Shoreham academy

[loumaria]

Any one have experience or thoughts on shoreham academy? Obviously it has an outstanding ofstead and on paper looks great. I'm moving to area from London.
Local friend insists I shouldn't consider it - says its 'rough' though.
I find this hard to believe (plus coming from east London I'm pretty open minded).
Any thoughts anyone?

[MissWimpyDimple]

It used to be poor, but is now considered very good. What other options are you considering as the schools in the area are pretty oversubscribed so choice may not be much of a factor

[loumaria]

boys have another two years before they start secondary schools but want to buy with them in mind. Was looking at Worthing but schools don't seem as good - junior or secondary. Any suggestions welcome

[PinotPony]

I don't know much about Shoreham Academy but I imagine it picks up the students from nearby Lancing, which is a bit of a dump.

There are some nice schools in Worthing - you just have to know which ones!

We live in Goring and my sons have been to both Goring First School and West Park. The former is quite small - great pastoral care. The latter has better facilities for sports and science.

Other good primary schools around Worthing are Thomas a Becket and Broadwater First.

With regard to high schools, there are several.
Durrington High School has had a lot of investment in recent years - great sports/science/art depts. - but as a result is massively oversubscribed even though it is a huge school - 1740 students. They turned away 70 children last year and my eldest failed to get in for Sept 2016.

Instead he is going to Chatsmore Catholic High School in Goring. (we're not Catholic!). Much smaller - 620 students with a focus on art, drama and music. Very polite and conscientious students when I walked round.

Worthing High School in Broadwater was in special measures a few years back but has had lots of investment. I didn't look at it for my son but have heard lots of people say how impressed they were and I think it was oversubscribed this year.

There is a new high school in Broadwater - Bohunt Academy. Bit of an unknown and they are still getting it up and running.

Two single sex schools - Davison for girls and St Andrews for boys - I was a Davison girl! Not as popular as they once were but I hear mixed reviews.

I would avoid buying anywhere near East Worthing, Lancing and Littlehampton areas. Shoreham is nice enough but there isn't much there compared to Worthing (in my opinion). I'm a big fan of Broadwater (for proximity to the Downs) and Goring (for proximity to the beach).

Hope that helps you. x

[Pearliegirlie1]

I have known this school for 9 or 10 years. I suggest you visit, as a school they welcome visitors and run open days where you can walk around the school during a normal day and get a feel for the place. I would never call it rough, but my opinion isn't what counts, you have to be comfortable with your choice, so why don't you go and see for yourself? Students come from Shoreham and Southwick mainly and it has improved year on year for the last ten years. It is housed in a lovely new building, I guess about 4 years old and has great facilities.

[Thornrose]

There are parts of East Worthing that are fine. Estate agents suck their teeth and warn against the perils of East Worthing. Go for the lovely roads by the sea and avoid the more inland parts around East Worthing station.

I moved from a rough part of South London so my definition of rough is quite different from the locals!

[Cammey223]

It's still the worst school in sussex....even the South. The bullying is ridiculous and they victim blame alot there. If your child is caught defending themselves they get detention, the horrible kids (and there's a lot) get in school suspension so the poor victim still has to see their bully there. Children get detention for the most pathetic things, whispering, passing a pencil to a friend to use, not having the right uniform or shoes. The school is still one big joke.

[Cammey223]

Also just to add Worthing high school was and will always be the best school in Sussex, when I was there it was rated one of the top schools, I would give my right leg to go back to that school it was an amazing experience and the best time of my life and fun times I had was at that school.

[tinypop4]

It's not rough. Pretty average for the area and I remain surprised it's outstanding. If you look for property in the North of Shoreham you might be able to get your children into Steyning Grammar which is a much better school

[deb660]

I take absolute exception to you calling Lancing a "Dump". That implies that it is waste ground for trash which it certainly is not! The Sir Robert Woodard has faults like any school however any "real" concerns are dealt with immediately and they have an excellent team for SEN children. State of the art facilities as well. My niece and Nephew went to a private school in Shoreham where the Arts had to share the facilities with the Sports pupils in 1 hall. Lancing has it's own production facilities with a theatre as well as all the facilities required for indoor and outdoor sports. There are some rough areas in Lancing the same as anywhere but to call my hometown a dump is unacceptable.