Tetherdown primary school

[Rae2016]

Hi there, I am moving to muswell hill next month and would welcome parents who have children attendingTetherdown to comment. How are children achieving, are they happy etc. Thanks!

[writingonthewall]

Have friends who send their kids there. It was downgraded from outstanding to good a while ago for not stretching the brightest kids. I believe it's a nice friendly school, but everyone has a tutor from year 3-4 and many have two - tutoring for private, grammar or to get into the top set at Fortismere.

[MuminMama]

Our kids (9 and 7) are at Tetherdown. They are very happy and on the whole I like the school. It is a friendly place. Yes it got downgraded in the last inspection. The teachers vary, of course. Our current year 2 teacher is the best teacher I have ever come across. Our 9yo is quite bright and she has a tutor because we want her to sit for Latymer grammar school next year, but I wouldn't say that everyone has a tutor, not by any means. I do think it's true that there is a fair amount of learning support that goes on outside the school. The parents tend to be quite a driven bunch.

You have to live very near the school to get in, which means there is an amazing community feeling. You can't go anywhere without meeting school friends. On the other hand, though, property prices are very high around the school, and this means that the school is very un-mixed. That's perhaps my main concern.

Don't know what else to tell you, but will be happy to help if you have any specific questions.

[RougeEtNoir]

Sorry to hijack - MuminMama, where did you find a tutor? Would you recommend yours? We are in a nearby area in N London and are thinking of possible tutoring (again for possible grammar school) - but are a school year behind you (so not in contention for the same places!!)

On topic - I know a few people with kids at Tetherdown, all who love it. I don't think anyone puts much stock in the downgrading from outstanding to good.

[MuminMama]

Hello. We found ours by word of mouth. My daughter gets on really well with her, and when I hear the tutoring, it is well thought out and appropriate. And she clearly knows what she's doing about what schools do what. But she actually drives me a bit crazy. She's always late. If that doesn't put you off I can ask if I can pass on her details. :)

We looked at Jaderberg Krais, who for a large fee will assess and make recommendations as to schools, and then provide a tutor, which was all very tempting, but the price tag was too off-putting.

[RougeEtNoir]

Thanks MuminMama - yes, if you dont mind, I'd love to get the details if that's ok, (you could direct message me - thanks). Yes, I was wondering about JK or one of those other kind of consultants. Before all that DH and I need to sit down and have a chat about the whole thing as we aren't sure what direction we want to go in yet! Thanks

[MuminMama]

If you work it out, let me know. ;) I'm still bamboozled by the choice of good local comp, friends in the community, walk to school; or great grammar school that's an hour away. Still, it's good to have choices.

[ILIMHNL]

I have a child at Tetherdown Primary School. It's a friendly school with generally a good social life for children and parents. Most junior children have at least 1 tutor by year 4-5. It's not the best school if your child has any kind of learning difficulty as the help given to these children at the school is not very effective (mainly given by teaching assistants) and tends to have a dumbing down effect rather than a raising up effect. However, if you can afford it, you can rely on a tutor or 2 like most other parents at the school! There are a couple of excellent teachers but the rest are a mixed bunch. The school seems to be focusing on the higher attaining children partly because of what the last Ofsted inspection said, but that doesn't help any child who is struggling. The marking and feedback has slightly improved since the last Ofsted inspection but is still not very good , apart from the 2 excellent teachers. If your child has any kind of learning difficulty, they would probably be better off going to Coldfall Primary, Muswell Hill Primary or Rhodes Avenue Primary, where the help given may be better and the teachers expectations for these children are probably generally higher.