The Cedars school Croydon *MNHQ tweaking title to Norwood*

I’m still very happy we chose the Cedars, it’s been such a good fit for my son. It’s not a flashy glitzy place (although the facilities are barely a couple of years old, bar the gym), nor is it a pressured hothouse. My son’s getting a solid education in a warm and nurturing environment where the teachers truly know him. He’s been able to try out new things in a safe environment and with lots of encouragement.

One feature I really like and which has worked for my son is the focus on positivity and effort - so for example there are house points for a good attitude in class, helping others, asking interesting questions etc, and every term there is an achievement breakfast for boys who’ve shown consistently good effort (not necessarily marks) in class. The constant reinforcement for good behaviours is a great approach.

It’s not a school which wears its Catholicism lightly but I can’t say that I have noticed any particular flavour to it that might be imparted by Opus Dei. The OP aspect comes from the founding parents being members rather than the wider OP movement owning/controlling the school. Actually the OP ethos - to find that of God in everyone/everything - is remarkably similar to Quakerism. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone object to a Quaker school on that basis!

I’m reserving judgement on the move to co-ed but so far, so good.

My son is still there and still very happy. It’s combining with the Laurels (the girls school onsite) from September ‘25 so becoming co-Ed like their prep and sixth form already are, so the ethos will remain the same which is what we wanted. The fact that there is a personal tutor assigned to each boy to have 1-2-1s with and personally monitor and support them and us as parents (we get 1-2-1 meetings with his tutor as well) is something no other school offers locally as far we could tell and it’s this individual attention the boys get through their pastoral care that swung it for us as it is really benefiting our son so he is happy and doing well academically as well.

Found this thread online about Cedars School
and would very much like to hear from parents with kids at the school at the moment.
We are not a Catholic family but apart from the Opus Dei bit (which I am a little dubious about) it seems a great school.
anyone here who considered it but decided against it - if so, why?
if you have kids at the school, what is it like?

Class sizes vary but are about 20/21 in each smaller for practical subjects (again this is just from our experience) and results for GCSEs are listed by subject on the website same for a levels so it is clear to see but you can’t compare their outcomes to grammars which are highly selective. As I said it’s a very mixed ability cohort and from what I’ve seen the boys achieve at the level they are capable of so if your son is able he’ll get good results the same as he would if he got into a grammar and went to one of those - if he’s not he’ll get what he is capable of- it’s not an academic hot house it is a supportive nurturing school that gets the boys to reach their full potential whatever that level maybe. This is why we chose it instead of the Sutton grammar as our son does best academically when he feels supported and not pushed but each child is different in what they need- overall we’re really happy with it as our son is really happy.

Do you know what the class sizes are, roughly?

I can’t say for certain, but when you have very small classes releasing detailed information about their grades and/or destinations can result in a breach of privacy for the individuals concerned.

Many thanks - your reply is fantastic.

But could I ask - were you not concerned by the opaque outcomes for this school versus say Sutton Grammar or Wilson's?

What are the academic standards like as far as you can see?

On LinkedIn Mr Teague has posted that he is now the interim Head at St John Fisher in Purley.

My son is there and is very happy. He passed the Sutton grammars and was offered a place at one but we turned it down to send him to Cedars because we wanted a supportive atmosphere with good pastoral care rather than a school focussed purely on academics. He is doing well academically and even though it has an entrance exam - it is a very mixed cohort in terms of academic ability, but the small classes and the fact all the staff know the kids and the kids all know each other is great and means all the kids seem supported and from what we know there is no trouble at all.

Teague leaving was a shock but it is business as usual as far as we can tell and it may not be as shiny as other private schools in terms of facilities but this is reflected in the fees.

Thanks for this, happy to remain a 'lurker' at this stage. Does anyone have any knowledge about the academic aspect of this school, subjective or otherwise?

Mr. Doran is the (lovely) Head of Sixth Form there; try emailing him directly for this info:

[email protected]

To be honest I think it's too new/small for the Good Schools Guide to be interested yet; I've actually been involved in liaising with them (as a parent), and it's entirely up to them which schools they choose to review/include in their guide.

I also don't think it's in the good schools guide (not saying as a criticism, just saying it's difficult to find information on outcomes).

I've posted on another thread and just seen that this one has become reactivated - what are the academic results like at Cedars - what I really mean is what are the university leaving destinations and courses? I cannot find this information on their site. There is a lot of competition from the state grammars and uber privates in this part of town!

That would be good if Pact took over the New school. It would free up more space and for Oakwood prep to possibly have that building or create more space for lacking facilities. I liked The Cedars actually (I even paid a deposit which I’ve now lost). There were a couple of reasons. We are looking to move to Surrey so I don’t think it was right to put my son in there for 1 or 2 terms as he would then need to start again making new friends:new school, new uniform! I also don’t feel it was right for him as his best friends were girls in primary school so might be too much of a shock to the system. Also as my husband said The cedars looks like a ‘no frills’ private school that doesn’t have much ‘fun’ and limited facilities (could be reflected in the lower end termly fees though). Quite straight laced/regid looking with main focus on academics and catholic ethos. My son will now be going to a mixed holistic all rounder style Surrey independent.

Mr. Teague has said that after starting the school and spending ten years building it up to its present state, he feels he has one more 'big' career move in him. He's moving to head up a big secondary school, I think still in South London, but I've forgotten the name for now.

The new head was Head of Sixth Form at St. Bede's in Manchester. I haven't 'met' him (virtually or otherwise) yet as I missed the recent webinar.

The big idea behind the recent relocation and changes is for PACT to be able to offer 3-18 education for boys and girls all on the same site, which allows for economies of scale and sharing of resources (where that makes sense).

I'm also gutted that Mr. Teague is leaving, he's lovely. There is a very stable core of senior teachers remaining though, so I'm confident that the overall ethos and spirit of the school will remain.

I’ve no idea, I’m afraid. Current parents might know more. The new head is Dominic Rose from St Bede’s, Manchester.

@ghislaine thanks, understood. Do you know why Mr Teague is leaving?

I don’t think they are merging with the prep school as such, it’s being moved from the Croydon site to the Norwood one so all three PACT schools are in the same place. I don’t know whether it will affect the availability of places as it’s the same situation as when Cedars and Oakwood were both in Croydon. It might easier for the next couple of years as the prep will need building up after the move.

Sorry to jump on this thread - but I’m interested in The Cedars for my DS and hadn’t heard about the new headmaster or the merger with the prep school. Could someone give some more details on this? Does this mean there will be fewer places for “external” boys at 11+ going forward as some of the places will automatically be allocated to the existing cohort of prep school boys? Any information about the new head would be much appreciated as well. Why did Mr Teague leave? He’s one of the reasons I liked the school.

I did speak to Mr Teague after the parents’ welcome and he said he himself had only been informed two days previously. I understand that only 50 or so children are coming from the prep school. It wouldn’t be an attractive journey for those with kids in the younger years.

Can to say a bit more about your decision to withdraw your son? Was it the movement of the prep into the site? My understanding is that PACT wants to take over the old Virgo Fidelis prep which is currently occupied by the New School.

I’ll ask my friend who’s son will be starting at the the school in September. She did say that the new headmaster is supposed to be good as he’s coming from a really good catholic school outside of London (I can’t remember which one sorry!). Before I pulled my son out I did go to the headmaster’s talk and I wasn’t happy that they said that Oakwood prep school would be amalgamating with them :-/ I thought this should have really been announced before the parents deadline to accept a place or not.

My son is also starting there in September. I was a bit surprised at the departure of Mr Teague, does anyone know where he is going? I went to the webinar with the new head which I found a bit disorganised but was slightly reassured by his 'business as usual' message. I am nervy about sending him into an environment where there's change at the top though.

Hi @Pinkquee, I'm the pp but name changed, so have only just seen your message! PM if you still have questions (I have two boys there).

Hi my son is due to start The cedars school this September coming. Would love to hear parents thoughts on the school. There doesn’t seem to be loads of facilities and clubs for an independent school maybe because of the size. Are the children happy there? Would love a private chat with any parents if I can. Thanks