Wycliffe College, Gloucs

[Inatizztoo]

Looking for views on senior prep and senior school.
From a visit it looked good and got a good feeling about it.

Reading the ISI reports, they seem to have a problem with stretching able children.

Would appreciate comments from parents of children there or anybody who knows about it.

Thank you.

Nice school but the Stroud grammars get the kids who are stronger academically. There's probably a link to the fact that they don't stretch able children as most of the able ones don't go there. If your dc are able have you considered shs and marling?

Thank you Jimbob. DD is currently in Y7. Don't Stroud Grammar only take children in Y7 after taking the 11 plus?

No - they take other years too - children move in and out of the area so there is a bit of movement in other year groups. Contact the school directly about non year 7 admissions. Your dd may have to take a test. The best thing is to give the school a ring - asap if you're looking for a September start. Shs is a lovely school - good luck. If you need help for glos admissions experts go to the Gloucestershire section of the eleven plus forum.

I had heard that Stroud Girls was a bit of an exam factory. What is it like for sport/extra curricular?

Does bullying go on much?

Good for drama, very good for music (not as good as Pates though but then very few places are). Sport is pretty average but I think the fact it's single sex helps the less sporty and less enthusiastic.

I don't think it's an exam factory as they make a point of getting girls to go beyond the academic stuff - there's a scheme which is very popular to encourage leadership, participation in extracurricular stuff and community work. They do gey good exam results but it's not seen as a hothouse.

Re bullying - I don't know what shs is like. It's not one of the schools round here with a reputation for it but I haven't heard anything either way on this. I would ask on the glos eleven plus forum as there are bound to be people with dds there currently.

Thank you for your help Jimbob. Do you know anybody with children at Wycliffe?

I know a family with a very young child there (in preschool) and a neighbour with a kid who left last year to go to marling.

Grammar Schools in Stroud seem to be doing very well and getting good numbers each year into Oxbridge and Russell Group Unis. Don't think Wycliffe has had any Oxbridge offers for four years now - view seems to be that more able kids are not stretched to their full potential there.

I moved to the area from Brighton a few years ago and had Wycliffe and Westonbirt down as my two top choices. Prior to visiting either I had assumed I'd pick Wycliffe as my daughter has dyslexia and the prep had a specialist dyslexia unit and a good rep for SEN. However, my impressions on visiting it were not that favourable. The head (mildly sexist - made comments like "you know what girls are like"!) put me off, as did the wooden and uncomfortable children brought in to meet me - they seemed terrified. They hadn't bothered forwarding my daughter's dyslexia report to the SEN department and they hadn't read or responded to any of the notes or questions I'd sent in preparation for the visit. I left feeling really disheartened. In contrast, I got an immediately amazing welcome from Westonbirt, they spent ages showing me around, asking key questions about my daughter and generally really engaging with what I wanted to know. Mrs Dangerfield spent a long time asking me about my daughter and I left feeling so relieved, filled in the application form that afternoon, and I'm glad to say that she has thrived there from day one - her reading and academic records have rocketed, partly from the excellent teaching and partly because she's just so happy there. Big. Relief. :-)

You seem to be reviving every zombie Wycliffe thread to tell everyone how terrible it is based on one visit! I am very pleased that your DD found the right school for her but I do question the motives of posters like you. Did someone at her school ask you to post? its happened before.

sorry - only two posts (!) and it's because I haven't been on mumsnet for a while and was looking back on my old posts as daughter now in new (senior) school. I really don't think (Wycliffe) was terrible, just not right for my daughter, gave my feedback to the school at the time and only visited once. Wasn't right for me but know others are happy there. Wanted to give my feedback as was so useful to me when I was browsing from Brighton and didn't know anyone. I'm new and no, I wasn't asked to post! I'm not that used to mumsnet and thought ok to just give my opinions but I will delete if it's wrong or offensive to anyone. It hadn't occurred to me (perhaps stupidly) that current parents would read it and be offended - sorry! Never had a parent be upset by any of my posts before so I'm genuinely sorry if I have.

Fair enough, it just seemed a bit random to me. I am sure there are lots of verry happy Wycliffe parents but I'm not one. We lost a very good teacher to them recently which is my only interest. London day schools are lsoing all their best teachers when they reach house buying age because they can't afford to stay. I can see boarding becoming very popular again.

I think we are talking about different schools!!! The school I'm posting about isn't a day school in London but another school in Gloucestershire. I'm also relieved as you sound like a teacher and even though I'm all grown up that sort of scares me!! No detention for me - phew. (I'm sure your school is lovely!!)

Yes I know Wycliffe is in Gloucestershire but DS's school which is in London lost a teacher to them recently and an extremely good teacher at that. I am nothing like a teacher and they terrify me as well.

Adding a late comment in case anyone else is reading and considering the school. Our children were there for several years. I'm so glad we moved them. We found standards of teaching much higher elsewhere - Wycliffe seemed to have low expectations academically and is inflexible in teaching methods. Mid-year report was literally just three lines, mostly talking about how my child came to school tidy, no real update on attainment. Teachers given a lot of slack to do what they wanted without much leadership from the top, which lead to variable attitudes to teaching and pastoral care. The head gives a good tour and they talk about providing a supportive environment but did not deliver for us in practice. Increased fees without much justification or notice. It seemed to me to be more of a private primary than a prep in the proper sense. Ok if you just want small classes but in all I'd recommend to steer clear.