Chandlings School in Abingdon

[SandrineSDL]

We are thinking of sending our 2 boys to Chandlings this coming September after being so disappointed with the teaching in state school during lockdown.

Does anyone have recent experience they can share please?

I have questions such as, What is the student demographic, amount of homework, sport for all or just the talented ones, size of classes, do they have a second hand uniform shop... I'm interested in everything really. We are visiting soon. Also I see there has been some headmistress changes? Thanks

My daughter has just finished year 6 and my boy is going into year five and we have loved the school. There’s been a fair amount of turnover of head teachers but we haven’t really noticed because the senior team is very strong. Class sizes are going to be about 15-20 throughout the school next year and it’s a generally a bit bit-heavy in terms of demographic, with an international feel which we like very much. The thing we like best is the culture - it’s hard to sum up but basically the kids are just all really well-rounded and encouraged to work hard while at the same time being encouraged to be individuals. Ten out of ten from us.

We’ve just had our final day at Chandlings after 11 years. Our son joined in Reception in 2009 and our daughter less than two years later in Nursery. We have been delighted with the school, which boasts incredible attainment in a relaxed and stress free atmosphere. The children are allowed to be children whilst being challenged and stimulated at the same time. I was advised by the then headmistress to ignore buildings and grounds when making my choice and just go around a look at the children. That’s what made my mind up: lively, naughty confident kids happy to be there and looking their teacher and adult staff in the eyes. The values of kindness and politeness are well drilled into them and you really see well rounded kids wondering around. When we had issues we always found the senior staff ready to listen and act to solve the problems. I would thoroughly recommend it. My children were both very happy there, they performed incredibly well without any other support from our end. In these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has been amazing with our children and us parents. A real credit to the senior team.

moved my DD here 2 years ago from OHS Junior school - best decision. She was below average at OHS, and there was a lot of pressure for her to improve (then aged 6) and she was inadvertently feeling it. Took the double fee whammy for insufficient notice and glad i did. Very impressed that despite taking a range of abilities (DD has said 'i love it here mummy, they encourage me') half the children at the end of 2019 academic year went on to secondary school with scholarship or award of some sort. It's an absolutely lovely environment in which children are happy and thrive. teachers excellent and information, insight and care shared at parents evenings very impressive. Lockdown online tuition has been outstanding - speaking to other parents with children in Ox/ Abingdon and for my other DD - it seems to have outshone the competition by far. Head (Ms Cook) is excellent, as is the senior management team that I've met incl. Ms Love and Mr Marchant. Hoping they add a year 7 and 8 !!

I notice that admissions/scholarships To MCS/Abingdon seem to have cliff dived in 2020 (from Abingdon 16/MCS12 In 2019 with multiple scholarships to Abingdon6/MCS3). Any insights @DebAbOx and @jdeb V appreciated.

Sorry half my post disappeared! Had thought this might just be the perfect school for little boy, however found a couple of pretty negative threads on here. We don’t know anyone with boys at private schools in Oxford so finding the decision tricky!

@SandrineSDL what school did you settle on? Must have been a really tough time to choose!

Also, what questions are you meant to ask at these things?! Currently having these horrendously awkward Zoom open days/meet the Head 😨

Not sure because I only have a daughter but it was a small year, 4 forms of 11-12 kids, so it’s possible that with fewer children they got fewer awards? And as far as I know only one boy actually accepted the MCS offer. Sorry this is not very helpful...

It is helpful, thanks! The tables on the website don’t give a denominator for number of kids and also don’t say if it’s the same kids getting all the offers/awards, so very difficult to interpret. Thanks you

Stumbled upon this thread as my youngest DS is looking for a new school after relocating to North of Oxford. We are looking into a few schools, Chandlings being one of them. DS came from similar countryside private school with occasional boarding. DS is bright, very math and music-oriented but struggles in English comprehension, and at the moment... not exactly a hard-working boy (school never gave him homework to be taken home, and he is on the top of the class without trying that hard, having said that... he is very happy there and we wouldn't have moved him if it is not because of the distance).

DS has an older brother in MCS (whom he would very much like to join in Senior years) but we think that DS is not mentally prepared with MCS school load - quite intense and unforgiving. Chandlings said they could help him to prepare for 11+ entry into MCS to which I am very pleased. So...DS visited Chandlings for a taster day and love it, but I am not sure about the travel reliability between North of Oxford to Chandlings. Any thoughts? Would Dragon or St Rye Anthony be a good alternative?

Sorry to open up an old thread, but this had such insightful comments on it!

Are there any current parents with DC at Chandlings, and do you still find the atmosphere supportive and nurturing? Everything I've read online parrots the same phrase "a hidden gem" but doesn't really explain why