Moving to Herefordshire

[vinoinveritas]

Can anyone recommend any secondary schools in Herefordshire? I've done quite a bit of research online and the John Kyrle (Ross)and John Masefield school (Ledbury) seem good in terms of recent academic results. They also have a sixth form so kids don't have to go elsewhere for that. Does anyone also have experience of sending their DC to other schools that go to 16 (eg Wigmore) and then moving to Hereford sixth form? Any info particularly on facilities and pastoral care/after school clubs etc would be helpful. Thank you

[SJaneS48]

My sister moved from Brighton to outside Leominster about 12 years ago. Her 4 children all went to Weobley, then three of them onto Hereford Six Form. She really rates Weobley - no bullying issues she was aware of & very good at supporting both academically bright and less able students. On of my nephews has ADHD and the school did good work with him to keep him as motivated as he was ever going to be! Her other DC are academically high achieving (my niece especially so & currently doing her Masters at Cambridge) and they were challenged & well supported. She’s equally positive about Hereford Six Form, her 3 DC who attended all left with strong A Levels and went on to good Uni’s.

I love Herefordshire and we visit frequently - a great place to bring your kids up! Not sure my sister would recommend Leominster itself (which she has a love/hate relationship with!). The only negative from what I can see is that there aren’t that many decent career opportunities for younger graduate level people. 3 of her 4 have left and haven’t come back as there just aren’t the jobs for them.

[chocolatviennois]

I think Ledbury and John Masefield would be a good option. Nb it is a very long time since I lived in that area so don’t have up to date info on the school but the advantage of Ledbury for teens is that it has a railway line. Also nice being near Malvern Hills. Elsewhere you will find yourself driving your kids around a lot as they get older.

[blueswallow]

We ended up sending all 3 of our boys to the Cathedral School which I would recommend and they also offer bursaries to families that wouldn't normally consider private education. For state secondaries, when I was looking around for my children, I did lots of school tours and I really liked Peterchurch which is a small rural secondary school. A lot of people I know highly rate St Mary's in Hereford. The Steiner school is also very good. Most kids in the area go up to the Sixth Form College which has a very good reputation. Wigmore used to be one of the best but I've been told it has been less good over the last few years but I think it is still ok.