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Original poster

Concerns at Wychwood School, Oxford - seeking other families

112 replies

Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 11:46

The situation re Wychwood going co-ed is of great concern to my DD who is a pupil at the school, and to us. We've given the powers-that-be a chance to reassure us, and DD has talked extensively with staff; if anything, we've become even more concerned. DD has now asked us to actively seek her a place elsewhere, which seems a real shame after several (mostly) happy years there.

Are there any other parents around?

Specifically, we have 3 main concerns, which I'll go into, below.

OP posts:
Dodgeitornot · 02/03/2023 13:06

@Galanthus78 there was quite a few parents on there and I think school got word of it so they requested it to be deleted.
Most parents were pissed off and looking to move. From what I remember that OPs husband was pretty set on it and they were looking into the finances of the school. Apparently another independent has received quite a lot of enquiries. There was a few who were extremely optimistic which I think is what made the previous OP think the school got word of it but idk. Hopefully she sees this thread and gets in touch. You are definitely not alone in your worries though, there was a few parents on that thread who had the same worries. I think if your daughter is y7-9 I would be moving asap, esp as you have a couple of weeks until the deadline to give notice of withdrawal. Trickier in exam years but not impossible. There was also talk of the school not offering the TPS, making recruitment harder.
Ultimately, upcoming rise in fees aside, you're paying a lot of money for a worse service than a state school would provide and will be on edge thinking it can close any minute. Not to mention potentially having a kid in a class that might end up resembling a PRU.

Original poster
Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 13:04

Springpetal · 02/03/2023 12:47

Sign of the times thou
bit like the 90s when anorexia was seen as a lifestyle choice .
these things come and go .
I suppose the school doesn’t want to be called out ,if they refuse male born transgender children

I believe that single-sex schools are allowed to 'discriminate' by taking only pupils of the correct sex. The school is partly boarding, so is really wouldn't be suitable to have trans identified males sharing dorms with the girls!

The boarding aspect (with, additionally, many pupils doing flexi- or occasional boarding) and tiny site, means that it's pretty essential for parents, and prospective parents, to be able to converse with leadership about their plans for safeguarding and safety, which is proving tricky in the face of them boasting about having a school which is beyond the binary (I kid you not). So I'm particularly keen on finding parents of boarders, to see if they've been given more reassurance on this aspect than the rest of us.

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Original poster
Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 12:56

Dodgeitornot · 02/03/2023 12:37

The thread was deleted, the OP had concerns for her privacy. It is a very small community so I understand. However there was quite a lot of good responses and ultimately it's probably best you look for an alternative place, boys joining aside, this seems like a last ditch attempt to get money and is unlikely to work.

Gaslighting students and parents is not something SLT do for fun. Even the popup on their website looks like a cheap and shoddy job. That picture looks like it's from the 90s.
We toured it before and I was really concerned by their trans population and now, how they are using this very vulnerable group as a leveraging device to make their crazy plan seem like an everyday decision. You can't have a whole marketing model based on providing single sex education and than do this. Don't for one second believe that they won't close overnight if they have to. I'd be getting a place elsewhere before they're gone.

Thanks for the info about the other thread; hopefully that means there are some other Wychwood families around here.

I agree with you on the popup. And the rest...

OP posts:
Springpetal · 02/03/2023 12:47

Sign of the times thou
bit like the 90s when anorexia was seen as a lifestyle choice .
these things come and go .
I suppose the school doesn’t want to be called out ,if they refuse male born transgender children

Dodgeitornot · 02/03/2023 12:37

The thread was deleted, the OP had concerns for her privacy. It is a very small community so I understand. However there was quite a lot of good responses and ultimately it's probably best you look for an alternative place, boys joining aside, this seems like a last ditch attempt to get money and is unlikely to work.

Gaslighting students and parents is not something SLT do for fun. Even the popup on their website looks like a cheap and shoddy job. That picture looks like it's from the 90s.
We toured it before and I was really concerned by their trans population and now, how they are using this very vulnerable group as a leveraging device to make their crazy plan seem like an everyday decision. You can't have a whole marketing model based on providing single sex education and than do this. Don't for one second believe that they won't close overnight if they have to. I'd be getting a place elsewhere before they're gone.

Original poster
Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 12:26

cestlavielife · 02/03/2023 12:13

There is your answer

there are plenty of great schools in Oxfordshire, and we can vote with our feet

I guess I'm struggling a bit with the obvious conclusion because it makes me a bit sad. DD has got some lovely friends, who she'll miss being educated alongside. But I'm also increasingly angry, especially at all the genderwoo.

OP posts:
Trickleg · 02/03/2023 12:25

There was a whole thread about this about a week ago? Maybe worth searching for it? Most of the answers were in agreement with you and/or wondering about the financial viability or the school

cestlavielife · 02/03/2023 12:13

There is your answer

there are plenty of great schools in Oxfordshire, and we can vote with our feet

Springpetal · 02/03/2023 12:12

I don’t think ,just because your paying for it ,you get to make the rules
like with any school ,if parents and child not happy ,you vote with your feet
you will have more choices than most as you have the disposable income to pay for education,
where the rest of us ,are just great full we can pay our electricity bill.

Original poster
Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 12:09

Finally, the fact that leadership haven't consulted parents in advance of accepting boys in all year groups in September feels disrespectful. Does Wychwood leadership think that we have no other options but to spend a significant amount of money on a service that doesn't care about our opinions? It feels like parents of boys, who may or may not materialise at such short notice, are being prioritised over current families. Perhaps the leadership have forgotten that there are plenty of great schools in Oxfordshire, and we can vote with our feet.

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Original poster
Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 12:04

Secondly, the school is also selling this as a win for equality, "and not really a change at all, as we've already got transboys". (Again, probably words to this effect - though these were the exact ones DD quoted to me.)
But we all know that trans identified females retain the need for female protections and facilities - this is why their parents chose a girls' school for them. And indeed, more than one pupil has detransitioned during DD's time at the school, so the girls have all seen for themselves that gender issues can end as quickly as they began.
This narrative from some staff and the leadership has left DD extremely upset as she feels that continuing to raise her concerns will make her appear transphobic.

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Original poster
Galanthus78 · 02/03/2023 11:54

The implementation, at such short notice, of co-ed is alarming. This is being "sold" to DD as a good thing, as it will "probably result in only a handful of boys in each class in September". Or words to that effect. But even a small amount of males ends it being a single-sex environment, which we, and DD, actively chose for her. Additionally, where will these boys come from, who don't have school places at such short notice? Has their behaviour or schoolwork been of too low a standard for other independent schools, and if so, what will the knock-on effect be on the girls, in the very small Wychwood classrooms?

(Added to which, we're worried that such a major change with no notice may speak to the viability of the school, but I have no evidence of this, so suspect this thread is not the place for exploring this concern.)

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