Schools in Ruislip/Hillingdon

[Pigletin]

Hello - I am in need of some advice from people who are familiar with the local primary schools in Ruislip. We are in catchment for Lady Bankes School and I wanted to get an opinion...the infant school is rated Outstanding while the Junior School was rated Requires Improvement during the last inspection. I am concerned the junior school really isn't very good and even with improvements which I am sure they are working on, I have some doubts as to the academic standards there.

I believe much better ones are Warrender and Newnham although as all schools are oversubscribed, I don't believe we will realistically get a place.
I have started looking at an independent school, namely St Helens and Reddiford, as alternatives, but I am not too sure we could afford private schools for 2 children (second is on the way).

Any feedback on all of the schools mentioned above would be greatly appreciated!

[Pigletin]

Bump

Nobody here from Ruislip?

[firawla]

I don't know anyone with kids in lady bankes or Warrener but Newnham is a very good school, especially the juniors. There's a bulge year coming up with 4 form entry so it might be worth applying just in case?! Field end school is supposed to be quite good too so also worth a look there if not too far for you? They also have 4 form so maybe enough places?
I have heard great things about St. Helens, but as you say, it is a lot of money! If Landry bankes infants is outstanding you could always start off there and then think about transferring to independent later if you weren't happy with the junior by the time year 3 comes around?
Good luck with it!

[Pigletin]

Thank you so much for your input...I wasn't aware about the bulge years. I have Newnham on my list along with Warrender and the others so will try, but wanted to see what other people's impressions are. Hopefully someone else will come along to share information about Lady Bankes.

Many thanks again!

[Pigletin]

Anyone else?

[Paddington68]

Holy Trinity or Bishop Winnington Ingram if you wanted a school with a faith.

[Iggity]

I only know of SSW in S. Ruislip but again this is an over subscribed faith school. Nearby are Field End Rd and Deansfield. Not convinced about Deansfield despite living nearby due to its exam results etc.

FER is split into infant and junior with infant rated as outstanding but junior isn't. I have a friend with kids in the infant school and know she is trying to decide what to do about the junior side of things. I've heard good things about Newnham and also Breakspear.
To be fair, I think in general, the schools around Ruislip are good. Sacred Heart is also very good and they take 90 a year I think so you may have more of a chance of getting in if you are not catholic.

My DC had a place at St Helens but we decided not to take it when the SSW place was offered. What put me off was seeing Recption children sitting four to a desk putting in as much concentration as you would see in an A level class. I didnt get a good feel after seeing this. I'm sure kids there have fun too but it just came across as a bit 18th century.

One thing to bear in mind is that the morning traffic in Ruislip is horrendous. You may be familiar with it already but really do take it into account when selecting a school as it is awful. It will worsen with the Arla dairy development and HS2. Pick a school you can walk to.

[PMin]

Hello,

I understand this is an old post but may I please ask which school did you go for in the end?

[Beba11]

Hi, I am quite interested in this post too. I am in the same Lady Bankes vs Warrender dilemma. Mine are in the nursery and the teaching is fantastic. The infants has an excellent reputation, one of the best in the area. Unfortunately the bad period a couple of years ago in the Junior has ruined their reputation recently and is what has made people question choosing the infants. Didn't help that the 2017 SATS were bad though that's probably the effect of the bad period. Although saying that those who achieved higher than the expected level was above the national average, it was just those who achieved the expected was low. I was speaking to a teaching assistant in the juniors who said the new head has completely turned it around and she is amazing. So dedicated and enthusiastic. Warrender is also a lovely school. Hopefully will be less cliquey now it's expanding and more of the manor people will be there. Although Warrender has never been outstanding it has always produced high SATS results though bearing in mind only 30 kids in a small area to judge from

[Beba11]

Meant they are currently in the Lady Bankes nursery

[Pigletin]

Hello - I thought I would come back and share a quick update. We decided against St Helens for various reasons so we stuck to local schools. I visited each school twice and really liked Newnham and Warrender. I did not like the environment in Lady Bankes (possibly for superficial reasons) and their SATs didn't help sway me either. In the end we put Warrender as a top choice and we were able to get in due to them becoming a 2-form school. It's very early days but so far so good. The teacher and TAs seems great and my child likes it there. Only time will tell how things will go. I keep hearing that it is cliquey but not sure what that actually means.

Beba11 which school did you go for in the end?

[Beba11]

pigletin I went for LB in the end as they had been in nursery for a year there and got on very well. I will keep them in for the infants. I have heard good and bad about both schools tbh. I won't say what put me off the other school as they are my own personal reasons and because I respect mums and kids at both I don't want to rubbish any school on here. The 2018 SATS results came through for LB and they were higher than both other schools you mentioned. It saddens me how people rubbish a school because it had a bad period with an old head. Things have dramatically improved. The environment you talk about, I don't really get what you mean but by 'superficial' I guess this is due to types/class of people?LB is very diverse and I thought this environment was better for my children. I don't look down on anyone. Now with expansion I don't think the other will be much different in terms of people who go there.

[Beba11]

I didn't mean to sound harsh but it's just this has been such a big decision for me. I really liked LB but it was some people's snobby reaction to it that made the whole process extremely difficult for me. The school have been really great and much more understanding actually towards certain things. It really upsets me when i hear some comments. It makes me question my decisions even though I know it shouldn't. Anyway, good luck. Hope your DC is happy there

[Pigletin]

Hello - sorry, you have misunderstood what I meant by superficial. I meant building, looks, etc, and not in any way diversity as we are family that would be considered a minority. I appreciate what you have said but please don't put words in my mouth. I also never said a bad word about LB as I too struggled with the decision. I am surprised you are directing these things at me, seems like you have your own issues that you are projecting here.

[lul37]

Sorry to revive an old thread.. @Pigletin can you tell me a little bit more about Newnham Junior School when you visited it? What's the facilities like?

We are moving back to this area from abroad in the summer so I'm hoping to get a chance to visit Newnham as well as Field End Juniors before the school hols.

They are looking like the only two I can walk too as I don't drive. I have two DS, one will be year 3 and the other year 6. Am praying admissions would be able to allocate one school for both of them together.

Before we travelled, my eldest went to Field End Infants and loved it, am not too sure how good the junior is though, have not been hearing great things...

Hope your DD is doing well and settled in her school