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Gordon's school West End Woking

32 replies

Carpenter1 · 29/07/2013 17:04

Anybody out there know how many boarding places went to non military this year? I would love my kids to go to this school as it looks amazing, however we live outside catchment. My husband and I are airline staff and I am hoping this would help on a need to board basis!

OP posts:
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wakeupandsmellthecoffee · 30/07/2013 11:56

I would say if your out of catchment forget it . I know of two families who moved this year to get their child in for NEXT September.

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InViennaWeWerePoetry · 30/07/2013 15:44

You have to live practically on the doorstep to get in I no military. A close friend applied to get her eldest in two years ago, at the time they lived on the Nursery Green estate, leas than a 10 minute walk away. They didnt get in Shock got offered the one no one wants in Camberley, moved and went private.

Siblings get priority over catchment and it's far easier to get a sixth form place, so a lot of non military families with the right age gap send their eldest private, transfer them to Gordon's at sixth form and then get a 5/6 years younger one in for year 7 on a sibling place. Any younger ones then follow suit.

West End seems like a lovely place to live, the trouble is if you're not military and you don't live in the houses along the back of the Gordon's playing fields schools seem a bit tricky.

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InViennaWeWerePoetry · 30/07/2013 15:46

If not military. Damn phone Blush

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TheregoesBod · 30/07/2013 16:08

Don't want to hijack the thread, but I was looking at Gordon's and it seems that day pupils are classifed as 'day boarders' and are charged 2k a term. I did ring the bursary office but the lady was rather abrupt so I didn't pursue it.

Have I got the wrong end of the stick or are all day pupils charged a compulsory 6k a year? If so, what about lower income families who have not got a hope of affording it? I understand that the education component is fre, only boarding is charged for. However, if there is a compulsory charge for day pupils to attend that seems extremely odd.

Can any wise mumsnet tear clarify for me please!?

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TheregoesBod · 30/07/2013 16:10

Mumsnetter, not mumsnet tear. Flipping autocorrect!

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InViennaWeWerePoetry · 30/07/2013 17:13

TheregoesBad as I understand it, Gordons is a sort of semi-private school- state school admissions but parents are charged a certain amount per year for the place if not military- exactly how that works I don't know. I looked into it briefly for DD (assuming I move back to the south east before she starts secondary, which is a way off yet) but given how ridiculously close you have to live to get in if not military and the fact that there are a number of good private options in the area I could afford without the stress of catchment areas, I went off that plan very quickly. No idea how it would work for lower income families I'm afraid. They have Saturday school so I wonder if the fee is to cover that, but then the Saturday school is compulsory as far as I know Confused

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TheregoesBod · 31/07/2013 12:26

Thanks Vienna, it's seems unusual doesn't it. Its on the state Boarding website so it's a state school but I'm still mystified by this 6k a year fee for day pupils.

Are there any Gordon's parents out there who can enlighten me please? We couldn't run to 6k a year to put all our DC through.

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choccyp1g · 31/07/2013 20:44

I gather that the 6k covers them staying on after school to do prep and have an evening meal.. and would include school dinners?

Anyone else thinkg it is a bit wierd having the criteria for a boarding school based on how near you live?

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Unexpected · 31/07/2013 21:38

Choccyp1g the criteria for boarding pupils is not based on proximity to the school (that would be strange!), distance from school is only for day pupils. OP, a quick Google threw up the following information for admission categories for Gordon's School for 2012. So it looks like almost a third of boarding admissions come from the category in which you would find yourself (still only 10 pupils however!).

Boarders: 1. LAC 2. Children of Members of the UK Armed Forces who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding fees. 3. Children who have an older sibling at Gordon?s at the time of admission. 4. Children with a boarding need not included in 2 above. Category 1 = 0, Category 2 = 18, Category 3 = 4, Category 4 = 10, SEN = 0 Offered 32

Best to ask the school for the general trend over a number of years and within that category 4, I have no idea how they would allocate places in case of oversubscription - most persuasive application letter?!

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oshgosh · 31/07/2013 21:56

We have a similar thing at our school where our 'day boarders' are called 'outboarders'. Basically they do everything that boarders do, except sleep at the school. So the Facilities Fee covers food (breakfast, lunch, dinner). The day boarders have a communal room in the House in lieu of their own room because they need somewhere for a locker and somewhere to do prep. There is a huge amount of extra-curricular activity that needs to be funded (sport, music, clubs, etc) and there is never a separate charge for these group activities (charges for individual music lessons, yes; charges for ensemble music, no). I suppose that the Fee must contribute to other House expenses too - housemaster, matron, toast!, etc.
You are not constantly being asked for money for this and that, it is all wrapped up in the Facilities Fee.

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wakeupandsmellthecoffee · 01/08/2013 17:47

So do I take it that the Gordon's school day is long enough to cover breakfast lunch and dinner even if you are a day pupil . Also does anybody know about SEN pupils there as in have I read correctly sen 0 on that last list . The last question regarding the SEN is wondering how the SEN places are allocated.

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choccyp1g · 03/08/2013 16:57

I know someone whose son goes there on SEN grounds.
As far as I know, if the school is named in the statement, then that goes above all other criteria.

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Carpenter1 · 14/08/2013 15:28

Thanks for all the advice great help. Does anyone know how many day pupils there are? I hear its 68 if that's the case why is the catchment so small ?!

OP posts:
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Unexpected · 15/08/2013 16:16

Yes, it's 100 in total. Sixty-eight doesn't seem like a large number to me and although the school itself has a semi-rural location, there are quite a number of primary schools in that area and therefore presumably quite a lot of children potentially living very close to the school.

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Mumlonglegs · 13/09/2013 23:53

Carpenter1,
If I were you, I will go to one of their open mornings and get all your questions answered. They have one this Thursday. I know both day students and boarders pay school fees. The day boarders stay on in the school till after prep, 7:30pm. I guess the fee they pay covers all the activities after school, the food and the prep. The prep is supervised by their teachers and not some assistants. As for the catchment area, it is very tight but if you are applying for a boarding place, you might be lucky. It really depends on the year you apply- how many military kids and siblings apply. They get priority.

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Tisy10 · 14/09/2013 00:39

There are currently a few empty beds this year for full boarders and likely to be next year too. It's worth contacting the school again. There is an open day on Thursday.
All parents pay the extra fees. This pays for period 7 activities every day, lunch and tea (breakfast available but most day boarders don't have it), a snack every day and teacher supervised prep every evening up to 7:30 (non compulsory for day boarders). It also pays for 2 hours activities on a Saturday morning.

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Igh3 · 22/09/2013 19:13

Hello. So I'm here to break the mold. I am neither military nor catchment and my daughter is in year 7. I live in Hackney. I applied. She got a place. If you are willing to pay, then you stand a better chance. Especially if you require FULL boarding status?

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duchesse · 22/09/2013 19:33

I have it on very good authority (friend whose children went there, who was chummy with the HT at the time (10 years ago) that the "catchment area" (because they have to have one) basically ended at the end of the school drive. Afaik they take DC they like. Not sure if that's the published admissions criterion, mind you.

BTW I taught at the school no-one wants from 2001 to 2003 and would have been happy to put my DC there. The problem (at the time) wasn't the staff or the methods, but a significant minority of the pupils who set out actively to destroy the new school and what it was trying to achieve.

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Jeshmunich · 24/09/2013 22:15

Good evening! Gordon school wont go away in my house!! DH determined to get dd in. I am very worried about the whole fitting in thing. Is this school really elite. What as asking is do most of the people in gordon school belong to the upper middle class? (that is what am trying to ask)

Thanks

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Igh3 · 25/09/2013 20:54

In response to last thread, I'm no toff. I also believe strongly in teaching children to be comfortable with themselves. I personally don't feel the school is completely upper middle class, just ordinary people.
My girl is fine. Go to their open evening and see for yourself:)

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Beauchamp · 28/09/2013 09:57

I heard that there is a bullying problem at Gordons because the boarders majority can be quite territorial and therefore unwelcoming towards the day pupil minority.

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Unexpected · 28/09/2013 14:23

But boarders are NOT in the majority? In this year's Yr 7, there are 32 boarders and 68 day pupils.

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Honestyisbest · 29/09/2013 21:10

The results at gcse not great this year. Quite a number haven't got five decent grades inc maths and English. Therefore no place in sixth form for them at the school.

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RandomMess · 29/09/2013 21:14

We went to look around for 6th form and really liked it, had a good feel to it.

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PatPig · 30/09/2013 10:20

"The figures showed 86% of students at Gordon's School in West End achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C including maths and English. Deputy headteacher Tony Bodell said: "They are a great set of results, in line with recent years. The national picture is down slightly but we've not noticed that here.""

The previous year they got 93%.

If you look at the value-added scores, they are pretty ordinary.

Also they take quite a few children from private prep schools, compared with St John The Baptist, which is another local school, Catholic, non-boarding, and operates a feeder system from state primary schools, they don't look as impressive.

The results are of course good, but they are pretty standard given the ability of the intake.

The full boarding fees are what you would pay in a private day school, so if what you are really looking for is a better school than the local state options, you might as well shop around private day schools as apply to Gordon's.

The day boarding is quite a bit cheaper than private day schools but in that case you have to live in the narrow catchment.

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