JFS /Yavneh College

@Parentingteens76 this thread is 13 years old and its title refers to different schools than the one you're asking about.

For a better chance of relevant replies, I suggest you start a new thread with Immanuel College, Bushey in the title.

I would also love to know what people think of Immanuel College in Bushey. Thanks.

Its a complicated answer. It's a good school but theres so much that needs work. The mental health system is terrible. There has been a few talks about mh but they don't actually do anything to show they care for the students mentally which is so important. A student killed himself and nothing much was done. it was disappointing. The school and students actually reminds me of 13 reasons why. The education system does need work.

DD is at Yavneh and can only echo the above point about both schools. JFS currently has the edge on 6th form at the moment, they had 16 to Oxbridge last year and Yavneh only had 2 but both send virtually everyone to Russell Group uni's. I will be keeping an eye on Yavneh's 6th form, last year was only their 2nd set of homegrown i.e children coming up from year 7, results. I would be expecting to see 8-10 a year to Oxbridge over the next few years. DD unlikely to be such material but if she is then I would probably consider a move to JFS or private for 6th form as given the intake Yavneh should be working towards getting similar numbers proportionally into Oxbridge as JFS.

I have a DS at JFS and he is very happy there. He is very enthusiastic about his lessons and does a lot of extra-curricular activities. Academic standards are generally high. Lots of opportunities to pursue any interests you may have. The children come from all over North London and from a variety of different backgrounds.

The children at Yavneh are mainly local to the school, and the school is smaller, so quite a different type of school. But both schools have similar academic results. Yavneh has a new Head - I haven't heard much about him so not sure what he is like or how he might change the school.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but also keen on up to date thoughts of Yavneh vs JFS ?

I'd never send a child there - live just round the corner, where the spoilt brats sixth formers park the expensive little cars given to them by mummy and daddy and have a crafty fag or three. They're rude - they nearly ran over my kids because they weren't looking where they were going and then shouted abuse! No idea about the standard of education but dreadful manners.

What do people think of Immanuel?

I find this thread by chance. My son is at yavneh. It is a modern orthodox school with a good organization and severe in a visible way with the odd few trouble makers. My guess is that B&B knows a couple of the trouble makers. Hopefully they already made the switch to another school.

Good, as long as you're happy with it. I found the school's attitude rude and disrespectful to both parents and children, and the head ghastly, but different strokes and all that.

I'm not sure what the margin of error is for the 87/82 difference, but i'd be surprised if that difference says anything but that the two groups are broadly similar.

Just to compare - at JFS, 87% got 5 good GCSEs, with 51% getting the Bac. At Yavneh, it's 82% and 23%. So draw your own conclusions as to which is a better school.

Like i said, it's marmite. Plenty of people like it; plenty hate it. As long as you're happy with your choices, that's what matters.

Resh - the cupboard is not a myth - the Head stressed it as one of the benefits of the school at the Open Day! ie strict discipline policy. I saw the blooming cupboard (well, small, windowless room that the dcs are locked in) with my own eyes. So it is factual.

No, I don't have children there, clearly - given my views on the school, it would be a bit weird to choose to send my own dcs there!

I do however know lots of people who do have dcs there.

As i said, upthread, Yavneh is a bit marmite - you either love or hate it. You can guess which camp i fall into and i know many people who feel the same. But clearly some are happy with it.

Ima - I am not "intent on dragging the school's name through the mud" - I have no reason to do that as it doesn't affect me personally. I do feel an obligation to warn a fellow MNetter of the potential downsides of the school. Feel free to disagree by pointing out what you see as the school's advantages - but not by making groundless ad hominem attacks.

Crumbs! Locking children in cupboards! If that were in the slightest way true, wouldn't someone be complaining?

As I've said before on another thread, go with your gut feeling. If you don't like strong heads, this isn't one for you. In our case, our DS has gone from being a timid, young-for-the-year to a confident, thriving both socially and academically.

He was apprehensive about the strict rules, but soon found out from the excellent pastoral carer in Y7 that there was much flexibility within the apparent rigidity. I.e. if you're generally good, no one will bat an eye about an occasional slip.

There's also a lot to be said to sending a child to a local school, or at least one where there are friends he can see after school/travel back with etc.

It seems as though B&B is intent on dragging the school's name through the mud. Every post mentions naughty children, naughty rooms etc. As for bringing a kippah, it is expected at an Orthodox school.

I DO have kids at the school and they are happy. They've had a couple of issues along the way. No school is fault free and neither is Yavneh but is isn't such a terrible place that this one poster is making it out to be.

breadandbutterfly are you writing about Yavneh from experience? In my own experience (DS there now a couple of years) it is strict, but generally fair. The children know what the sanctions are and on the whole abide by them. I would definitely recommend it for bright, academically minded children.

Definitely not Yavneh. Really. Or naughty room for them, repeatedly.

JCOSS has a more accomodating mindset I think.

Can I get SEN for ADD? I can't imagine my girls would be very disruptive, but they might find it really hard to learn classroom etiquette, again they might adjust quickly.

It may well involve them being removed from the classroom though - you can't expect them to stay in a class situation if they are disrupting the learning of others, irrespective of SEN.

Err none - if you want them to attend a particular school you agree to abide by that school's rules. If you don't like that continue to HE.

If they have diagnosed SEN then you need to make sure the school can accommodate those needs but I doubt any school would agree to rewrite its discipline rules - it wouldn't be fair on other pupils for a start.

I don't know either of the schools but would suggest you discuss your dd's needs with them and ask about their discipline measures - you might be surprised - discipline in secondaries doesn't usually involve naughty corners!

I just found this thread. My dilemma is that I'm home educating my twin daughters and I applied late for the Jewish secondaries, but to my amazement we got places offered at Jcoss (first choice) and then Yavneh called about the SIF form and said they have places also. Yavneh is much easier for us to get to from Stanmore so I thought maybe we should consider it, but I've been worried reading about the authoritarian regime there and the isolation unit. My kids are both very academic and very advanced mathematically, but both have ADD and have never sat in a classroom. They are chatty, active kids and I can't imagine they wouldn't break some classroom rules. I would never permit a kid of mine to be put in a naughty room. Can I just tell Yavneh that? What rights do I have over punishments meted out in a state school?

Re JCOSS, I think you're probably right that the discipline is less strict - probably because the older kids aren't there yet, they don't need such strict discipline?

I quite like a policy of mutual respect - as long as they are strict on academic discipline ie children expected to achieve what they're capable of rather than what they can get away with, and here I think JCOSS scores high;y - they seemed to have clear policies in place for monitoring children's academic progress and informing parents of this - which I liked.