CHRIST COE school in Richmond

Actually the new Ofsted Report is already on the school website, here: christs.richmond.sch.uk/school-performance/ofsted-reports/ofsted-report-2013

kerry, I've heard good things about Christs from someone I know with children there. They've recently changed Head (the lady who was deputy previously is now the Head), so if that happened after your Open Eve visit perhaps you should go and meet her and look around again to get a fresh feel for the place.

Also, I know they had an Ofsted inspection just before Christmas, so the result of that should be published any day now. Keep an eye on their Ofsted page here for the report: www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/102929

Hi

Please any advice welcome on Christ school. I did visit Christ on the open evening October 12 and both my Son and I liked it very much. My Son has been offered a place today (he has been on the waiting list since September). He has been attending Chiswick school and apart from a few minor issues which have been resolved he said he is happy at Chiswick and wants to stay there. I obviously consider his views but I appreciate this will be the only offer. Just a very hard decision as we have all experienced. Thanks for reading

I did realise that but didn't want the "only the rich can afford the houses that get them into outstanding comprehensives" brigade sniffing around!

I was purely using the house price to point out that it was a family who could comfortably afford private education (and their DD was very much towards the top of the class) but they chose state.

Yes, like mine! (Which cost considerably less than half that sum)

mlp worth pointing out you don't need to spend £2m to get a house in Waldegrave catchment, in fact it would be very unlikely to cost anywhere near that much in the A catchment where there is plenty of cheaper housing.

kyles, sorry, I just thought you had not put the school on our application form at all, given you had not seen the school and appeared to know nothing of it.

Out of curiosity, how come you put it first if you dont know anything about it?

Just throwing in some data (which really doesn't answer the question of who goes state vs. private after state primary but at least gives you some sense of numbers). Last year, the Queen's newsletter gave information on 46 kids who were heading off to secondary school - 25 went to private, 20 to comps and 1 to a grammar school. Christ's took 7 (the largest overall from Queen's last September), Waldegrave 3 and the rest were over a wide range of comps. On the private side: Ibstock (5), Latymer Upper (4), while LEH/Notting Hill & Ealing/Hampton all took 3. It wasn't noted but there were also some kids who had started off at Queen's but left after, say 3 years, to go private at that point.

My sense is there is a mix of kids (in terms of ability) ending up at the comps. There are clearly some for whom private was simply unaffordable, regardless of ability, but there are others who made a definite decision to go state, even though their kid was performing at/near the top of the class (eg, I know a family whose DC was doing really well but they decided on Waldegrave and bought a 2mm quid home near the school - they could easily have afforded private school).

Happy Dads the issue is whether the child who got the scholarship got it because they were heavily tutored, or would have got it anyway? The indies are interested in ability and potential not cramming and go out of their way to devise exams that test the former not the latter.

In the case of LEH they ask on the application form if candidates have been tutored so that they can take it into account, and say that they can spot the telltale signs, so not being truthful is not a sensible way to go. They have a basic level of attainment in English and Maths below which they consider a pupil will not be able to comfortably cope with Year 7. If you are in a state school you may not have covered the entire curriculum so it makes sense to have covered that, and to have some help with working in timed conditions with a tutor or parent to be able to achieve that level of attainment, but it doesn't take heavy tutoring, or tutoring from Year 4. My own DD got a place with one terms tutoring.

However that is quite deliberately a fairly basic level, they consolidate in Year 7 to ensure the playing field is level for state and private school pupils. Then they interview all candidates who have that level of attainment and the interview, along with reasoning scores, general knowledge and the way that they have tackled the entrance exam are used to assess the pupil as a whole, their potential, creativity, personality, rather than just looking at attainment. None of that can be tutored for. It is why many of the Maths questions set are more tests of reasoning than attainment. To my knowledge only SPGS set the bar high in terms of attainment, and they set the bar high on everything else as well.

The old Head at Surbiton told a story of her exasperation that one year she had a whole bunch of candidates who when asked if they had any questions in the interview (expecting that an 11 year old might ask about trips or lunches or whatever) replied "if you could change one thing about your school what would it be" they immediately were put into the tutored pile.

Sorry OP to have gone off thread. I hope your DC is very happy at Christ's.

"I would say the reputation is a good competent school with good pastoral care but probably not the most dynamic school" is a good expansion of my first post of "Okayish/not bad".

our school gets comparable SATs to Queens and 14/25 of year 6 are going to Christs and it certainly isn't the bottom half of the class! I have friends (professional educated friends!) with children there who seem perfectly happy with it. I would say the reputation is a good competent school with good pastoral care but probably not the most dynamic school.

I'd certainly be happy for ds to go there.

Kylesmybaby - I am probably out of date and this is purely circumstantial from talking with parents in a couple of the top rated Richmond state primaries now in Y5 and Y6. The schools send maybe 25-30 kids a year to Christs, mainly lower and middle sets, so I have a pretty good awareness though not a statistical analysis to back that up.

Copthallresident - I am not sure how those private schools filter out tutored kids ... I know a child heavily tutored who was offered a scholarship at one of the schools you mention this year. Agree on the much worshipped Tiffins schools though - hugely overrated if you look at input results at 11+ e.g. for the girls (similar to SPGS) versus A levels (no where near).

I have heard some have changed their mind after the induction day didn't go too well. Also another in Y7 who moved mid term due to classroom disruption so that's probably why the spaces are coming up now.

happydads there are no link schools anymore, I think you may be out of date. And not all the people who can't afford tutors or to go private are underachievers, you also appear ignorant of the fact that the good private schools like KGS and LEH go out of their way to ensure tutoring gives little advantage, especially for those eligible for bursaries, scholarships etc. and that the top sets in the local state schools rated outstanding have GCSE results that are comparable to Tiffin (which is a bit of a scandal given it supposedly selects the top 3% for ability) and the less selective indies.

Christs would have been our state First Choice. DS was very impressed.
I liked it a lot. But it is a bit of a journey from us, so have opted for a more local school.

To be more objective it's more "okayish/not bad". About 50% from Queens' School in Kew go private after finishing, with heavy tutoring from Year 4-5 the rule for these, and a fair amount of the rest are shooting for Waldegrave (girls) if in zone, Tiffins (tutors ...), Kingston Grammar (tutors ...) too etc so this is a bit of a default option for the low achievers or untutored as it's the link school.

I know more and more local children are now going to Christ's which has to be in its favour

I heard about some people who were appealing to get a place at Christ's, so there must have been quite a lot of movement if you've been offered a place now. General opinion seems to be in favour. Also as secondaries go it's fairly small which would be a plus for me.

I gather there has been a lot of movement in all Richmond Secondary School waiting lists this year. Perhaps all the debate over the Catholic School got people talking and thinking, but I doubt it is down to anything particularly unique to Christ's. It has been increasingly popular for a while now, no reason for it to suddenly become less so apart from doubts about future leadership, I think the old Head was seen as sound but not as charismatic and motivating as some of the other Richmond Heads, I don't think Christ's improving reputation was dependent on him.

Did you not apply for Christs?

I would be a bit worried that the school is under-subscribed (and why that is) if children who have not applied are offered places. It must mean that they have less applications then places, and that would concern me.

I have friends with children there, and whereas I know some are happy, I hear other stories of bullying and "wrong crowds", staying out late, drinking smoking. But I guess you get that in every secondary and it is up to your child to make a judgement regards to who to befriend.

They have a new head this year, the old moved on to the new Catholic school that just opened in Twickenham.