Newstead Wood 2017 admission

Yes, especially if they are in the lower years and are expecting to be able to take those subjects at A level.

Parents have not been told...some read the minutes but to wade through these and pick out the key points is not a five minute job. They also haven’t told parents the decision to cut Engineering and Music at A Level. I appreciate many schools are making tough curriculum decisions, it is just polite to let parents with girls at the school know!

Symirna. Is last week's Ofsted visit to the school the reason why you have added a positive spin to this thread and the other thread you mention? You seem well informed. Perhaps you have a greater connection to the school than just as a parent?

Is it really a good idea to resurrect scary threads that have been buried on the forum?

But now you're here and you want to talk parents' money. The school's parents' fund, or PET, has apparently been mentioned to Ofsted. You'll see PET mentioned in the governors' minutes of 7 Feb 2018, available on their website:

"Governors expressed concern that PET funding could also be lost in the overall UL budget as a result, and the Chair agreed to follow this up at a higher level in UL."

Symirna, are you happy that the money given by parents to PET by direct direct, could be going into the pockets of United Learning, the trust that run the school?

This point in the minutes was being actioned by the Chair back in February. I wonder what the outcome was and whether parents have been told?

I suggest you read the latest Governors minutes about the PET fund. Then decide if you will continue paying. I cancelled my DD recently and buy books for the library instead. I support the school but there has been a lack of transparency about what is going on with the fund. Read the minutes and make up your own mind though. The PET team have not reported for ages and I’ve emailed them without a reply. Please be careful about contributing to the fund. Also don’t confuse this with the good work the teachers do who have no control over these things.

I just posted another positive review to "Newstead - a warning" thread. Have to say here that NW funding problems are also due to the fact that there is a postcode lottery around the funding each school gets depending on their borough, and Bromley schools are among schools that get the lowest funding countrywide. NW also doesn't get much SEN or pupil premium funding.

St Olaves has/had a parental contribution campaign and as far as I heard, they raised 400K by 2017. At NW a similar campaign was set up by concerned parents, not by the teaching staff or leadership. And if you're following the news, you'll be aware that all schools are being extremely squeezed and even the private schools ask for donations, when they charge more than double the money allocated to state schools..

I do contribute to the NW fund, and I think they are using it wisely. The guideline is to donate £50 per month, which should be affordable for any parent who considers private school as an option. Parents who can't afford that of course do not need to, though they could still consider donating £10 or £20 per month if that would be affordable.

Why the discrepancy in persistent absence rate though? National average for overall absence 2016/2017 was 5.4%. Townley absence was 3%, NW was 5.1%. National average for persistent absence was 13.5%, Townley was 3.4% whilst NW was huge 19.4%, slightly lower than last year. Townley is a much bigger school with a sixth form over twice the size of NW, 235 A level students in 2017 compared to 111 students at NW. Would have thought the bigger school might have more problems with attendance, not the smaller school?

Hi everyone, missed this thread as been inactive for a while. I would say my daughter is thriving at Newstead. The teaching is excellent and my daughter is very happy. The girls are supportive of each other and the school has a nice environment. This for me is more important than flashy buildings or facilities. Their results are also good- as mentioned before GCSE on a par with Townley and A levels much better. I still am sure I made the right decision however my only problem is there is no sibling priority as my other dd is doing her exams this year!
Hope this helps!

Parents at the school received a letter from United Learning confirming that Newstead is now part of their MAT. It talks of 'already putting plans in place to enhance' the school by working with independent schools Guildford High and Ashford. They are also working with the school to recruit a new Head when the current interim Head retires at the end of this academic year.

A statement (but not the same wording as the letter to parents) is also on the United Learning website: unitedlearning.org.uk/News/ArtMID/476/ArticleID/867/Newstead-Wood-School-joins-United-Learning

DD is very happy at the school and thriving. She has found other quirky girls who are kind and thoughtful. In DD's Guide pack there are girls at Townley too and they are also happy. DD's deciding factors were NW was closer, she liked the language and Engineering emphasis, she didn't hate but preferred to avoid the more compulsory elements of dance and drama at Townley. We were envious of the computer suites at Townley and it is all very glittery but the learning at NW seems so far to have been excellent. Other things to consider are the class sizes at Townley, 32 compared to 27 at NW, not a bad thing in itself but I've got a teacher friend who says if she was deciding between schools, if all other things were equal (which they obviously rarely are) she would choose the one with the smaller classes due to pure workloads and so that may be relevant about attracting future teaching staff.

@aarkar - Townley vs Newstead - I don't think anybody else can make a decision for you. Both are good schools and probably at par with each other for GCSE but certainly their A-level performance is quite different with Newstead easily beating Townley results.

Does anyone know what joining MAT may mean for Newstead in the short and long term? I saw the schools under United Learning and most are pretty average performing - not sure if they performance changed for schools after they joined UL or were already so.

To me, Newstead seems to have really good teachers and students (super selective it is) but really need more spending on their infrastructure - which is abysmal compared to Townley but then, maybe, Townley needs better students and teachers to make use of their good infra and take it up the charts :)

Dear Sobz70, thank you for making such valuable contributions to this thread. I live in Bexley and about 2 miles from Townley Grammar. My daughter got into the top 180 in bexley entrance test and has got a score of 255 in Newstead Wood. Leaving alone the travel, which school do you think you would choose if you were me, given the current scenario at Newstead Wood. We are in a dilemma and don't know which one to choose. My daughter likes both schools.

Thanks for your reply! Feeling so anxious now as the future is uncertain. I know all schools are going through financial difficulties right now. Hopefully UL will be a good thing for Newstead!

Hi sobz70, just read through all my posts, which are depressing. But DD's experience was up to 2016. Looking to the future I firmly believe that with such talented girls carrying each other along and some excellent teachers the problems could be turned around. It needs United Learning to bring in new governors as the longer term governors have had too much influence and parents/teachers are too scared to challenge them. It needs new blood and I know of professionally qualified parents who are particularly keen to join the board but no vacancies have been advertised for the 2 vacant parent governor positions. UL also need to plough money in, particularly for the IT system and then just let the teachers teach. An additional point: you will find parents are continually asked to financially contribute, which we did, but despite assurances from the governors no accounts were published for the donations, making it hard to see where the money went, so I would advise waiting until you can see where UL are taking the school. Although, I can't see why parents should contribute after a MAT has taken over a school - why save the MAT money? As extra insurance you could ask to go on the Townley "in-year" waiting list after Sept 2017. At a larger school there may well be movement, there was even in my DD's NW class, some families move abroad etc, so new girls joined in year 8 and 9. You could always turn down a Townley waiting list offer if you didn't need it. Just a thought?

Hi everyone,
This is worrying me as my daughter also has got a place for 2017 entry. It's her top choice as she loved the school and atmosphere when we visited on open day. I really hope the school can address the issues. I did go to the MAT consultation and was concerned. It seems the governors are not very experienced to me. However joining united learning may not be such a bad thing and I was quite impressed with the CEO- Jon Coles. Hopefully there will be better days for the school but I am concerned as my daughter is just about to start her academic life there and everything is so uncertain. We also had Townley near us and chose Newstead over Townley so hope the decision will be worth it!

Ok, just getting the hang of Mumsnet Talk. I was reading layercake9's reply when it was deleted! Well done MNHQ. PettsWoodParadise, I hope you do read this. We are in the same boat, interested parents trying to find the best for our DDs. We were elated when our DD got into NW in the good old days of the long term head. It has not been the same since that head left in December 2013 after 12 years' service. There are many lovely teachers, parents and pupils, but I believe there have been too many changes at the top, both in heads and governors. United Learning may well be able to turn it around and I hope for the sake of your and your friends' DDs they do. The hard working teachers especially deserve it to be great again. My DD has very fond memories and made life long friends. Good luck to your DD.

I am going to bow out of this thread. I find it is trying to turn into a bashing session and despite others also saying they have had good experiences and their friends too it is now turning to an investigation on me and not anything about the good things the school is doing. Yes, I have done a lot of investigation. Yes a lot of parents investigated the MAT and asked questions. We made a decision as a family. DD is happy there and I can't fault the school to date - other than the plumbing.

I expect Greenacre parents also thought they had been properly consulted! PettsWoodParadise I appreciate you are being positive but I had direct experience of Newstead and again I would suggest parents ask many questions, in fact of any school/MAT they are interested in. I can see that you have had your own reservations on Newstead on your previous post on the thread:
More tests or high achieving school which gut instinct says will 'fail'? PettsWoodParadise Thu 12-Nov-15 22:27:38
Scenario: DD has passed 11+ and wants to go to our closest school the 'excellent' superselective. But there are MAJOR buts. It has major debts, the fabric of the building is crap, the teachers are reportedly OK but some are not. Nearly all the girls do well but general consensus is that the only reason they do so is they are surrounded by like-minded girls who were selected based on ability. Pastoral issues are major at this school but are clearly being addressed with firm decisions by the acting Head. No headteacher at present and only likely to know who it is when DD possibly starts in Sept. last OFSTED in 2014 was outstanding but my gut says if they were inspected tomorrow they would be failing. The Governors used to meet every six weeks, last year they met four times and so far this year they haven't met which all yells 'problem' to me. Just prior to hitting 'send' on the CAF form I was out voted in family meeting by DH and DD (grrr) on sending DD to a grammar that is IMO is better (but not superselective) in the next borough - the argument being transport times. We are not in catchment for a great local comp as otherwise would have jumped at that.

The consultation was anything but quiet, trust me! Lots of questions were asked by lots of parents so is positive and reflects engagement - answers were posted to the MAT page www.newsteadwood.bromley.sch.uk/Newstead-Wood-School-MAT-Consultation/index.asp

Thank you merlottime. I am concerned to read that the MAT is closing the Greenacre senior school in Banstead. Although independent, it is very similar to NW, girls only, very good results and in an affluent area. The public consultation by UL re NW seemed very quiet. Current NW parents I know were given 6 days' notice of the consultation meeting with UL reps on Jan 18. Really not enough notice. They told me they heard the two parent governors, only a few months before end of their 4 year tenure, resigned at the same time joining a MAT was mooted by the board back in July 2016. There are now no parent governors on the board and no vacancies seem to have been advertised. One of my concerns when my DD was there was that the same governors just rotated. NW's green fields and ownership of the Tennis Centre make it an attractive acquisition for any MAT. The 90% staff costs aren't though. UL won't allow those costs to be so high, when the norm is 75%. Also, 4% top slice sounds low but MATs charge extra for consultants to help sort out old problems. I wonder if the Tennis authorities were consulted as the Tennis Centre is a great local asset. Perhaps a current parent could start a new thread to see if you can connect with other like-minded parents. The school has not yet joined the MAT. You could ask more questions of UL and/or your school governors.

MATS are the new "way forward" as they can share resources. It's knowing which MATS are immoral, money-grabbing arses and which are not that is the problem.

I don't know United Learning at all.

Oh no - little concerned reading this as DD is supposed to be starting at NW this September. We were a little conflicted: we have a very good girls' comp locally, and it's very new and shiny compared to NW, but I have friends with daughters in Ys 9 and 11, and they are both very happy. The news about NW possibly joining a MAT came after we put NW as no 1 on the form: MATs do not have a very good reputation :o(.

The following article is just one example. Rats, this has rather taken the shine off...
www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/28/perry-beeches-academy-chain-stripped-schools-critical-finance-report

United Learning's involvement would worry me - they have just closed down the senior school of Greenacre in Banstead and are turning the site into a massive prep, and collapsing two other preps into it.

Hi Cauliflower, it is all on their website. United Learning. The MAT has done its due diligence and has been known not to accept schools in too dire straights as it could adversely affect the whole Trust.

Just remembered. It's United Learning with 56 schools currently under its belt.

I think Newstead is experiencing more than a financial pinch.

Which academy chain is taking it over again? It's not Harris I know. Can't remember the name.