Varndean School, Brighton

[ponymad9]

Hello, have moved in to the area and it looks like we will be offered Varndean for my Year 7 girl. Anyone at the school already and/or know anything about it, please? Thank you :-)

[derektheladyhamster]

I know several children who go there and are very happy. We have put it down as our first choice for our son to start there next Sept in yr 7.

[oopsidasies]

I realise this is a bit out of date but just to say that I have had two kids at the school and they have both been really happy. Lovely friendship groups, some great extra-curricular stuff and DS left last year with really good GCSEs. Highly recommended.

[ponymad9]

Hi, not too late at all, sorry i missed this - we ended up moving abroad but will be back next summer so have to choose schools now by end of october argghhhh so thank you

[RockinHippy]

A word if warning, if you are going to be living in the Varndean Stringer catchment area - put ONLY those 2 schools down on your firms, ignore the comments suggesting 3 choices - we got caught out putting 3 choices with only 2 schools in our catchment area - ended up getting none & allocated a bad school miles away instead - those in the know who just put those 2 schools down were eventually allocated one or the other. Though it is a lottery system here, so no real choice at all, you can cover yourself a bit by putting only schools in your catchment area

HTH

[slightlyconfused85]

Varndean has gone up and down a bit over the last few years. They in fact, only got 48% A*-C including English and Maths this year which puts them pretty much at the bottom of the list of B&H schools. As Rockin says, it's a lottery system here with very little choice so be very careful where you move to if you have a strong preference.

I am a teacher and I now work out of B&H in mid sussex, but I have taught supply at Varndean and found the behaviour to be sub-standard compared to other schools in the area. That said, I know a lot of children who have been very happy there.

[RockinHippy]

I second slightlys view on behaviour there

We found it less than desirable too & this is born out by friends who had DCS there too - some now removed from there because of poorly dealt with bullying issues - we do know others who have been/ are happy there, but we found the general atmosphere far less respectful to staff than at other local schools - it wasn't on our preference oust as a result of this

[ReadBall]

I am also from Brighton and have heard the same thing about behaviour at Varndean. Seems a bit strange when you think that Dorothy Stringer and Varndean have the same catchment area, but the cultures at the same school seem to be somewhat different.

I was very shocked to see that Varndean's exam results were down so much this year. 17 points lower than Dorothy Stringer, which puts Varndean on a par with BACA and Longhill . I suspect Varndean will struggle this year when doing their Open Days for new parents who will not be impressed.

[fellowship33]

Just found this oldish thread on Varndean. My dd has been allocated this school and I would be interested to know from parents what they think of it - I wasn't hugely impressed on the open day, tbh, but a couple of friends say their kids thrive there.

My dd is academic, loves drama, sociable ...

[RockinHippy]

Fellowship

If I were you, with those interests, I would appeal for Stringer - you have nothing to lose by trying & our DD is now there & these are definitely strengths of the school, they are also fantastic in how well they deal with bulyng etc, which I believe from friends who have removed their own kids from there, is a weakness of Varndean.


That said, kids we know who started there last year are loving it & the school will no doubt strive to put right the poor results of last year, especially with Stringer next door doing so well.

[derektheladyhamster]

My ds is in yr 7, He's enjoying it. Pastorial care is great (I know a yr 10 boy who was very ill last year and a girl who's Dad died who go there) The 4 schools within the schools works well. A lot of emphasis on English this year with a new Head of dept, who seems quite dynamic.

[Mumtobandt]

I visited on an open morning today, I'm a teacher myself so looked at it from that perspective . Lessons seemed good , behaviour in lessons was good , kids seemed happy . Recent ofsted cited lots of improvements . The uniform however was awful and I really think you've got to get the little things right too . Lots of girls in very short skirts , boys in black jeans and all manner of shoes . Sends the wrong message . Uniform doesn't necessarily affect how they learn but it does set a standard which then makes other standards e.g. Behaviour better . They should be sorting this out but they're not . Best advice is to talk to people whose kids go there now

[Maisy6565]

It's so bad.... Its reputation and results have gone really down hill. It really does not care about its students.

[Ashitaka]

Zombie???

01/12/2013 15:41 ponymad

[ChildOfFriday]

@RockinHippy

A word if warning, if you are going to be living in the Varndean Stringer catchment area - put ONLY those 2 schools down on your firms, ignore the comments suggesting 3 choices - we got caught out putting 3 choices with only 2 schools in our catchment area - ended up getting none & allocated a bad school miles away instead - those in the know who just put those 2 schools down were eventually allocated one or the other. Though it is a lottery system here, so no real choice at all, you can cover yourself a bit by putting only schools in your catchment area

HTH

I know this is an old post but I just wanted to clarify for anyone reading that this is most definitely NOT the case for anywhere in England- it is always best to fill up all your options on the admissions form and it definitely does not lower your chances of getting the school you want.