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Secondary education

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Moving to Woking - advice pls

103 replies

refizade · 11/11/2013 11:23

Hi there
I already posted this under primary education but thought i'd try here too.
We are thinking of moving (from Dubai) to Woking and need advice on schools and areas to live.
We will consider state and independent but may not be able to afford independent for more than 2 years...
We have boys who will be going into year 10, year 5 and year 4.
I havent had much luck finding good secondary schools in Woking and other than RGS no recommendations for Guildford either. Someone did mention Winston Churchilll tho...any others? Fullbrook? What is Freemantles? is Philip Southcote any good?
so much to consider!
many thanks in advance!

OP posts:
AliceInSandwichLand · 11/11/2013 18:53

I'd agree very much with unexpected. I also have a friend who teaches at Woking High and says they make a big effort especially with their most and least able students. The thing about Woking state schools is that with the exception of SJB they don't have sixth forms, and a much higher proportion of local children are in private school than is the case nationally. Both these facts affect the schools to some extent.
George Abbott in Guildford and Howard's in Effingham are both fairly local state secondaries with very good reputations.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee · 11/11/2013 17:27

If you move to Pyrford the primary there is outstanding and in my humble opinion bloomin fantastic .Fullbrook is a good state school with excellent Pastrol care.
Be very carefully where you move .Consider the secondary options .

Unexpected · 11/11/2013 11:57

Do you mean two years of private for one child or for all three? Assuming your children are coming from an international school in Dubai, you could consider private for your Yr 10 child who will be starting GCSEs. In fact, many schools will have stated the course work already in Yr 9 but, particularly if your children are in the UK system abroad, I think it is perfectly possible to step in in Yr 10. RGS is very selective academically, do you think your child can pass the entrance exams? Other private options in the area for a boy are St George's or Reeds. Yr 10 is not a normal entry point, however, so you would have to call the schools individually to find out if they have space and how they assess for entry at that stage.

Both Philip Southcote and Freemantles are SN schools, Freemantles is for students with autism, so unless this is relevant to you, you can disregard them in terms of choice.

The best state secondary school in Woking is Saint John the Baptist but it is a Catholic school so unless you are Catholic your chance of getting a Yr10 place is very small. Winston Churchill is popular and ok-ish. Fulbrook catchment does not really extend to Woking, to my knowledge, so for attending there you need to live more towards West Byfleet, New Haw, Pyrford. It is large and also ok-ish. In fact, both schools are considered good by lots of people but bear no comparison to private options.

For primary, it is more difficult to advise without knowing exactly where you will live in Woking. The fact that you have mentioned schools from Guildford to Addlestone suggest that you haven't exactly narrowed down an area which matters much more for primary with their much smaller "catchment" areas.