Wimbledon High Junior School GDST

We love the family feel at Wimbledon High Junior School. It shares the same site as the superstar senior, so girls from each school regularly mix, making the transition between the two as smooth as can be. And academics-wise, the stellar, through-school experience definitely pays off, with pupils who stay on from reception through to Year 13 getting the best results of the bunch at A-level. Plus there’s an attentive neurodiversity team to ensure that every girl’s full potential is unleashed. Wimbledon High is a place your daughter will never want to leave – and it’s clear to see why.

The school sits on the corner of a residential street, its smart façade giving way to charming old and swanky new buildings. Everything neatly finds its place, with the modern junior-school building nestled at the heart of the senior-school site. And at just a three-minute walk from well-connected Wimbledon station, it couldn’t be handier to reach.

It has been a year since head Harriet Fryer took over the reins at Wimbledon High Junior School. She’s bubbly, enthusiastic and clearly thrilled to be here. It’s all about what is best for the girls, Ms Fryer tells us, and having previously served as deputy head at Dulwich Prep for seven years and at Notting Hill Prep for 10 years before that, she knows how to get the best out of each and every child. The school already was in fine fettle when Ms Fryer took over, and under her guidance standards haven’t slipped a jot.

Wimbledon High Junior School is currently full and thriving. For entrance into reception (the most common route), the school holds a ballot to which anyone can apply. It is filmed and audited as 48 lucky names are pulled out. Handily, reception guarantees a place for younger siblings once a big sister has been admitted. Entrance into the older years is less common, although places do occasionally arise.

The school has high academic expectations and is proud of how well it develops its pupils. Ms Fryer has kept in place the excellent forward-thinking curriculum she inherited: girls are encouraged to ask big questions and to discuss their opinions in class. But academics aren’t prioritised at the expense of pastoral care: pupils enjoy the best of both worlds, feeling nurtured and safe, as well as receiving the educational preparation they need.

The maximum number of pupils in a class is 24. Reception and Year 1 get the run of the ground floor – standing side by side, the two reception classrooms are bright and airy, with natural wooden furniture and the children’s artwork pinned to the display boards. Reception also have their own section of outdoor space, with a green carpet area, wooden toys and a small fence. Beyond the fence is the school playground, which doubles as the main thoroughfare for senior girls shuttling between lessons. The constant flow of different age groups is delightful.

Pupils are given a taster of French, Spanish and German so that they know what to choose come Year 7. The head of art takes French classes, while specialist Spanish and German teachers come over from the senior school.

In Year 3, there’s an additional maths teacher so that pupils can receive targeted support. Computing lessons also begin in Year 3, held in the specialist digital workshop room. At the end of Year 3, all girls receive a school-owned device in preparation for Year 4, and halfway through Year 6, pupils start bringing in their own devices from home.

The vast majority of pupils head on to the senior school after Year 6. Usually, the make-up of Year 7 cohorts will be half junior-school girls and half external, and the statistics show that Lifers – girls who stay at Wimbledon High from reception to Year 13 – are consistently in the top tranche of A-level results.

Music lessons are held in the bright and spacious music room, and all year groups are taught by the school’s specialist music teacher. A selection of choirs is also on offer, and there’s an annual inter-house music competition that is run, directed and choreographed by the Year 6s – ABBA is this year’s (fabulous) theme. Art also has a specialist teacher, who teaches the girls from Year 3 up and is fantastic at her job.

Ms Fryer herself teaches drama to reception so that she gets to know the girls. For productions – which occur in Years 2, 4 and 6 and are performed in the senior school’s Rutherford theatre – every girl gets on stage. It’s always a musical (Year 6 did Alice in Wonderland last year), and the school hires a professional choreographer to lend a hand.

On site, there’s a 25m indoor pool, in which the girls have weekly swimming lessons from reception upwards. Netball is also played at the school, while for hockey, pupils take a 10-minute stroll over to Nursery Road, where, in addition to the full-size hockey Astro, there are tennis courts, cricket nets and an athletics track. School sports days take place here too.

Clubs happen before school, at lunchtimes and after school. There’s a real variety on offer: music, drama, rocket making, chess, embroidery and cheerleading for the Year 6s. The school paper is called Pipsqueak, published by the Pipsqueak prefects once a term.

The school helps foster connections with the community outside the school gates. Girls in reception to Year 3 work with local primary-school pupils on science projects on Wimbledon Common, and Year 3s also visit a local care home for paired reading along with Year 11 and 12 pupils from the senior school.

One of our favourite things about Wimbledon High is the close integration of the junior and senior schools. It’s lovely to see girls of all ages mixing, laughing and supporting each other. These interactions happen naturally in the schools’ shared spaces (very sweetly, the junior girls rush out to hug their big sisters at the senior school when they walk past) and on a more formal basis too. Senior-school girls come across for junior-school reading groups, mentoring sessions and as part of their Duke of Edinburgh volunteering. All of this adds to the family feel.

Pupils with SEND are looked after by a dedicated head of neurodiversity who works closely with the other heads of department, and staff wear badges to celebrate different brains. The school talks openly about different learning needs and tailors learning groups in order to accommodate everyone’s abilities.

There’s a great sense of trust between parents and the school. Parent focus groups for clubs, academic, pastoral and partnership programmes ensure standards remain high, while Ms Fryer meets all parents once a term, as well as on an ad hoc basis as required.

This is a magical all-girls junior, ideal for parents looking for an educational one-stop shop.