more of a rural, smaller school
This basically! Dc has been at the school since year 7 and seen a change of head teacher that has expanded the 6th form & made it slicker but at heart it is still a village school. It is extremely non diverse - pretty much exclusively white middle class children. If you are coming from a more mixed area that can be a shock!
Behaviour is very good - rebellion is pretty much limited to trying to get away with wearing earrings or rolling your skirt up. Dc hasn’t experienced/witnessed any bullying & disruption in lessons isn’t an issue.
Work ethic - they all seem to be working in their free periods and are all very serious about results & going to a good university. Doing well is good.
Sport - they can if the want to. They are pretty traditional in sports on offer. I’m not sure how much they do tbh - dc is non sporty but I know there was some big 6th form rugby match last thing today. They were all out watching.
Hours a week - 4 hours teaching plus an hour directed learning per subject (except further maths which is on a fortnightly timetable & only gets 7.5 hours rather than 8).
University - academic results are very good (dc is one of the high achievers & I don’t feel is disadvantaged there compared to the Reading grammars or private schools). They get a handful to Oxford/Cambridge/Medicine every year & the majority (three quarters or so ?) of university applicants go to “good” universities.
They offer EPQ to anyone who wants to do it - in either year 12 or 13 & have various other enrichments but not as wide choice has the big 6th form colleges. The students have to be proactive, they won’t be chased to do stuff. Dc is doing four A levels & EPQ so doesn’t have time for much else atm. Most students do three (or three plus further maths).
I’m not sure how much uni preparation they do - early days for dc. So far dc’s had an interview & application day & a biology lecture trip. They have lots of Rutherford lab talks & various tech open days (not sure about the humanities side). PDP sessions are an hour a week & so far have been uni or apprentice related they also have daily tutor time & weekly topic assemblies.
The English department is very strong & I feel that there is a humanities bias overall - history, English, philosophy, politics (& maths) are most popular this year. Dc is doing all sciences though & the facilities are excellent, nearly brand new labs & small classes.
We considered the Reading grammar(s) & Henley College but dc didn’t want to move & we were happy with it too.
(Excuse typos am on phone)
