Concerns at Wychwood School, Oxford - seeking other families

Lots and lots, that site would be of significant interest to developers. Can be made far higher density.

@Newme2016 was that a question?

I was making a joke.

Gender ideologues talk about it the same way fanatics talk about their religion. Which is why I made a joke that it isn't on the GCSE RE curriculum.

My DD is ND BTW. I prefer her to be taught that there is no right or wrong way to be a girl.

And gender ideology is not on the curriculum jeaux90

@pasturespastures this popped up and I read the thread before realising it was an old one.

Quite shocked by your comment that you don’t “really” hold it against the school that they have a significant number of neurodiverse pupils. I would have hoped we had got past those sort of attitudes and most parents would see ND pupils as having equally valuable contributions to make, not being begrudgingly tolerated.

What does this mean?

If anyone wants the inside track on Rye, my DD14 is there, we aren't religious and there are lots of girls there who aren't or who are Muslim etc. The religious aspect is lowish key but they do GCSE and go right across the political spectrum visiting and studying all religions.

Thankfully studying gender ideology is not in the curriculum .

The pastoral side of the school is second to none. They are mixed in prep but the secondary is single sex as is the boarding/flexi boarding.

My DD has flourished there.

@thegoodlife88 Sending you a DM.

@user1477391263
It will be interesting to see how this reinvention works! I wouldn’t necessarily expect an 11 year old girl to know if they welcome trans Dc or not. I doubt if they understand the implications.

Girls’ schools are common in Oxford where both the High and Headington are girls’ schools.

All sounds a bit odd to me. I would have expected that most people who prefer girls’ schools are either on the traditional/conservative side, or have gender critical leanings. Neither of which is terribly compatible with being a kind of “trans-politics-oriented school.”

With the numbers of 11 year olds going down across the UK over the next decade, I think things will be tough for small schools and some may start doing all kinds of things to reinvent themselves - some less successfully than others.

@Frazzledfish
Im not that far from Oxford. It’s not true to say a school is doing well with 108 on roll when it can take 165. Finances must be difficult. If parents want a trans school where there are boys, that’s up to them, but whether that’s a model most will want is another matter as it’s no longer a girls school.

"Pupils accept everyone without question"
Except the pupils for which the school was originally created for and an investor with their own agenda.

Pupils accept everyone without question

I would be concerned if my daughter was like this. So much for ‘stranger danger’

It seems to me lots of people on this thread are commenting without any actual experience of the school. It is true that there are a relatively high proportion of trans pupils at Wychwood, but this is probably due to the fact that it has an unusually inclusive and tolerant environment which attracts people who in other schools may have been bullied or felt marginalised. My DD has been there for a number of years and is very happy. Pupils accept everyone without question, whatever their stated identity might be. The pastoral environment is excellent. The value added in terms of academic achievement is outstanding - not everyone gets the highest grades, but they probably get the highest they are capable of. It is an all ability school, with some super bright kids, and others who are not so academic. It is a fantastic school for building up a child's self-confidence. Parents were disconcerted by the move to co-education, but DD tells me the pupils themselves are fine with it. Not sure it is entirely for financial reasons - the school is doing pretty well at the moment. It is really a question of adjusting to widening demand in the community for co-education - and also that there are few small, nurturing schools like Wychwood for boys in Oxfordshire.

@TizerorFizz Yh I know they are. I was referring to OPs previous post. I'm sure most parents spending this much money on their kids education, especially at such a turbulent time for the school, will be checking it's finances thoroughly.

@Dodgeitornot
Lots of private schools are charities. They do this to get £0 vat I believe. Plenty has been written about charitable status for schools and what it means. It has big advantages.

If I was a parent, I would want to query what exactly how the the charity now operates and what it intends to do with such a tiny income. It’s clearly not 49% of anything. What does that mean anyway? It’s either a charity or not. I’m wondering if the charity is now the equivalent of the uniform shop. It has spent money and received money. Buildings hire to other schools? What is it’s purpose? I think the parents should be asking for more info on the charity and how this sits alongside the controlling company, which presumably now has the £2.4m income and associated school expenditure.

@TizerorFizz Would that be because the company that bought the 51% took the revenue?
What's the point of leaving 49% to a charity? Taxes?

For year ending October 2021, the Wychwood School Charity had an income of £61,833. Reduced from £2.39m the year before. @Dodgeitornot Its no longer a charity in the true sense regarding the provision of education.

The trans issue came about by stealth- a well-established pupil (year 12) identified as transgender and asked to be addressed as such. This set a precedent with more existing pupils in the school identifying as trans and word spread which drew more external applicants.
I guess the writing was on the wall at that point about going Co-Ed but totally agree their approach to this has generated a great distrust in the management / future plans etc.

Expanding into education could mean buying up loss making schools for their development potential.

@Shelefttheweb Ah I see. Wychwood is a charity though so I assume their investments are probably limited and have to be reinvested, but I know nothing and to be honest not sure this is adding anything to the OPs question as she has decided to move on.

Yes. But not the case with all private schools. Many run as charities so not-for-profit focused on their educational objectives and excess income is reinvested. With investments they don’t need to go insolvent to be deemed a failure - they just need to generate less profit/increased asset value than alternative investment opportunities.

@Shelefttheweb I mean isn't that the case with all investments though? Financials?