Schools in newton abbot v Bude

[Jem1709]

We currently live in newton abbot but also have a place in Bude where we spend weekends. Thinking about moving to Bude permanently and looking at St Petrocs. Bude primary hasn't fared well in ofsted and out of catchment for Stratton. Does anybody have any views on St Petrocs? If we decide to stay in newton abbot we are looking at stover (if we can't get DS into either canada hill or st michaels - both of which have outstanding ofsted, although we may decide not to apply if we visit and don't like them). So thinking about stover as a backup or possibly as a first choice. We have visited and it seems nice.
Any constructive thoughts on either? I don't want to hear how great blundells, exeter school etc or any of the other prep schools are that aren't local to me. I don't have time in the day to spend hours on the school run so can only consider the schools in close proximity to us.

I have been reading these posts with interest and some dismay. The intake at Stover has certainly changed over the last five years or so but to say that their GSCE results are "atrocious" is untrue and deeply insulting to the many students who work hard to achieve their A and A grades. My DD achieved all A and As, AAB at A level, a First from University of London and an MA. Stover is non-selective yet does amazing things with Value Added, with many children achieving far beyond expectations. The teachers are well qualified and passionate about helping each individual child feel valued, whatever their academic ability. Like many small independent schools, the senior school has the whole spectrum of ability from statemented through to Oxbridge material.

peony Your DD clearly did brilliantly. But the problem some of us have is with the inflated claims made for this school at the same time as casting around insults at other local(isn) schools and the students who go to those schools (even though they allegedly 'don't deserve to'). The official stats for last year are here:
www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=113579&superview=sec&qtype=LA

These show that Stover had only 55% of students passing 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths. And that of the 27 students taking A levels only 3 got AAB or better. And the average grade was C-

There is definitely a place for this sort of school, of course there is. And your experience demonstrates that the occasional bright kid can do very well there indeed. But people representing this school as one of the best in the county or indeed as better than the nearest comps are being misleading.

Incidentally, peony - welcome to MN. I see this is your first post. Can we expect more parents from Stover to rock up soon? That might be quite good actually. You could perhaps present a more balanced view of the school than its previous champion.

I would like to know where those figures are coming from. I actually have a copy of the results from last year ( u6 - 2013) and it looks nothing like what you are saying. Not least of all because there were 32 students in the group.

Of course I cannot list them all or give names and I will say some pupils didnt get top results. There were a proportion of D and E grades. I am sure that maybe for those students those may well have been good results. The school is non selective as you keep wanting to tell us all. They teach "thick" kids.

However I have in front of me, just reading down the first few and not picking out the best - just reading the list down alphabetically.
AA B C
B B B C
B B C C
C E
A C C D
A E D
B C D
A A A A
A* A B
B B C D
B C E
A C D
A A C

do you want me to carry on?

I know you have linked a government web site but averages do not individual exam performances reflect now do they?

You may well be right they didnt all get AA B or better but AAC and nearly the whole lot got it. This is a non selective school. Without putting a fine point on it and my DC are amongst them, some of those in the sixth form may well not have been able to get tnto sixth forms elsewhere ,or came to the school because their results would not get them onto courses elsewhere . Those students still achieved,. Had they gone to schools where no doubt you might think they should have gone, the chances are they would never have been allowed to take A level, let alone PASS them

Its that kind of ultimate snobbery that really gets me well p*ssed off.
The label " this child is not good enough so we ( as in at least one school in Newton Abbott can be seen as saying to my experience) suggest they take beauty or child development" " We have courses to suit everyone" But of course they do not tell you that they decide what course you take , not you. (And so they never get to show they might be able to do anything else do they?) Just like another school who even has different uniforms for the "elite" and the not so elite (differentiation even in sixth form).

Most state schools are non selective and cater for many disadvantaged kids and very few privileged children on a very tight budget with all that various govs throw at them.

The point is surely schools containing privileged children in classes of 15 with all that shed loads of money and freedom to teach how you like brings should achieve more.

Otherwise what is the point of shelling out bucket loads of cash?

Posters were simply pointing this out from the data every state school is beholden to and held accountable to.

The DfE site contains audited information. Your sheet of paper which you magically have in front of you, does not. However maybe you are right maybe it's a MASSIVE conspiracy to defame Stover and actually everyone there gets amazing grades for their A levels and the DfE was publishing inaccurate information. Although of course your figures quoted do match the DfE information in that 3 students got AAB or better. And from the results you quoted (which probably are the best) most didn't get better than AAC did they? In fact, from the 13 'results' you quoted 4 kids got AAC or better.

This is what irks people. This refusal to accept facts even when you present them yourself! You are putting 'information' out there and then claiming it is different from what it actually is.

And it's sonly annoying because it is in the context of extreme criticism of other schools, and especially snotty behaviour to the local comps all of which do better than Stover. Upthread you mentioned such things as kicking off and throwing chairs. That has never happened in any class my DS has been in at his bog standard (but getting better results than Stover) comp. Nor has it happened in any class DD1 has been in at her Grammar (even though I suspect you think she shouldn't be there).

There has been a bit of 'kicking off' at DD2's primary, I must admit. :(

The actual results for GCSE and A level are there for all to see on the school's website, broken down into specific subjects and grades. Remember that the year groups are small by state school standards yet the ability spectrum is the same. If your child is academically able, well supported at home and motivated, they will be challenged and do really well. If your child is of average ability, the staff will do their best to support and stretch them to reach thir best potential. If your child struggles the staff will encourage and support to the wire. There, I've had my say. Over and out.

I am not suggesting anyone is being defamed. I have just read off the results. Btw, I did a very naughtly thing ( maybe I should change my name to a verynaughtykitten"?). I saw the list of exam results in raw scores on a teachers desk on parents information evening and I wanted to compare the results at Stover to the results at the school where I work. I really wanted to see if my students ( who I teach) were doing as well or better or worse than the ones where my DC go. I dont like using statistically manipulated results as they rarely tell me anything about the actual result profile. I was more interested in which subjects got the best results so I can inform my DC what to take at A level ( interests and similar not withstanding). I knew it was not possible to find those results published anywhere so I just , well, err, took them.

However, I do find it insulting to the children and parents of children at Stover for some posters ,like you , suggesting they are " thick". A school can only get results as good as the kids it allows to take the exams.

In my school we do not allow pupils to sit an exam unless we are certain they will get a C or better ( and so we manipulate the results profile that way for the DfE). At A level pupils are not allowed to take a subject unless they have at least a B in that subect at GCSE, in some cases they cant take an A level without an A in the subject. ( its a C at Stover and sometimes I am told by my DS it can be a D at GCSE if the teacher thinks its OK and you resit and get the C before you take the A level).

You are not allowed to take an A level in my school if they think you will get less than a C pass and often students are re directed onto B.Tech's ( which frequently are not what they want and the kids drop out of them anyway) and other courses or simply removed before the exams if they manage to get though the net. Personally I do not like the idea ofsome one determining my DC's future by telling them what subjects they can and cannot take at A level or that they must do B Tech or Beauty instead.

No one has ever told me of such practices at Stover.

Thats not the reason my DC are in Stover. For me its just convenience and small(ish) classes and mostly lack of disruption. There is a good work ethic and discipline in the school.

So, if you are accepting DC who elsewhere might not be allowed to take A level at all and getting passes, that is no mean fete. I know that as a teacher.

I have not directly criticised any other school by name. But please do not try to tell me that the local schools in NA are above chair throwing and disruption and that they are all scenes of sweetness and hardwork and lightness. They are not. I say that as someone who has worked in them.

So, you stole these unaudited results - which may not even BE results. This is what you are telling us? OK.

You refuse to belief the DfE audited information because you think it has been 'statistically manipulated'. Let's just hope you don't 'teach' either Maths or English, then.

And, the only person in this thread who has used the word 'thick' is you (you have used it repeatedly).

I am afraid I did seal the results. I am certain they are the results. Not what the school might like you to know. It included the U grades too in some cases and at GCSE certainly I could see the weak depts. I could see a couple of under performers at A level too as well as what was popular and what was not.

I am the only one who has used the un Pc word herc, but it was you who made the suggestion. I just translated you into simple English and I notice that until now you didnt object did you?
Whats the matter? Looking for something to detract suddenly?

This thread started out with someone asking about prep ( or if you prefer primary) schools. You never addressed that. You have several times made some claim that all the posts pro Stover claim it to be somehow paraphrasing " the best in Devon". I am certain that has not been said.

What I think was said is that it was a decent school. Thats all I said anyway. I get the feeling you are arguing with something that isnt being said here ( maybe are you still trying to cause trouble for the poster in the last thread? Btw, I know her. I see her at school. She was banned from MN and was not pleased about it. In fact she has been spitting at coffee mornings about MN ever since.

So you are looking to argue with someone who isnt here. Just get your head out of that will you?

steal the results.

Not at all. You can use whatever words you want, in your last post you accused ME of using that word, and I didn't.

I've mainly been letting your posts speak for themselves. They do that brilliantly well.

This is getting seriously weird now though.

Well I am anonymous on this forum. If Stover School want to make an issue of it that is fine by me. I will be forced to remove my DC and I will tell the governors what is what , that is, that I read a thread on MN where several posters were arguing with one parent from the school and they made claims that the school was very poor and did not do justice to the pupils and was not worth paying for and that it was going to close down anyway.

That was what was said ( this was before St Margarets closed btw).

As a parent I was concerned by the comments. Did not feel able to ask for the information I needed, was certainly not being given it, and when I saw it available, I simply took advantage of the situation.

Yes, it is bad when I have to do that because MNers are intent on bad mouthing the school where I send my DC. I just wanted to know the truth, not what the combatants here were saying.

Stover school is no more a bad school than the state schools who have such over inflated claims made for them here are good schools. Any school is only as good as the pupils in it.

I am not at all sure anyway that taking a paper off a desk on an evening when the school is open to the public amounts to a criminal offence.

Also, at the very least, maybe they will get MN to close down threads which are so disparaging to specific named schools. They might even consider getting the posters banned too for deformation.

defamation sorry. not good at typing.

I doubt very much that MN would that interested in posters posting gov links and making conclusions from the data there for all to see it.

The whole point of gov school league tables is to do just that.

may well have to bite the bullet and private tutor anyway (depends on your DC's ability) even for a mediocre grammar school like Torquay.

Do you base your mediocre comments on fact based evidence, or could it be construed as a libellous comment?

It is my opinion and based on the fact that as a selective grammar school their results are less than should be expected for such a school. Pupils who are being selected for their ability top obtain 100% top grades at GCSE should do just that. Anything less is an under performoance and therefore "mediocre" - quite ordinary for the pupils it has.

That is no more libel than the public comments of the prvious HT of the TQBG who said Stover was closing and he was going to have the school as a satalite for the grammar school. I did notice though he was forced to place a disclaimer on his school website but I do not think that was enough. He should have been forced to make a public apology in the same way as he made the public announcement . I do think that did a lot of damage to Stover Schools reputation and is the root of a lot of its problems with bad press now.

That is just my opinion of course.