Mumsnet Talk

incredulou - that is pretty explosive! think you were right to go with your gut reaction when you had the interview.

incredulou, I can't say I'm that surprised...how upsetting though

Well, you get over the personal comments- but a bit daft and arrogant of him to write them down..Thought about who is he answerable to? Apparently there is no board. He is the headmaster and owner, which gives him free reign to do whatever...

MarinaResurgens- why do you say that?

I have heard he is quite a character and that the school is run very much in accordance with his own strong beliefs on a number of issues. So I can imagine he would be keener than most heads on selecting parents who sang from the same hymn sheet IYSWIM. So families who love it, really love it. Others don't stay long.

We never looked at it as we had moved away from the area by the time ds was old enough, but for many years it was actually our closest school. We are still in SE London but a much less pretty part <sigh>

If the Pointers HT wanted to limit himself to parents of his mould, I suspect his school would not be profitable

As for parents who love it really love it, very true. The same goes for Heath House, the other privately owned school not so far away, in that case the headmistress.

<hijack - MarinaR, are you Marina from a different life? I think I remember your advice on schools in the area from years back>

I am, Blueshoes [waves]
Hope all has turned out OK for you!
Ds is at Dartford GS and loves it

<waves back>

Dd and ds now settled into their schools

I suspect the epic grammar saga will soon be upon me. Glad your ds loves Dartford. Only hope my dcs will be brainy that way!

Hallo Louplet; am I I still on time for a different point of view on Pointer? My two children go there. At the beginning I was afraid about things like discipline and uniform, as you can guess I'm not english, the school system in London and UK was totally new for me. Now I know Pointer was the best choice, my children are happy, loved and even spoiled at school! The school environment simply give them the possibility to learn at the best of their capacity - no scary admission assessments for three years old children in front of completely unfamiliar people!
Nothing wrong, in my point of view, in teaching values as the respect for themselves and the other, or respect of rules, and good behaviour, as far as the school is going to give them skills for live and open their mind to the World.
Absolutely great for me is the food issue, food freshly prepared every day in the school kitchen (they have a kitchen in each building!) and attention on healthy eating habit.
About the outside space at Pointer I can't understand all the fuss about playground space, sorry not in my culture.
We usually meet the Headmaster five/six times in a year, fair enough, really the only thing I expect from him is to choose excellent teaching staff, and I think he does his best.
It really seem to me that pupils are first in the list at Pointer School.
Sorry for the funny english!
All the best!

Hi Babetta

Thank you. That is really good to hear. It is the teaching of good values that really appeals to us too

Lx

We interviewed at Pointers and were offered a place. I must admit I did find the head a little strange - DH was in the police and we spent some time talking about guns (which is a little strange in an interview). Anyway, we were probably offered a place on the back of that. We didn't take the place up as DS got into Blackheath Prep where he was from Nursery to Y2. I must admit I was not overly impressed by Blackheath Prep. He didn't get on with his Reception teacher and that basically stuffed his next two years there. Those who are there will know who I'm talking about.... My dd was at Blackheath High which was fantastic and all parents of girls should take a look there. We moved away for ds Y3 (now he is in Y5) and I really don't think BP set him up for another school well at all. I was also very aware of the difference in ethnic mix between Blackheath High and BP. Blackheath High was far better mixed. DS had a lot of blonde eyed friends, which was fine for us, but a little unusual in the area....

Thanks Beachyhead. Interesting re: Blackheath Prep. The way most people talk about it you would think it was god's gift to education so good to hear a view from the inside.

Hi my daughter has her BP assessment this Oct and I could really use some tips? Are they expected to interact with other children and is the assessment done in a classroom? Not good news that I wont be able to come in with her...I not too sure how she will handle that! Any tips from people who took their dd's for assessments in recent years? Thanks much.

Anyone else going to the Pointer School new parents evening on Thursday?

My DS did the nursery year there and whilst the staff were kind, it is incredibly crowded, and they don't really get to know your child. Individual needs, preferences or enthusiasms are not noted, let alone encouraged or accommodated in play/activities - I suspect due to the large numbers of kids thy cope with. The playground always seemed poorly supervised when I saw playtime there. My DS felt swamped there, and coped with it by withdrawing into his shell and becoming very quiet and passive. They don't have a keyworker system and communication isn't great, so it was very hard to know exactly what went on there on a daily basis. I know people who were very happy with the school, and Reception year does seem very much better, but I wish very much I hadn't sent my DS to the nursery ( he's now at another school) and couldn't in all honestly recommend the place to anyone.

MrsSG, did your DS go to BP nursery then? If so that is such a shame as I was going to put my ds's name down for next year, had only read good reviews on BP.

We start at BP this Sept. I'll post back then. So far we're feeling very positive about it. Although I agree with the previous poster that it does seem to have a very narrow ethnic spread for the area. I loved their approach to music, art, science and sports. They do seem a bit hardcore academically but as my two year old is begging to learn reading now, I think it will do her good. Their approach to the three Rs seemed fairly consistent with other schools. They use three different reading programmes so the parents can't get all "why is my son only on level two books when charlie x is on level three" etc.

Pointers however was a complete, utter, absolute No for us on so many levels. I like the idea of a properly Christian School but this was a bit weird even for an actively liberal anglo catholic alternative conservative evangelical methodist anglican like me!!! I feel there is more of a reason why they have such a large intake at 3 and a teeny output at 11 than just that boys are transferring to Eltham College at age 7.

Colfes was a very strong second place for us - but we really needed a school that was 11+/CE focused as we'll be moving to Kent in time for secondary school, not just focused on retaining the children for the senior school. I also didn't like the very firm curriculum gender split in sports. If my daughter wants to play football or rugby or my son wants to play hockey, then why shouldn't they.

As I have a boy and a girl, I didn't really want to be doing two drop offs in London rush hour so BHSG wasn't really in the running. And I've heard it had a bit of a blip with the senior school a few years ago. Although having said that, I really like the look of Eltham College.