.
From Year 3 upwards, girls have PE lessons at our Nursery Road sports ground, around 8 minutes walk from the school, where we have all-weather and flood-lit surface used for Athletics, Cricket and Hockey, alongside five floodlit Netball/Tennis courts.
Do you offer school transport to and from school?
As we are centrally located in Wimbledon, only a few minutes walk from train and bus transport hubs, we do not offer buses for transport to and from school.
We do have school minibuses to take girls to sports fixtures or on other outings.
What percentage of Junior girls are admitted to the Senior School?
We believe wholeheartedly in the powerful benefits of a 4-18 education and the capacity we have to nurture success and happiness in our girls from the first day of Reception right through to the end of Sixth Form.
We aim for all of our Junior School girls to move into the Senior School; on average around 90% of our Junior girls do so. All Junior girls will sit our 11+ assessment so that they join the Senior School having been through the same experiences as external candidates.
How do you engage parents in the children's learning?
We have an open door policy at the Junior School and actively encourage our families to keep in touch with us. In addition, we host a variety of events throughout the year including termly coffee mornings and parent evenings for each year group to complement school reports.
Weekly email bulletins and newsletters keep parents in touch with everything going on at the Junior School and we welcome parental involvement in all aspects of Junior School life, such as listening to readers, club supervision, providing an extra pair of hands in activities and school visits or assisting with productions.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us: [email protected].