recommendation of secondary schools in Cornwall moving back from Australia

[geordiesinoz]

Hi,
We are a family currently living in Melbourne, planning on moving back to the UK next year and considering Cornwall to live. We are not restricted by work so we could settle anywhere. We have 2 children aged 12 and 13 (ages when we return) and we want them to go to a good school where the community will welcome them and us as a family. I am concerned about the schools being oversubscribed and the admissions criteria. We like the look of Penair but would welcome any comments on any schools anywhere in Cornwall. We would prefer not to send our children to a private fee paying school even though they attend one here in Australia.

Also anyone who has done a similar move, is it better for the children to start school at the start of the academic year?

Both my husband and myself are originally from the UK but we have been living in OZ for 20+ years.

Cheers

I dont like to be negative . I was born and bred in Cornwall I now live in Devon, where things aren't that much better. I really do not think there are any good schools in Cornwall. I just think there are a few schools you need to be wary of more than others unless you are going private. I suspect the only schools that will take your DC's will be the ones you want to be wary of. Good luck.

You mentioned Penair so you are looking at Truro. As far as I know there is only one other (state secondar) school in Truro so you are fairly limmited in options. The good thing is that the LEA will have to find your children a place so don't worry about admissions.

If you are thinking of Penair then why not write to the head teacher and see if a child (or group) could write to your children, sort of pen friends thing so when you arrrive they will already know people.

One thing, not related to schools, you may not be entitled to NHS treatment for anythin other than an emergency until you have been back for a certain amount of time. You will be treated as a visitor, i think it is for 6 months.

Gosh,Im not an expert on state schools in Cornwall(or anywhere else) but the statement that sohia doesnt think there are any good schools in Cornwall does seem interesting to say the least,Penair has been mentioned,a quick glance shows me it gets better academic results than the private school attended by Sohias children in Devon,

I am glad you acknowledge for once you are not an expert propatria. You are always ready to dismiss with little information. There are more important reasons for selecting a school that exam results. Exam results can be manipulated easily and often are. Good exam results may be one indicator of a good school but they are not necessarily so.

My children are bright enough to do well in any school really. I chose the school for my DC's based on other factors like whether it would allow my children to thrive. Whether they would get a chance to be a bigger fish in a small sea rather than small fry in a school whose reputation exceeds its actual perfomance. Or knowing how some schools make their results look good when they arent.

But then you go ahead and give all your advice, I am sure the OP will welcome it - and find out the facts when she gets here. I dont think I will bother further. There is always someone like you propatria.

There are two other possible schools for the OP in the Truro catchment suggested (given she stated Penair). One I wouldnt touch with a barge pole. The other is acceptable in terms of the kind of schools available

In order to have a choice of schools you need to be looking at in or near Truro I think.
I live in SE Cornwall and our local school is pretty good. However, there are people who hate it in which case there is only one other option which is close enough to be practical.

One of DS's friends was moved down to Truro School, but only stayed for a couple of years then moved to Richard Lander, where he and his brother are thriving.

I sort of agree with sohia, i love Cornwall but if I could re-locate anywhere and good schools were a priority, then I wouldn't come to Cornwall.

If I had the choice of anywhere in the UK and was looking for decent schools, Cornwall would be low on my list

@sohia The results in Devon LEA schools are above the national average. And Devon has one of the two or three best state schools in the entire country. So I'm not entirely sure what you are talking about......and neither it seems, are you.

metabalis3 , I didnt think we were talking about Devon schools at all. I thought we were talking about Cornwall Schools. So where are you coming from? I am Cornish. I know about Cornish schools because I have lived there all my childhood and a part of my adult life.

I send my DC's to an independent school in Devon. This is because we moved here too late for them to take the 11+ and get a place in one of those top schools you are talking about. If you do not get into grammar school then I am afraid the local state school (I have a choice of one) is poor where I live.

Does that explain it for you?

you could have a look at St Michael's small school, its a Roman Catholic school and is now a 'free school' having previously been a private. I don't know very much about it now but thought I would mention it as an option to look into. I had hoped to send my DS there but we had to move away.(this was several years ago)

I would avoid Camborne, Redruth and Pool schools. Falmouth school seems ok (was my 2nd option for DS) and is a fab place to live, although as I said, I was looking into schools there a few years ago now.

Well, Sohia, you were the one who chose to make negative remarks about Devon, not me. Why the surprise that someone who actually has kids in state schools in Devon would want to take issue with your inaccurate summation of the situation here?

Cornwall is lovely for a holiday - but I wouldn't relocated there as I don't know the places to avoid which you need to due to the large drug culture, I have a friend who specialises in drug problems and has been offered countless jobs in Cornwall as this is where the work is, sorry

I will re state it for you then metabolis3. Unless your DC's are in a grammar school , then the state schools in Devon vary from just acceptable to downright rubbish. Just like Cornwall really. Neither Devon nor Cornwall are the best places to live if you want good schools.
I could even comment on some of the practices of the grammar schools which are iffy in my view but I wont because this isnt about them.

Ivykaty44 - I would agree, some schools have big drug problems in Cornwall. Not much better in Devon either really. I wanted to live here. My husband was happy to get a job here after we had lived in Bucks for a while but we both knew the state schools and some of the areas had big social issues. We came with eyes open. There are few better places to live but many with far better state schools.

Sohia ,your condemnation needs to be put in context ,when you were looking for a sc hool in south devon you made claims about state schools that included,drugs,drink,teenage pregnancies and my fave -sex acts in the park-you then asked about a private school which not one person had a good thing to say about,your own view of it was that it was not great, but thats where you sent your children you had a pop at other private schools in Devon ,later you made false claims for the exam results of the school and when last heard you were looking for another school as the hours of the school didnt suit your lifestyle
Delighted to see from your posts in this thread that grammar schools are not exempt and that they have "iffy practices",...

@Sohia The state schools in Devon vary from the best state school in the country to Yes, a very small number of poor schools at the bottom of the table. The majority of the state schools in Devon get very good results. About 15 of them get better results than some of the independent schools (which are apart from the big two in Exeter pretty poor). Colyton, Uffculme, Kingsley, Kings, St peters, kingsbridge, okehampton all get very very good results. Many people move to Devon from other parts of the country in the hoe of getting a place at Colyton. What on earth is your problem with Devon? And why bring it into a discussion about schools in Cornwall (bearing in mind it's not even the adjacent LEA).

I live in Cornwall and work in the NHS. We do not have serious drug problems down here, I used to work in Oxford and there were far worse problems there. There are issues with alcohol (much like everywhere) hence the improving services for drug and alcohol specialists.
As regards to schools, IMHO I think we have some pretty good schools around here. My DD is about to go into yr7 and we considered all the local options (private and state) and decided on Richard Lander due to the great new facilities, good results and generally happy atmosphere.
Other good schools are Penaire, the Roseland and Penryn (although it does get oversubscribed).

The Roseland Community College (age 12-16), in Tregony is on the Roseland Peninsula, (this is an area of outstanding beauty). The school itself is outstanding with its Ofsted inspection. It is small and has about 650 pupils which is half the size of Penair or Richard Lander. The facilities are good and its pastoral care excellent. Its also close to Truro (15 mins away by car).

Personally we moved into the area to be close to this school. We considered Penair but liked the Roseland as it was smaller. My two children were happy and left with very good GCSE results.

(Cornwall also has Truro College for 16+, which is a Beacon college and one of the best in the country).

Cornwall has its rougher areas just like anywhere. It does not have a drug/alcohol problem any worse than other rural areas in the UK. I work in mental health and my husband is a police officer. So we are aware of these issues. I think Cornwall is a lovely place for children to grow up.

Wow, so many responses, thanks so much to everyone for their say. As I said we are not limited to any one area, we can pretty much live anywhere. Since my last post I have also looked at Mullion school any comments on that. I looked at it as it is a small school and currently my 2 attend pretty small schools here. Devon is also a possibility so any ideas gratefully accepted. We have lots of time to sort this all out as our move back to the uk is not for another year. Re drugs they are everywhere, some schools here have a serious party drug culture, you just have to have your eyes open and be mindful of the friendship groups your kids hang with and try hard to steer them straight, yeah ok easier said than done with teenagers (we have a 17 year old too).
We have a lovely lifestyle here on the Mornington Peninsula, it is very like cornwall we just want to move back at least for a while. We thought of Cornwall as I thought the climate would be better, it is a beautiful place and we thought maybe there would be a warm community feel for our kids to fit in with and make some friends. Please everyone keep your comments coming. By the way thanks to sashh for your idea of maybe starting up a penpal thing with a school.
Currently our kids are in Christian schools so we could look at any schools like that as we can get a vicars referral if it helps, I think I saw a C of E school in Devon. OK i'll shut up now and give you guys a chance to comment.
THANK YOU SO MUCH

I have friends who live near Mullion, they love it there, and Mullion school has a really good reputation in the area so I'm sure it's fine even though I don't know anyone with DC there myself. The area is a bit isolated and can be difficult to get in/out during summer hols when it gets a bit clogged up with tourists. I guess if you like to be somewhere quiet then it would be ideal.
The only christian school that comes to mind is the one someone mentioned before, St Michaels Catholic school which will be opening in Camborne in September. I have been considering sending DD there but she wants to go to Richard Lander so unless there's a problem, that's where she'll go!

The schools mentioned up the thread like Penair, Richard Lander, Falmouth, Penryn and Mullion are fine.

Truro College has had a huge investment in it as well, and there University College Falmouth & Exeter University (Cornwall Campus) are on your doorstep.

As important for the well-being of children is the fact that Cornwall is a fantastic place to bring up children - it is a beautiful, safe, vibrant place. My friend (ex-head teacher in Cornwall and other parts of the country says "Cornwall children are about 20 years behind the rest of the UK - in a good way. They actually believe that adults have a right to tell them what they should and shouldn't do."

I live within eyesight of an average Cornish secondary and so have 100s of kids walking past my house to and from school every day and they are beautifully behaved.

There are pockets of drugs, crime and deprivation but are easily avoided.

Best of luck with your move.

What about moving children during the school year versus beginning of the year, is it really important for them to start in September or not really? Does anyone have any experience of this? Pro's/Con's?

There is often movement during the school year, I don't think it's a huge issue
We love Cornwall and couldn't live anywhere else. Just one thought though, if you or DC are surfers then the best surf is always on the north coast! There are really lovely villages all around Cornwall so I'm sure you'll find somewhere suitable. Best of luck with your move!

Hi. Penair, richard Lander and Roseland are all worth a look, but if your children are quiet and susceptible to bullying then Penair may not be the best option. Private schools are Truro High (girls only-high academic results and mixed intake), Truro School (which suits a certain sort of child/parent and takes both sexes) and Highfields (a small non snobby alternative to the state schools in Redruth).
Living in Cornwall is great if you want a relaxed lifestyle close to the sea, but unless you have jobs lined up, or if you want a bit of culture and a welcoming attitude to 'outsiders' , may want to look further north (ie into Devon eg plymouth) rather than going even further west than Truro....

PS doesn't seem to make much difference starting mid year except for when everyone is starting together eg at the beginning of secondary school. We were advised by the school that starting in June was better for a child about to choose GCSE options (ie age 14) rather than waiting until September.