Claremont Fan Court School

[Padar]

Son in yr 6. Considering RGS Guildford ( if he gets in ) , st George's and Claremont Fan Court .
I sort of feel maybe the last one is best suited as very small and friendly . I would like some feedback on it - how religious is it these days , how much homework , how's the atmosphere etc .
Thank you !

[Sunshine5050]

I don't have a dc at Claremont Fan but I know it's a back up for a lot of people but hates to be thought of as a back up. A lot of dc at St George's on the 5th will be at Claremont on the 6th. The dc I know who are there are happy & the parents feel whilst it wasn't their first choice it was the right choice for their dc. If you don't choose Claremont have you got another option?

[Padar]

The other option would be st George's - I think my my son is likely to get in . But I might prefer Claremont as it's smaller . So you're saying the children who don't make it into st George's college from the junior school go there ? It had an excellent inspection report . It looked old fashioned when I visited , but with very small classes . More like a big house than a school . Very lovely .
If he would get into RGS I would have to think hard as his brother is there and very happy ...very good school !
Reed 's a bit too full on for my son, all those activities , he hates that sort of thing :-) I'm also interested in feedback on St George's . Looks like a well run school to me .

[YellowFlamingo]

If your DS gets into RGS I'm sure it would be a non-brainer that your DS should go there. DS went there and it was without question outstanding (he was quiet, geeky and needed nurturing aged 11 and ended up a happy, still geeky, dynamic 18 year old who went off to med school).

There is nothing wrong with having a back up and thinking of it as a back up. If you DS doesn't get into RGS, RGS wasn't right for him and the back ups will become obvious best choices for your individual DS.

Claremont is meant to be nurturing, organised and lovely. It is not a bad choice.It is Christian Science which puts some off but in reality that element isn't big or a reason for parents to choose the school. The leavers' destinations of Claremont are sensible and mixed but seem well informed.

St George's is well-regarded but catholic so helps if you are too.
Other options would be City of London Freeman's, Epsom College, St John's Leatherhead, Halliford.

If your DS is realistically the right level for RGS then King's Wimbledon and Hampton Boys are good other choices.

[Padar]

Yellow Flamingo ! I really appreciate you thinking with me.
These threads are very useful for local parents .
Choosing a school is a big decision . Most parents go with where their children 'get in ', but I have chosen nurturing schools over academics in the past .DD2 went briefly to Tormead , but that didn't go well as DD1 was in hospital and the lack of pastoral care for DD2 who was worried sick , was shocking .( this was many years ago ).So she was moved to St Teresa's .
After all these years she tells me academically Tormead was more suited to her . It's not even so much the schoolwork , it's the environment ( more geeks;- )).
After that experience I withdrew DS1 from the RGS entrance exams . He was going to go to Reeds . Only in yr 7 he said he changed his mind and wanted RGS ( yr 6 is too young to decide !). Luckily for him he could do the 12+.
He thrives at RGS , I can't fault the school.
Dynamic teachers/ teaching , well organised , good pastoral care too , nice bunch of boys ( and parents ). GCSE year was boring but that's because gcse 's are boring .
So back to DS2. He's at a prep school where school finishes very late and he's fed up with school .
Lots of homework now at half term too .
I have trouble motivating him to do it .
He got , without training and with no native English speaking parents , 126 For VR (. NV slightly above average ).
Maths good , English so-so as was his brother's but as said , DS1 did exam a year later so more time to catch up .
He's got dyspraxia so not good at team sports , which is my worry about St George's .Shy boy , a bit of a philosopher .
I live between Claremont and St. George's so if DS1 doesn't get into RGS I want an easy life and friends nearby ; , it's got to be one of the two nearest .
Yes he could try Hampton as some get into one between rgs and Hampton and not the other , but I don't want him to sit too many exams . Maybe you're right and I should just trust the rgs 's admissions : if he gets in , it means he will be ok .
And then I might chose Claremont over St George's as I really like the environment. To me it seems that the kids go into good uni's if that's right for them . They have more of a mixture but with VR 126 I would expect DS2 to not get into oxbridge , but into a good uni .
This can be achieved at any of these schools I guess ?
Anyway feedback about St George's for non sport kids , or Claremont , are appreciated.

[YellowFlamingo]

Interesting to hear your perspective :) I agree about 'thinking it through' with others. I guess for my DC I was lucky in that they got into schools and then never (well rarely!) moaned about them or were unhappy.
For other children, it is more complex. Interesting to hear your DD moved then realised Tormead was a preference. But as you say, at the end of the day most schools will give our DC a great experience... It really is a first world problem having such amazing choices!

All DC I've known to go to St George's are the cool kids who are sporty... but could just be the bunch I've met!

[Fffion]

I think with your choices, I'd go for the school that is easiest to get to.

My boys went to St George's and did fine, although DS2 claimed not to like it. Funny, when we invited home to move to Strodes for sixth form, he suddenly liked it. He was a drama person rather than sports, although did enjoy tennis.

DS1 loved it. He play rugby for the 1stXV, but thrived on the academics.

It's a school that has facilities for everyone - sport, drama, music, debating etc.

That was under Mr Peake's headship, so thinks may be different now.

We keep getting mailed about snazzy new facilities. I think they have an "activity centre" opening shortly.