Reddam House

[schooling101]

Reddam House/Bearwood College....please READ THE SMALL PRINT when happily receiving your bursary/scholarship... you leave half way through, you have to pay it back!!! It is not all it claims to be... when a school has to hand out 100% scholarships left right and centre, you MUST always ask WHY? You'd never catch your 'good' schools doing that!! White House did it - they shut; Waverley did it - they almost shut. They are not selective (YET!), they cannot afford to be!! I know children who have walked in not having to sit an exam.
What was a great school for children who struggled academically, has let itself down in a huge way. ~As a parent there, you have to find the best in it, as you are now stuck there. There business strategy seems underhanded... on a visit there all I heard was how bad their competition was; all that made me do was want to test out their competition... which I found to be more honest and not a whisper of other schools in the area!!
When more than half of the pupil body left following their GCSEs this year - Need I say more?
LOOK BEYOND THE IKEA FURNITURE AND NICE LOOKING BOOKS - these are not the substance of any school.

couldn't help noticing on 2018 secondary school league tables for Wokingham that reddam house way down behind holt, Piggott, maiden erlegh, st crispins, forest & waingels which I think are all state schools?. what exactly is this fee paying private school doing right? also number of pupils at end of key stage 4 is 25. did it almost double from 12?. with such small class sizes I would have thought the kids would be taught better?

Interested in your opinions on Reddam House. My DD will start year 7 in September this year.

It's a sorry state of affairs, when the senior leadership team have to masquerade as fee paying parents to troll other parents for expressing key problem issues at Reddam and use cheap tactics to market their own School.
High turnover of staff, mainly procured from bad comprehensives. and very very aggressive marketing that doesn't deliver. Tutoring encouraged.
Basic etiquette expectant of independent Schools students absent.
Homework hardly given. Extra Curricular activities cancelled frequently. Doesn't compare to other Schools in the area in any way.

@schooling101
Do you have children there? If not what is your source of information?

Sorry I meant to ask to @user1493131878

Still very small numbers therefore friendship groups are limited.
If your child is keen on art or music this is not an inspiring school.
Lack of cpd for staff. Behind the flashy IT (and the budget for that) the teaching is playing catch up with modern practice.
And yes, some staff have got their kids there but after discounts and for appearances sake that's a given.
It's a business.

Hello, looking at Reddam for DS starting either Sept or Y9. Wondered if anyone could help regarding what's expected from the entrance exam or what the exam actually consists of?

Mixed reviews of the school on this thread although it does go back several years. Any Mums out there with current views/knowledge your help/thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Don't want to make the wrong decision.
I was very impressed when I looked round and DS loved taster day.

Most scholarships come with conditions. E.g. most music scholarships require pupils to stay at the school and take GCSE music, some even A level music, and take part in almost everything the music department wants you to. At my ds school, a very oversubscribed prep, scholarships and bursaries would cease when boys stop singing in the choir and might have to be paid back. As a fee paying parent I find clauses like this rather reassuring as the school obviously wants to ensure that they get maximum commitment from their scholars who are supposed to lift up standards for everyone. But it's also a reason why I won't let my dcs try for music scholarships at certain schools as it's just too much of a commitment.