Hi,
I am also American and we live around the corner from Wandsworth Common North Side. The system is very different to what we grew up with and I would be happy to have a call to share our experience. You will want to review this brochure as it is a helpful guide.
Choose a Wandsworth Primary School | Wandsworth Family Information Service.
Our girls go to Swaffield, which is a local state school (which we can either walk or scoot to) and they are thriving there. Over the years we have seen the school go from strength to strength, there is a real focus on academic achievement and making sure that every child feels supported and works to their full potential. At the same time the warm and caring environment that drew us to Swaffield has grown even stronger. The head is relatively new, joining a few years ago, and she knows each student by name and can be found at the various school gates at both morning and pick up.
We utilise the wrap around care (which is great) and the girls have extracurricular activities nearly every afternoon. The music and arts programme at Swaffield is a differentiating strength. I would strongly recommend visiting a number of schools, you get a real sense of the environment visiting the classroom, meeting the teachers, etc.
We seriously considered a number of local private schools but decided that the state system met our needs and we haven't regretted our decision.
