What secondary schools are best for my DD in farnborough

[Kam21]

Hi,
We are moving to Farnborough in the next couple of months and need to start looking for good secondary school, any suggestions or advise please?

Thanks
Kam21

[cdtaylornats]

Which one Hampshire or Kent?

[Kam21]

Hampshire

[helenwilson]

Hi, what year is your child going in to ? I assume you mean state school but do correct me if I'm wrong. The state secondary schools in Farnborough are not that great, Wavell is probably the closest to central Farnborough and Cove is on the outskirts (in Cove). Wavell is the better school out of those two. Depending on what year your child is in, there may be spaces at other schools just outside of Farnborough. Court Moor and Calthorpe Park are both good schools in Fleet, and Tomlinscote is a good (outstanding) school in Frimley - these places are about ten minutes drive away (max). Collingwood is in Camberley and is generally undersubscribed, it is generally a good school (not as good as those other three but probably better thank Wavell although not sure), you would almost certainly get a place there. For what it's worth, Connaught in Aldershot and Ash Manor in Ash are best avoided if you are offered places at either of these schools.

If you are looking at independent schools then Farnborough Hill has a good reputation for girls and there's Salesian for boys, also Hawley Place too, but best to shop around for independents as Guildford schools are also commutable at a push.

[Kam21]

Thank you for your reply, do you have children who go to any of these schools?
What is the reason why you say the schools are not that great?
Is it the children, teachers?

[Ta1kinPeace]

some parts of that area still have issues from the old military intake
but its evening out
best thing is to visit them as each has a different vibe

[Ionacat]

Wavell is well thought of and tends to be oversubscribed and Cove always used to be pretty good. Collingwood always has spaces as it is massive - 360 in a year, but always has been a good school. Farnborough is changing rapidly as it has had lots of investment. I would ring, find out where there are spaces and go and visit.

[Witchend]

Tomlinscote, despite being rated outstanding a number of years ago, has had dreadful results both GCSE and A-level in the last couple of years. they blamed everything except themselves

[FrimleyIsTheCentreOfTheWorld]

A bit of a late reply- I needed to name change for this!

I have a child in year 5 and have been looking into local secondary schools.

Farnboouh is in an area called Rushmoor. In Rushmoor there are 4 secondary schools: Wavell, Cove, Fernhill and Connaught. Wavell is rated as good, the other 3 require improvement. The latter 3 also have had results under the national average for at least the last 5 years. The catchment areas can all be found on the Hampshire school's admission website, however Wavell is the only school currently oversubscribed and you more or less have to live in the catchment area to get a place. It is by no means a brilliant school though. Connaught is being closed when it breaks up for Easter and will reopen after Easter as a new all through school called Alderwood and will be joined to an infant and junior school which will also be known as Alderwood.

Across the border in Surrey, provided you are within distance, you have equal priority with those living in Surrey if you live in Hampshire. Collingwood is a very large school off the A30 in Camberley. It is not oversubscribed, offers lots of subjects and gets good results. It is rated good by ofsted. It has a bad reputation locally, but others love it. Also in Surrey, in Frimley, is Tomlinscote. This is rated outstanding and has a tight catchment (see the school website) and is oversubscribed every year. It has a good reputation, but I have also heard a lot of negative things and I don't think the children there aren't as nice as you'd assume. It's results are round about the same, if not worse, than the undersubscribed Collingwood. Between the two schools, near the M3 junction, is Kings International. This is a very small undersubscribed school. It also has a bad reputation, but parents whose children go there love it and especially its family like nurturing nature. It's exam results aren't very good.

To the south and close to Aldershot, is Ash Manor. Despite a local reputation as "trash manor" it now has a new head who might be turning the school around. The results, although bad, are improving. It was oversubscribed and has a waiting list this year for the first time ever!

In Fleet (which is in an area known as Hart), I think there are two secondary schools- Calthorpe Park and Courtmoor. Calthorpe always used to have the better reputation, although they are both good I think. Also both are oversubscribed and I'm not sure how close you hAve to live to get in.

In Aldershot, there are a few more schools- All Hallows' is very good, but you have to be Catholic to get in there. I think Weydon school is a good secondary and Farnham Heath End isn't so good (it's definitely undersubscribed) but I have less knowledge of the school's down there.

So in summary, if you are moving to Farnborough, make sure you live in Wavell catchment! Or live somewhere else ;). HTH