Reception School - Mytchett, Camberley

[Nimzz]

Hi, I will move to Mytchett next month. I have to register my daughter for reception in 2022 and was wondering if people can give your opinion on the following:

1. Holly Lodge Primary Academy vs St Mark's Church of England Aided Primary School - Both of these are close to my place. Am deciding which should be the first preference.

1. Infant schools - how has your experience been for your child after infant schools. Are kids worse off or better off in your opinion with school change within a few years? (yes it will change by child but just want your opinion as friend circle etc will change)

1. Any other schools you recommend?

Thank you

Well if you are religious go for the church school, because there will be more prayer and religious involvement in their day there. They will be linked to a church.

I'm in an infant/junior area, but come from a primary school area.

There's advantages and disadvantages I think. It may depend on your child as to what suits them.

I remember listening to one of my dcs talking with friends. They'd just finished the Spring term in reception. They were already talking about "when we go to juniors". There was no linked school so they already were aware that they might well not be at the same school in just over 2 years time.

For one of my dc, who struggled with the change going up every year, she would have been better at a 1 form entry primary (like I was at) where you didn't just know which teacher would take you next year, but probably the one after that too (and possibly all the way up!)
For one of the others, they thrive on change and it was much better for them, especially as it meant they could get away from a child they had had problems with.

There's nice parts like the year 2s getting the feeling of being the oldest year with some responsibility, and I think that they got more opportunities due to that.

There's also that the school is set up more for that age, so things are targeted more for them.

And some people feel that the larger junior set up helps with the transition to the (very large) secondaries.

I don't know the schools but all the infant schools round here feed a specific junior school. More or less the whole group goes from one infant school to the same junior school. As long as you are in catchment your child will get a place at the junior school, and friends-wise it's much like going to a through primary school. However if you send your child to a very popular infant school out of catchment, you're running the risk that they don't then get into the junior school (because all in-catchment children get priority over any out-catchment children enrolled in infants) . This can be a complete pain, particularly if you're in catchment for a through primary that isn't doing a Y3 admissions round and may have no space to offer your child.

Check the admissions criteria, yours maybe different to what we have here. But my advice is be very careful about going out of catchment if you are looking at popular, separate, infant and junior schools.

Hi
I have some experience here op
@Nimzz

Having done both the double infant junior schools abs the primary school id recommend primary all the way. While the infant bit feels lovely for the little ones the leap to juniors feels really big at year three when they are still so little. The transition to junior age is more gentle in a primary school ime

I have a child at the first school mentioned (HL) it's been great. This is the third school I've had experience of and I'd recommend it. Feel free to pm if you need more info.

There is also mytchett primary in the same academy trust as HL. I don't know that school though.

Hi, Thank you for your replies:

@giraffesateleaves - I am not religious but I do want her to go to a good school and St Mark seems to have really good record so I was open to it.

@MargaretThursday @MissCreeAnt - Thank you so much for your perspectives. So far, my daughter adjusts easily in new environments but I was just not sure how easy/hard it may be in future.

@FigureofEight - Thank you for recommending HL. Its close to my place so would be convenient.

I am moving there this week. For now, I am hoping to visit these schools: Holly Lodge, St Mark's, North Farnborough Infant School, South Farnborough Infant School and Mytchett Primary & Nursery Academy.

Hopefully visiting them will help me narrow these to three preferred options.

Being walking distance would be huge benefit to most schools and would be a deciding factor for me if the school was good.

Parking / traffic at HL is awful though ok if you get there early enough.

Hope the move goes well.

Hi @Nimzz , old thread I know but I am in exactly the same situation as you were last year! Just wondering what you decided?

I like the look of South Farnborough but I don’t think Mytchett is in the catchment?

Hope your DD has settled in well at school :)

@tootiredtothinkofaname Both North and South Farnborough infant schools are my catchment. St Mark's was the only one which was not in my catchment as it has a very small catchment.

I chose Holly Lodge - It has just been a 1.5 month so cant give you a detailed analysis but so far so good. I have heard great things about south farnborough but I choose HL for primarily for close distance and parking near south farnborough looked like it may be an issue. South farnborough is not walking distance for me while HL is. So my 2 reasons were: (1) close distance (2) size of the school ground and play area was large (which I hope means more activity places etc). I know their Ofsted rating is "good" while some others are "outstanding" but from what I heard, it would also depend significantly on how much you sit down and work with your child. HL have been good with phonics and reading so far - not much update on maths but math is also difficult to judge in her age and small time frame.

@Nimzz Thank you so much, that’s really helpful! I’ve booked to visit HL, South Farnborough and Mytchett Primary so will see which one “feels” best!

Another vote for HL.

Thank you! HL is the only one I can realistically walk to, so that would be great