Schools in Leeds and York - advice please.

[hamsterjackjack]

Does anyone live in or around Leeds or York who could give us up to date, honest information and advice about the schools in the area (both state and private). I have a boys and two girls and would ideally like them at the same school if we can find something which suits them all.

We like the look of places like St Peters, Bootham, Gateways (but this is just for girls) but we may well end up living close to the Grammar School at Leeds which looks like it has amazing facilities but somehow doesn't grab us in the same way as the others. Also which are the good state secondary schools? The cost of private education for three children is terrifying! People keep mentioning St Aidan's but Harrogate is not convenient for either of our jobs. Is Roundhay any good? Tadcaster? Garforth? Fulford?

Thank you for any help you can give us.

I am familiar with all the schools you mentioned, and have children who attend one of them plus friends with children at most of those!! They all have their strengths and weaknesses, so perhaps if you ask more specific questions you may attract a better answer I guess.

With the state schools you mentioned there are strict criteria for catchment too, as you probably know, and one of them faith too. So I guess those will be deciding factors.

Feel free to IM me...

The state secondaries in York are mostly very good. I would think Fulford (catchment), Manor (faith) and Huntington (catchment) are probably the most popular, but that's just my opinion. York is a great place to live with children too.

I live in York and would happily send my children to Bootham, Fulford or All Saints.

I think it depends on your children. The Grammar School at Leeds is probably the most academic ( although Peter's will be very close) and is absolutely fantastic for sport, however not as good for creative arts. Music is good but drama is very poor although there is a new head coming and maybe she will change the priorities. They've always done very well with uni applications. If you live near there and decide to go private and have academic kids then it's the one to go for.
Gateways is small and cosy and lovely at primary but sometimes I've noticed that the girls struggle to fledge; uni, leaving home, the real world can seem scary and a few haven't settled afterwards.
Aiden's and Harrogate Grammar both excellent state options, if the Harrogate commute is OK for you.
Peter's has Saturday school and my two wouldn't even consider that! However if you're near York (or a train station) it's a good option.
Good luck!

I agree with cathyandclaire, I think this is a pretty objective and accurate description of GSAL. I would also add that it is very multicultural (a plus point in my view) and very large.

Like sovery have kids at one, friends with dc at many of the other named and also have taught at one on your list.
Gateways is very small and friendly but lots more girls appear to be leaving, mostly for GSAL, i would be worried about future stability. also agree they struggle once they have left.
GSAL has fab facilities and sports are super. Art is excellent, have no idea about drama though as never been an interest, people often go on about how big it is, but it has fewer kids per year than Aidans, HGS, Garforth or Roundhay.
St Petes is also lovely and parents generally happy with provision there.
Bootham appears to be a real marmite school,some love it but i know of 3 kids removed for bullying issues, and 1 still there who is having continuing issues over the bullying.
If you don't want to pay then non of the Leeds schools are anywhere near as good as the Harrogate ones. If religious then St Aidan's is good, otherwise go for HGS which offers a great range of extra curricular stuff as well as good exam results.
The Leeds state schools fare much less well on both exam results and extra curricular provision, also if you are living next to GSAL unless you have a lot of religious points you wil not get in to any of the state schools you mention. HGS usual catchment is a mile round school,plus some from villages, Tadcaster is mostly Tad itself plus Ulleskelf etc, Church Fenton uusally ok for places,any further not. Roundhay has a very unusally shaped catchment which excludes most of the bigger houses very close to it, and runs instead across towards harehills.

OP, there's been quite a lot of discussion about Queen Ethelburga's (NW of York) here in the past. It's possible to access the old threads.

Thank you all. That is really interesting and helpful. I think we need to go and have a look at the schools and also see where there are places!

Was talking to a parent at cricket & they found St Peter's values could manifest themselves in probably unintentional but still sexist tones. As you have 2 daughters maybe something to check the feel of as you go round.

Apologies - late again! Please be wary about GSAL. Despite it's many qualities it does have serious problems. These have led to the removal of the head and about 20 teachers being made redundant.

Oldsweat can you elaborate about gsal? We are considering it as an option...knew the head was leaving but not the background to why?

Hi Mamakata, it's a long story but the recent sale of the Leeds Girls' Grammar site raised only 50% of the bridging loan for the new build. GSAL has debts of £4M and is not recruiting anything like the number of pupils to generate the funds needed to maintain its current profile. I don't know your personal circumstances but I'm not sure GSAL is stable enough for my taste right now. The only independent school in the Leeds-Harrogate orbit which is growing is Ashville College. HLC is stuttering and my contacts tell me Ashville is hoovering up HLC girls in Y9 and Y10 like crazy. Gateways always seems to be living on the edge. Other options are Woodhouse Grove, Fulneck, and the Bradford/Wakefield schools but that depends on where you live. I hope this helps.

Thank you. It's such a minefield, aagh! We are undecided about state or private but I had (foolishly it seems) assumed gsal was pretty stable, now would be very concerned about stability or high fee increases....

You have my sympathies. Thankfully those days are long gone. If I had to pick one school for an in depth look it would be Ashville College. It has a very ambitious programme, it's record of pastoral care is outstanding but there is a view, erroneous in my opinion, that it is not academically strong. Ashville College is not an academic forcing house. What it seems to be able to do however is realise every child's academic potential wherever they are on the academic spectrum.

I've been looking into schools recently and don't have as much knowledge/experience as some others on here but st marys at menston seemed to be the best local comp (catholic though) and I hear some students switch from private woodhouse grove to st marys as it does so well.
Harrogate schools seem to have a very small catchement area from what I understand as well.

I have heard this rumour about GSAL, BUT I know a number of teachers there, and they don't seem to know anything about it! They all seem more than happy to have their own children attend, so I guess this is genuine from their point of view - otherwise they would be pulling their own children out, no?

I also know a number of current parents and there isn't a feeling that the school is unstable. I am not sure whether this is a vicious rumour instigated by competitive schools in the area, or a real fact - the charity commission accounts look pretty good to me, so not sure whether to believe it or not.

Stability is a matter of perception I grant you. The following are not rumours they are facts:

The head was removed for poor leadership and financial management. He will not be replaced until Easter 2016 by a lady currently the head of an international school in Brussels. His offer to stay on to cover the gap was declined by the governing body.

Around 20 staff are being made redundant.

Financial planning and is predicated on cashflow generated from recruiting around 240 pupils annually. The school is managing around 200-210. However planning, due to lack of oversight, has not been taking account of that.

My sources are recent employees of GSAL who now teach elsewhere but keep in touch with their former colleagues.

wow. I did also hear of a number of staff leaving, but you never fully know the circumstances, do you?

I can't imagine the repercussion on the good schools in the area if GSAL closed - they would all be swamped! I can't imagine it coming to that, but you never know. Will keep ears and eyes out..

As a parent and an employee at The Grammar School at Leeds I wanted to set the record straight on a number of points made above.

Our Principal retired at the end of the summer prior to significant changes being made to GCSEs and A levels. Mrs Sue Woodroofe our new Principal is joining us from the British School of Brussels; everyone will have the opportunity to meet her on Saturday 10 October at our open morning.

You can visit our website to view our annual report and accounts, which show the financial strength of the school. However we are not immune to external factors, so we have reviewed our activities in response to the government’s curriculum changes and the economic climate to ensure that we maintain a healthy operating reserve. One outcome was that, from a staff body of circa 400, eight teachers left the school through voluntary redundancy.

We are very lucky in this region to have a wide choice of schools and I would recommend that you visit the schools you are interested in and talk to staff, parents and pupils who will give a very honest assessment of their school. You know your child best and can decide where your child is going to be happiest.

On a personal note I’m always happy to talk to parents so please feel free to call me on 0113 228 5157 or email [email protected].

Old thread I know but for those interested in the current position in the area GSAL has just started another redundancy process with its Junior School staff which suggests numbers aren't perhaps going in the right direction. On the other hand, I've heard that Gateways is growing and I know they have been recruiting more teaching staff consistently over the past 18 months or so. This might be just to meet their promise over class sizes (average 16 apparently) but I know which one looks the more stable to me!

Gsal has been living off its reputation but that is wearing thin as parents talk to each other and dissatisfaction is growing rapidly - I assume this is why gateways nearby is suddenly so successful...and as they have become co-ed, they are now more of a real choice!

Co-ed? From when? All through?

I'd originally discounted them for my son because he'd have to leave eventually but I really liked the school when I visited and there ethos around class sizes really appeals to me. It clearly works too if you look at their results - smashed GSAL out of the park last summer!

I work at GSAL and there is no redundancy programme, there are some temporary contracts coming to end due to staff returning from maternity leave etc which happens every year. The school’s doing very well and in fact there’s a number of posts being advertised at the moment.

Coed all the way through, I believe from sep 2019?