St Edward's Oxford (Teddies)

[GoneAskew]

Would be grateful for any real-life intel about life at Teddies under the new(ish) Warden.

Have heard a variety of things (including, from a prep school staff member at a diff school, that his not so subtle attempt to get Teddie's to scale up to be alongside the likes of Tonbridge/Winchester are likely to be unsuccessful and so in 5-7yrs it'll cycle around again to being a nice choice for the all-rounders.)

DS has an offer there and we did initially really like it, however have now heard enough less positive things from a variety of people (eg: teachers, past and present families) - including rumours about academics being so prioritised that a focus on the all-around experience is diluted - are causing us a worry. That and it being quite difficult to find much about pastoral care, and that there is allegedly high staff churn and a fairly high ratio of young, less experienced teachers.

Be super to understand things outside of the rumour mill if anyone was able. Positive or negative...

Thank you!

Ds starts in shell in sept as a day pupil. It was the best school option we could find for him from our location as he has some mild additional needs and wouldn’t really cope in a single sex hot house or vast school. Luckily he has been in a pretty academic prep so is used to an academic emphasis, not that he is super academic himself. He might board if he likes it there and wants to try it. There is another child from ds’ prep going to board who I know well - he is not vastly academic either nor sporty nor musical - so they have yet to become as discerning as the more academic options. That child didn’t get into Abingdon, Radley or Winchester (wishful thinking there I suspect).

We have several friends with dc at teddies who are mostly happy, 1 day and 3 boarding, some grumbling about less free time than before (ds will like this as he likes time structured) but no major complaints. Their dc are certainly doing loads of sport, drama, dance, art etc as well as academic stuff.

our view of new warden similar to yours - he is a mover upper and will probably move himself up the schools hierarchy relatively soon so who knows what will happen.
I just hope that ds will like the school and make some friends - that will determine how well he does, what he gets involved in more than anything else. We can always move for 6th form (or before if a disaster).

can you keep your options open? We accepted teddies and another school for ds to give us more time to decide. Then you could watch and wait and see if it still looks suitable or not. Financial loss I know - we decided to take the hit to get more time.

Thank you so much for your very useful reply! Teddies had remained as one of the front-runners on the basis it'd been a good all-around option, historically...

We have another offer in our pocket; it's definitely a more academic option/higher tier school but when it comes down to it we care less about prestige than we do about pastoral, vibe and fit etc, but we've paid up for the offered place at both. As you say, keeps options open but the Teddies experience day is coming up and just not sure if to go with DS or not!

Thank you again, am v grateful you took the time to share.

My DS has been at Teddies for the last 3 years, so he started at the same time as the current Warden (Alastair Chirnside) and I can provide some real life intel for you.

It is true that the Warden has tried to raise academic levels at the school (in Teddies case this is a good thing, as it may have been a bit too casual before) but he also points out all the time that this should not come at the cost of the all round Teddies experience. Certainly my DS feels he gets lots of opportunities to play sport and be in drama shows (his interests). Dance is really big at Teddies in a way that I have never seen matched anywhere else. So no I don't agree that the all round experience has been diluted by the new Warden.

The general feeling amongst current parents is that under the previous Warden there was a bit less focus on academics and he was maybe a bit too casual about certain pastoral aspects of school. For example under the previous Warden the students used to be able to go to Summertown every day after school, this is now more limited. Also mobile phone access is now strictly controlled (the yr 9s hardly get their phones at all in the week, my DS in yr11 gets his for about 2 hours per day). As a result I think more work gets done and my DS is notably less reliant on his phone than his big sister (different school). The rules are stricter than they were and for longer standing Teddies families some have not liked these, but I tend to find that the newer parents are all in favour of the changes. The possible exception to this is that the internal entry criteria to progress to Sixth Form at Teddies is higher than it was (now need at least 3 grade 7s at GCSEs and to hit the subject specific entry criteria, so grade 8 in some subjects).

Partly because the warden is very sellable and partly because the school has invested in such great facilities it has become a very popular option over the last 5 years or so. Registrations have dramatically increased and so it is now harder to get into. They have to make entry decisions somehow, so I think this will inevitably be more and more on academic grounds. But I agree with the OPs teacher that it will never be at the hot house academic level of Winchester or Tonbridge. For my part I am fine with that because that is not why we sent my son there and I am guessing is not why you are considering Teddies.

There has been some staff turnover due to the new Warden, but nothing excessive or that worries me. The house staff in my son's house have all been great and there is a lot of other pastoral support available if your son decides he doesn't like his tutor/housemaster/etc.

Hope this helps.

Thanks - that is reassuring to hear for us.
I am generally pro limited phone time. It has been fantastic that until now ds has not had his phone 8-5 on weekdays in termtime.

@DishyDad2 Thank you so much for your detailed and honest reply; super useful to hear context from a current parent and someone who's been there awhile. I am very grateful! You're right that Teddies was in our line of sight as an option because of a range of things, academic being but one.

👌🏻👌🏻🍾 thank you!

I think Teddies suits self starters Alpha sporty kids & creative kids; ones who don’t want to be spoon fed. You walk round the school everyone says Hello. There is a real air of confidence about the pupils.
I’ve got 4 kids there now & haven’t looked back. Lots of social events supper with warden for a chance to meet child’s 6th form mentor, chapel service, parent brunch, pre & post show drinks at all the dance & drama & the massive highlight the gaudy coming up at the end of term. Not that I see much as I’m working hard to pay the fees!! Entrepreneurial, working parents not many without jobs so definitely a good work ethic amongst families.
DD says warden regularly knocks on dorm door during 7-9pm prep to see what they’re working on.
Kids all have lovely lovely friends polite chatty, sporty, motivated. Not an academic hothouse but there’s no way mind would’ve survived in a pressure cooker. They are all so happy at Teddies & work hard but play hard. Spend more time there ask for another tour. Don’t be guided by MN as only people with strong opinions either way will respond.

@Beachcomber74 Thank you for your reply - again, very grateful to hear from someone with current experience...

We've visited three times + have the experience day for those with paid up offers coming up (if we go), and each time it's seemed a lovely enough school with engaged kids. We will find it very difficult due to work to go to the experience day and they're quite seriously insistent we all attend rather than bring DS and pick him up.

Concerns have been more to do with the Warden's v v focused ambition, selective sixth form (altho I should be transparent and say think DD will be ok there) and the relatively little information about pastoral care and SEN shared on the visits day and available online . This contrasts with another of DS's offers at an arguably more academic and prestigious school which has explicitly strong offers across both those areas. Prestige doesn't make it an automatic choice for us, tho', hence being so keen to learn more about Teddies.

We live in London so for sure our ability to get to school mid-week will be limited by our location and jobs.

Thanks again!

@Beachcomber74 thanks, good to hear different experiences. I think pastoral care is hard to judge until you actually have a child at a school and it depends on their needs to some degree. Exactly how things go is so much pot luck in terms of individual staff members as well as the overall culture.
DS has some additional needs and the SENCO at teddies was very helpful during the application process, no issues meeting her and she was very honest. Not the case at the other 3 schools we applied tto initially. During yr 8 teddies has allowed ds to do two transition mornings, spending the morning with current shell class to get more familiar with the school and he went and met the housemaster last week. He does get anxious and this has been incredibly beneficial in him deciding on teddies vs. the other school we accepted a place at. My husband and I have also met with several staff members recently via MS teams - mostly to allay our anxiety about ds moving schools. Hopefully it will be ok!
I think it is all harder if you are at a distance - we live locally to teddies so it is a school our prep sends to regularly and we hear people talk about frequently.

perhaps you could ask teddies to meet with someone on MS teams to discuss the pastoral side?

@RedPanda2022 super good to hear how open the school have been about chatting hints through prior to your DS starting, thank you for sharing. Our current prep also sends a few kids to Teddies, and it has previously had a pretty good rep internally, just a few wobbles given things previously raised above.

Reassuring to hear positive experiences though - thank you!

My son is currently in fourth form and my youngest will be joining in 2025. We had a choice of three and went for Teddies and have been exceptionally happy. Our son is much more engaged in academics and ’normal’ socializing with the boys, playing more sport during free time etc. The restriction on phone use (and removal of laptops after prep) has opened him up again to the interesting, chatty (ish) - he’s still 15! - son I had before I lost him to social media at 13. Pastoral care has been excellent so far and every time I have contacted his tutor with any academic concerns, he responds quickly and with detailed information/advice. He joined from a good international school part way through Shell and his grades have improved dramatically. Hence sending our youngest (who also had offers from other ‘higher tier’ schools. Obviously the demographic is of a certain economic tier but I think the kids are pretty understated. Less obsession over pointless material goods.

@Teacher18 Thank you - that all sounds very reassuring, and good to know - super grateful!

Teddies’ increased popularity is linked to the increased popularity of mixed boarding - see also the meteoric ascendancy of Marlborough and Brighton College. The Warden is implementing a very clear strategy - aiming to be more academic than Marlborough and more traditional than Brighton College.

Oxford is still dominated by single sex schools so it’s a good USP, and it’s a very convenient location so academics is a good clear metric for the sorting hat. Plus Winchester is losing a lot of love so it’s a natural alternative.

I’ve known Chirnside professionally for many years. He’s a lovely man and I respect his emphasis on scholarship (thinking and reading for its own pleasure) rather than achievement. I’m not convinced he’s going to be at Teddies long term - he’s very ambitious and I think he’s lining himself up for a bigger job.

@NarrowGate Thank you for those insights. Aligns a bit with my gut feeling about Mr Chirnside. And fair enough for him I guess!

Thanks so much to everyone’s comments which I have found useful too.
I’m sure the current warden will depart as soon as he gets a headship at a ‘bigger’ name - he had been at top of the league schools prior to teddies and no doubt will look to going back into that game should opportunities arise.