Amazing state secondary schools... Anywhere in the UK!

We moved to Wilmslow as high paying catchment and excellent school. But please bear in mind the environment and motivation for non selective and private is never the same. As they struggle with behaviour issues in most high schools.

Given that over 60% of Glos grammars current intake are from out of county IIRC (FOI request by the BBC), it doesn't really impact the local schools in same way as Kent/Bucks.

Balcarras' sister school (Leckhampton High School), just got Outstanding in its first inspection - no kids there have sat their GCSEs yet so it probably won't feature in the lists. Although you might find it tricky to find a house the size you want in that catchment for under 450k now...

Balcarras which has been mentioned is in a grammar area. You won't pay less than £450k for a 3 bed though.

I guess grammar school areas. Although, if your kids don't pass the test then the non grammar schools in the area don't tend to be very good.

Is this genuine? I've heard it's best in Wigan, but then what does that mean? It's our closest high school but neither my husband or I grew up in the area.

No, but she goes to another school. But she talks about it in hushed whispers of awe. They all know about it.

I wouldn’t have sent any of mine to Mercia. I’m sure it’s good and some kids thrive on it, but l don’t like that sort of school.

Does your DD study or work there?

Yes, it is v strict. But there's a lot of kindness there too, and positive reinforcement and feedback all the time. I think that such a structured approach does suit some children, either because they find it safer or because they'd go off the rails without it.

Yeah, it’s meant to be proper strict there. Dd calls it the Victorian school!

So it will be interesting to see if Mercia does upset that apple cart!

The top 3 schools in Sheffield never change. They may vary between good and outstanding, but the results are steady year after year. They may swap around the top 3 places but they never go below number 3

@mauvish I think there were joint heads. One moved to a new school and one stayed at Newfield.

My DD went to King Ted for 6th form and I was rather unimpressed with it. At the time, it was performing better academically than the league tables now show -- but I felt she would have done far better for her A levels elsewhere. That was a good few years ago though.

I shudder at the thought of Newfield Green but it has improved a lot over recent years. However, if I've got this right, I think the head who dragged it out of the mire has now moved on (to Mercia, I think!!) so will it maintain its current grading?

King Edward has just received Good from Ofsted today. It was reinspected.

OK, I've just looked on Rightmove and it seems that there is a choice of 3 bed houses at 400k or less in the High Storrs catchment area, but most will need some TLC, a lot are terraced (nothing wrong with that but the parking situation is terrible) and you'd definitely need snow tyres/4WD on some of those hills in winter!

I live in Sheffield!

The problem with moving to Sheffield with the express intention of getting into High Storrs, Silverdale or Tapton is they are all oversubscribed schools and there's no chance of a new-to-area family getting places unless they are well within the catchment area. Even then, there are no guarantees. And family homes close to these schools are likely to cost more than 400k.

You could go out on a limb and look at Mercia, -- outstanding recent Ofsted report, aiming very high academically, but a new school so has no history of external exam results yet (they've done GCSEs there for the first time this year and the sixth form will open in Sept), and the ethos of the school is certainly not to everyone's liking. Having said that, the school is grossly oversubscribed for Sept's yr7 intake so whilst it's not everyone's cup of tea, there's an awful lot of parents who do want their children to go there!

@TizerorFizz

You seem to appear on every thread to have a go at me.

You don’t even live in Sheffield.🙄

Cotswold School & Chipping Campden School are genuinely community schools. Yes, the Cotswolds are expensive, but you should be able to get a reasonable (if ugly) 1960s estate property in budget in Moreton in Marsh. Moreton gives you both schools as an option.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow Yes. So Dc in Sheffield can bully each other and be failed by safeguarding procedures. I guess as they are not leafy lane Dc it doesn’t matter.

Not dealing with bullying and safeguarding concerns can be the case in quite a few schools that look good from a casual glance. Sheffield, like loads of places, follows the money! Live in the leafy areas, schools are more than ok. If you don’t, they yo-yo and it’s difficult to ascertain if they are on a downward cycle or not. It’s a lottery. Sadly a change in slt can be problematic. Poor governors can make a difference to that downward spiral too. So the key for the op is to find good schools in the price range.

King Teds doesn’t just pull from expensive areas though. It has a massive catchment.

(Dons dark glasses and wig)

Possibly. DS is about to turn 27 so Prom would have been 2012 I think.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow They were also furious about bullying not being addressed! So anyone looking at outcomes but not looking at Ofsted reports is going to be misled. Expensive areas of Sheffield are great but not everywhere is.

😂😂😂😂😂👍

That house is on a busy main road- think I’d prefer a smaller house on a side road. Convenient for the school though.

I really rate Archbishops, haven't had any issues at all and my DC both love it there. Obviously ofsted ratings aren't everything but it was judged outstanding in all areas a couple of years ago. It's definitely changed a lot in the past decade!!
If you preferred Fulford School it might be worth looking at Dunnington or a surrounding catchment village. You won't get a huge four bedroom but a decent three bedroom would be doable.