Chiswick Community School - anyone have kids there?

Do pm me. I don't know Elthorne but I am more than happy to answer any Chiswick questions.

fyfe that is exactly my plan b! Maybe I could pm you? I'm interested to hear a bit more about life "overover the border"!
I see even elthorne had a requires improvement Ofsted not long ago.
Similarly i think Chiswick school will bounce back pretty quickly.
And I like the sound if Chiswick school being more multicultural. Or maybe they're much of a muchness?

Thank you this is all very helpful.mimble it's great to hear you be so positive, and yes if one reads between the lines if the Ofsted report it's not as bad as it would seem.

My ds goes to Chiswick and I have been pretty vocal on other threads about the school.

I do not recognise the school from your description and I don't think many Chiswick parents will recognise it either. It is not a badly managed school, there is now a new Head in place for September, the Governors have restructured (were actually in the process of doing that when ofsted came) and they are expecting an ofsted inspection imminently (this term or next). The measures that they have taken in the light of the RI rating mean they do expect it to go back to Good and the interim ofsted inspections that are required as part of RI have indicated that the issues within the last report have been addressed.

Pastoral care is good. Quality of education is good. Teaching is often inspirational. It has one of the best History departments in England (by results).

It is a local school - the catchment has been shrinking regularly. It was at 4 miles at one point. By the year my ds started it was down to 2 miles, he is in Y10 and it has gone down since then too. All my ds's friends are within walking/bike riding distance. He is in a group of very bright, very hard working high achievers and absolutely loves the place and is intending to stay for 6th Form.

Of course you can move to Chiswick and not go to the school - there are lots of good local schools from the WLF to Isleworth & Syon to the Green School for Girls and from this September, the Green School for Boys. So if you like Chiswick then come and live in Chiswick.

Do PM me if you want to ask anything at all but also do go round the school - the open evening is usually the first Thursday in October so put it in your diary, come and have a look. The new building will be open by then, the new Head will be in place. I think it is interesting times for Chiswick but not in a doom-mongering way.

I don't have kids there as I am in the neighbouring borough but didn't want to leave you hanging.. Chiswick school has always suffered from being in a very wealthy borough so lots of children go private. It's not nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe but it has had a few troubled years. Depending on where you are in Chiswick you could get in to Isleworth and Syon or Green if you don't mind single sex. Or come over the border to us in Ealing we have a few good secondary schools like Elthorne or Drayton Manor, our houses are cheaper and most kids go to their local comp.

Hi again,
Just bumping at a more social time of day... Thanks :)

Hello everyone!
Sorry to dig-up this old thread but thought it might be more fruitful than starting a new one.
We are just about to decide where to live based on schools, so any information is welcome! We'd love to move to Chiswick but the only thing putting us off is the secondary school.

We have a plan B of where to move but we have family and friends in the area so even though it's a bit of a push for us we could probably get something in the catchment for this school.

Part of me thinks it will be fine, I am very pro a rounded secondary education, but at the same time don't want to put by dc is a school that by many accounts seems to be floundering....?

I have no issues with intake / noisy children on buses etc...
I would however have an issue with a badly managed school that struggles with staff turnover and therefore can't offer consistency in teaching/curriculum.

From what I read here it's not really a local school either as most of the local children go to church schools or private schools, so it's not as if my dcs will be surrounded by the peers?

I'd be very grateful for any information of quality of education here and pastoral care... We have a big decision to make and are overseas so can't go and visit in person!!!

• if after an inspection the school is still RI. Leadership and governance remains in place but will be closely monitored.
• the school is inadequate and has 'serious weaknesses', meaning that the inspectors have confidence in the leadership and governance of the school to improve. Improvement will need to be seriously quick but major personnel changes are unlikely.
• the school is inadequate and requires special measures, meaning that the inspectors have no confidence in the leadership and governance of the school. Personnel changes are almost certain and the school will very likely be taken over by a multi-academy trust.

Can you confirm source?
What year is you DD/S?

This school is on the verge of going into special measures.
Financial mismanagement and poor leadership.
Not looking good for this school

Hi

My Son has been attending Chiswick since September 2013. I was very worried hearing what local parents had to say. I spoke to a parent whose child is attending Chiswick and she said its a great school. I was still concerned. Today my Son has been offered a place a Christ. My first choice and when attending opening evening my Sons choice too. He is now adamant to stay at Chiswick and said he is happy there. He has had a couple of minor issue which have been resolved. As lots of parents have explained from there experiences its up to the individual child and not necessarily the school

My dd has been offered a place at Chiswick and I would be keen to hear more experiences - especially if you have a child who has just finished Y7. The school has a really friendly feel, but I was wondering about the amount of academic challenge.

I expect I am a little defensive as I hear SO many I'll informed negative comments about the school. They've just had good ofsted which new head was v keen on to show how far it's come.

Sport is pretty good and much improved since my oldest DS started. It has grass tennis courts and a large field on site which is a big bonus. Also large (but ageing) sports hall and re surfaced all weather cage plus large Tarmac playground area for netball/basketball etc. They use v nearby dukes meadows for games too and also rowing. Football - girls and boys is v competitive and teams do well also rugby, netball, hockey, cricket,rounders, athletics all represented.

Hope this helps, sorry took so long to answer!

Meant to say, I know someone with kids at CCH and they are very happy with it.

majurormi - I think you are right. Nobody minds children letting off steam, but I saw students from my younger DD's school making nasty comments about an overweight person on the bus recently and throwing a ball around on the upper deck - an adult took it and put it in the bin when they got off. A few months ago, I saw someone chuck a full large carton of juice down the stairs as well splattering people sitting there and a pram that was being moved to get off the bus.

There is a big difference between children having fun and being respectful versus polite and well behaved.

I agree with Princess TamTam - FANTASTIC school!

Recently a very positive Ofsted report:

www.chiswickschool.org/_files/5322802F1B737C6EA7EB6BED3CC57F89.pdf

Personally, I want my kid to go to a school where kids a bit raucous on a bus journey! (makes my skin crawl thinking of perfectly behaved kids on a bus home having no fun!). And Chiswick School has proven to be excellent for academic high achievers (Oxbridge etc all possible for high achievers!)

Wow, I went to CCS. Left fifteen years ago though!!

Princess, apologies for my clumsy comment. It was not meant to be dismissive in any way but a description of our personal circumstance re our DS. At our primary, there are parents who are very happy with the school and have also chosen it above other options including independent schools. I am happy to hear your DC have done so well.

good to hear something so positive from a current parent - interesting to hear how the new head is working out, I last visited under the previous administration.

Can i ask about sport PrincessTT? DS (Y5) is very keen on football which apparently isn't taught at WLFS and obviously not on site at HA.

Am late to this but thought I should post anyway. 3 DSs at CCS - confirmed Academy status, so soon to become just Chiswick School.

Am very happy with this school. Last year's A Level results were outstanding, my lazy but fairly bright DS was pushed and got to uni to do the course he wanted.

DS2, who is not so academic has had the best time, he was at the very high achieving Belmont PS before where, frankly he felt "stupid". At Chiswick he has soared and found his confidence, he's had some fantastic teachers - as well as some rubbish ones (as in any school) - and has flourished. He's now about to take GCSEs with good predictions of mainly Bs with a smattering of As - this is something I never would have envisaged at Primary.

New head Tony Ryan is excellent and fully committed to further improving standards both pastorally and academically. DS3 has had some slight issues with his behaviour (mainly just showing off!) which they have dealt with extremely well and have clamped down on hard. Most of all it's a lovely school to walk into, its got a good feeling. The staff for the most part are very good, the head of English is particularly fantastic. Maths is very well taught as are languages, science and music. Just to clear this up - they do what is called Opening Minds during year 7 which is a combination of humanities subjects - history, geography and RS (I think) but not English which is taught separately. This was trialled during my DS2s first year and was found to be extremely successful for the transition to secondary education, so was rolled out the following year.

The school certainly suffers from the prejudice inherent in a very middle class area where a large proportion of children go to private schools. The comments about behaviour on buses are indicative of this, most schools (including the nearby Latimer Upper) would not be proud of the way large numbers of their pupils behave on buses at chucking out time - this is largely the general boisterousness of large groups of teenagers released from the school day.

Many local parents are extremely dismissive of Chiswick and comments like the one above of it being the "fallback option if everything else fails" are common, but as parents who actually CHOSE it above private schools for our children (shock horror!) because we wanted them to have a rounded education that wasn't just about pushing them to get the highest grades, but to do so in a real environment indicative of the richly cosmopolitan city in which they live, we frankly couldn't be happier. I also have to say my DS1 and every one of his friends, who have come out the other side, are a fantastic testament to our choice.

Heard today that at least two other Hounslow schools are going to Academy status as well. Gumley and Isleworth & Syon. Wonder how many on the Isleworth/Brentford/Chiswick side of the borough will be left as non academies the way things are going. Oh well. There's always the Free School.

It may have to be our fallback option if everything else fails but my DS says he does NOT want to go there! Please note they don't do separate sciences till Yr9 and they also combine in one subject history and geography. Visited a top set maths class and was not impressed at all, students learning basic algebra which DS is doing now in Yr 5 in preparation for 11+. Apart from that, Yr 7 have their own little play area to get to know each other and not feel intimidated by the big ones which is a nice touch. I also found young teachers very enthusiastic and giving. I hear bright kids do well. Some parents are truly happy. Others not so much, saying they don't push their lazy DS enough.

Thanks, yes results are looking great.

That's brilliant about behaviour out of school, on the bus etc.

I am concerned about new pressures on the teaching staff that will undoubtedly come with changing to an academy.

Any CCS insiders on MN today?