St. Paul's primary school

[Tfc85]

My family and I are moving to Central Cambridge and looking at the area, St Paul's would be our catchment school.
Does anyone have any up to date information about the school?
Ive read on here that the head is quite religious. Are they still there?
What are the teachers like? Eldest DS is in year 3, younger DS is in year 1 and DD will be starting school next year so would be interested in any info anyone has.
Any other recommendations for schools in the central Cambridge area?

[GrouchingTiggerHiddenSomething]

Hi Tfc,
My children are at St Pauls and seem pretty happy there. The year 1 teacher is fantastic and my child had a brilliant year with her last year. Haven't got personal experience of the current year 3 or reception teachers but what I've heard (reception especially) is good. The head is a Christian and it is a CofE school with quite strong church links - they have a (harvest) church assembly at St Pauls church tomorrow morning - usually they happen about twice a term I think. It's quite a small school and I love it's sense of community and how all the staff know all the children. The most recent parent view survey shows 92% of parents would recommend the school. Obviously no school is perfect but it's worth a visit I would have thought. Other schools in the city centre include St Matthews (much larger - 3 form entry) and Park Street (very small!!) and there tends to be quite a bit of movement in Cambridge as people (especially academics) come and go.
HTH.

[Tfc85]

V. helpful. Thanks GrouchingTiger.
A couple of church assemblies doesn't sound too bad. Do they have assembly in school every week?
We will book a visit for St Paul's although I'm keen to hear some more opinions.
3form entry sounds overwhelming. Pick up time must be a nightmare!

[GrouchingTiggerHiddenSomething]

They do have assembly in school during the week and I think the vicar from St Paul's comes in sometimes, they do sing Christian songs in assembly. As a VA school (rather than VC) they are perhaps more Christian than some other schools, they do offer some places (I think 3 per year) for active Christians and quite a few of the governors have church links.

I've no idea how St Matthews handles so many children at pick up and drop off but I have friends with children there and they seem happy. I think pretty much all the schools in Cambridge are good. I guess you don't know which school will suit your children best until you have looked around.

Hope all goes smoothly for you.

[surchacam]

Hi,

Bumping this thread in case anyone else finds it useful. I am a governor at St Paul's and have two kids there (one who has been going for five years now).

I wanted to post as a lot of what was posted here before is now out of date. Since the previous posts, the bad news is that the school received a dreaded 'Requires Improvement' grading (in 2015). The good news is that kick-started a lot of change. We now have a great new headteacher who, along with the rest of the staff, has changed the whole feeling of the place. The most recent Ofsted update (on the school's website) was very promising and highlighted a number of the positive changes that have been made.

On the religious question that is brought up above, while it is a CofE school and so follows a broadly religious ethos, it is a vibrant, multicultural place that is open to all. This is pretty essential given the central Cambridge catchment which means there's a great mix of long-time local Cambridge families but also the kids of visiting academics from all over the world.

Despite the central city location, the school has relatively large grounds with a big playground, a new play/climbing area, a pitch for sports and a separate Early Years play area, as well as a courtyard that links all the classrooms. It's just single form entry and so there's a strong community feel.

The PTFA is active and organises lots of fun events for kids and parents and has also raised a lot of money which has allowed it to update a number of areas (outdoor play area, astro-turf pitch, sports equipment, etc)

The school has an after school club (useful if you work/etc!) and has a bunch of extra-curricular activities including sports clubs, music lessons, martial arts, classics, languages, etc.

If you're looking for more information, please reply below + I'm happy to answer any questions!