Waldegrave (Twickenham) vs. the Green School (Isleworth)?

I wonder if strix has ever caught the R70? That would knock Waldegrave, the Mall, Hampton Academy, Hampton and LEH off the list, especially LEH, have you seen the hemlines?

Actually celia the buzz coming out of Hampton Academy has been positive for some time, popular head etc which made the poor OFSTED all the more of a shock, and as I said before it was partly failing the considerable challenge of motivating white girls from the traveller site to attend school and do well but negative comments were made about the approach and not surprisingly since it hasn't been tried in the UK before, it is basically an experiment and one that many existing teachers were about . The Head at TA is more like Marmite and can switch parents off. It will be interesting to see what OFSTED make of Twickenham Academy. We would know if the Head had not very quickly sent them packing when they tried to visit as the building works overran earlier this year.

however the admissions statistics have turned around. From numbers that would have seen it close it is almost full, quite a lot from Hounslow, who might start applying to Feltham again now it's results are improving and with the Mo effect but still, pressure on places is such that as time says some parents just have to put up with it, whether they like it or not. With this Council depending on your postcode and faith you have many choices, or none, in fact at primary level (and with the pupil bulge possibly senior too in the not too far distant future) you may not even get a place at all.

Whether TA will ever be socially selective enough to satisfy Strix is another matter!

I hear there are plans to bulldoze the council estates on the A316 and build a gated community

There's been another Ofsted monitoring inspection for HA - there seems to be a lot going on, lots of new teachers, action plans, external consultants, etc. Quite impressive really. It wouldn't surprise me if the same thing was happening at TA.

Of course there will be some people who like the TA approach, and their new buildings, enough to choose them whatever the Ofsted judgement. If there are enough of those to fill it then great; the decision to transform it will be justified.

Equally, there will be people who don't like the curriculum, even if the school is judged outstanding.

Whether TA will ever be socially selective enough to satisfy Strix is another matter!

The school itself has changed quite radically, yes, but application numbers seem to be exactly the same as they always were, probably coming from the same primary schools. Not sure why they took 'Whitton' out of the name if they didn't really change the admissions criteria, unless they wanted pupils from Twickenham to go there.

I don't think the Hampton Academy Ofsted report was that bad, by the way - it says some good things - but it might struggle to attract pupils from Hounslow if Ofsted rating determines choices, because all schools there are good/outstanding (six of them were undersubscribed in 2013 though so I suspect there are other factors).

Celiamolestrangler, its more than that. This is London, where there are so many children that any school will full so long as its judged to be at least good. TA has a history of underperformance. The council gave up on trying to improve it themselves and instead turned it into an academy with a innovative swedish style curriculum. They did the same to nearby Hampton Academy too. The jury is still out on whether the transformation has been successful, which is why TA's upcoming Ofsted is crucial. If its judged to be good then it will soon fill. If not, then those who have other options will use them, and those who don't will resentfully put up with it. Fingers crossed, it will go the right way.

It seems to be the most popular school in Hounslow though - 1.2 miles cut-off, 362 first preference applications. Beats all the Richmond schools for popularity. Maybe that's why Twickenham Academy is undersubscribed, if it's in between Heathland and Orleans Park?

No room on your list but isn't The Heathland School near Whitton too? It's 'outstanding' and gets the same sort of results as Orleans Park.

Oh, and "A Learning School" is a translation of Kunskappskolan, which is the Swedish company that sponsors it (and HA as you say). A better translation would have been "Knowledge School", or perhaps a completely new strapline tailored to a local audience. I agree it doesn't work very well as it is.

Yes, more time, but also a little more support from the Whitton community. Support can be as simple as restraint from public criticism. Whitton is a great place to live, lots of family sized homes, and thriving high street. It deserves a great local school. The new building at TA is attracting a lot of interest so it could be the catalyst it needs. Hope so.

There are plenty of nice kids at TA Strix. Maybe they just don't get your bus.

Waldegrave has a few horrors. Most schools do, don't they?

There might be a Green School for Boys by the time your DS is 11 - would have an admissions policy similar to Christ's from the look of it.

a boarders mum not quite the reality

I share Strix's about Twickenham Academy. It would not have been for my DDs, sat in front of a computer scheme for hours on end, and one of OFSTEDs biggest criticism's of Hampton was the workshops that made the approach sound more engaging. However I have not spoken to current parents about their DCs actual experience and that is obviously key. As with RPA it isn't the cohorts actually getting the improving results that prospective parents need to hear from as the cohorts who have experienced the new regimes from the start, sadly not seeing the same ringing endorsements that you hear from RPA from parents from HA or TA. Hampton's poor Ofsted (and it was pretty dire) was as much to do with a cultural issue with part of the cohort as the approach but it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

However Twickenham Academy would actually have been over subscribed at initial allocations (and Hampton was) if the Council hadn't decided to split the parents who did not get any of their preferences in Hampton between TA, the nearest school with spare capacity and St RR , and not everyone was exactly happy..........

Next year there will be 146 ish additional pupils coming out of borough primaries, 5 additional classes, and there really isn't enough spare capacity at this end of the borough to leave TA half empty even with Turing and St RR (and if Catholics start signing up to St RR instead of Gumley Gunnersbury etc etc it will not be able to take pressure off the situation). The reality is that many parents don't have a choice ...........

Aboardersmum, the cohort is much bigger this year, and gets even bigger in future years so the extra places are needed.

Schools will only fill if they're good though. TA are due for an Ofsted so as long as that is positive there's no reason why it shouldn't fill. Their new building is fabulous. They might attract a few away from Hampton Academy too, because their recent Ofsted wasn't great.

Hi Strix. Did you go to any open evenings? There was lots of positive feedback about Twickenham Academy's Open Evening this year, both from people I know who we're there, and here on Mumsnet. Maybe it would have been worth a look around.

I'm slightly amused that you put Twyford as third choice when you hadn't even heard of it a few posts back, but I guess if you're just filling up slots you can afford to be reckless .

That's OK then, just didn't want you to make an error.

It going to be chaos though. I,m guessing all the Trafalgar kids and lots from Archdeacon will get Twickenham Academy (because the dont get Orleans) and Turing then will turn down TA. So TA could end up half empty

Which would you prefer out of Twickenham Academy, Turing or St RR. If you don't get any of the above. You need to have a dead cert back up. Are you closer to twickenham academy or Turing . If both are undersubcribed and you don't get any from your list you will get the closer. If Turing is fully subscribed and TA isn't if you don't get your choice you will get TA .
Waldegrave, favorite 50/50 chance good to have first. Green good backup for number 2. Twyford probibly not a cat in hells chance, Orleans unlikely but you never know. Maybe Turing and St RR will be very popular. Grey court I would say no chance. Christs no chance unless RPA has got very popular.
If you would accept Turing put it in number 6 or you could end up with Twickenham or RPA. That's not down or RPA just its a long journey

I like the order. Have you looked at the school catchment area maps on the Richmond council website? Hopefully you get one of your top two choices but if you don't then I think you will be too far away from the likes of Grey Court.

The Turing admissions point is reasonably close to Whitton so maybe that will work out - I would definitely also apply there, even with the uncertainty re location. I don't know which primary school is your local but Stanley and Trafalgar apparently account for a lot of the applications to Turing.

Good luck.

That,s supposed to be dd's not dads!

Know two people with dad's at green school, both happy with it , but one comment was that because it had a large catchment friends lived a long way away. Seemed to be quite a few from Chiswick.
Worth putting St RR on list as well if you are trying to avoid TA