St Edmunds College

[user1466518624]

Any recent experiences of St Edmunds Prep and College as we are in the process of applying for both the Prep and the College for our 2.

For the eldest it would mean losing an Academic Scholarship at a small day school in Essex which has been disappointing and very limited in what it offers for GCSE subjects and St Edmunds offers more choice particularly in Science and Technology which DS loves.

The little one is not quite so urgent but it would be nice to get some feedback and perhaps inspire me to make the move sooner rather than later.

They do a great Open Day and the teachers seem very well qualified and caring but it would be nice to get some feedback good or bad from anyone with experience of the school

Is the St Edmuu DS College in Ware you refer to? If so it's a fabulous school. I don't have children there, but I lived near it for a good number of yrs and a number of children forms ds's primary school moved there. I've also visited the school when we were considering for DS, until we moved.

It's a very nurturing, gentle school, with good academics. It's not a top 50 Indy by any means, but you can be assured they will get the best out of your dc. At least I was anyway. It has a lovely environment and good facilities. It also has a lively boarding community if you are interested in that. The prep, used to be called 'St Hugh's'. Is equally fab. I've never heard a single complaint about the school, and I know quite a few people who have moved there.

Just to add, St Edmunds has a waiting list! It is exteremely popular and 2yrs ago I bumped into a man and his son (at private maths tutors house) who mentioned that his DS had just passed the entrance test but had not got a place, as it was full up. They had waited close to closing date to submit his application and as they had so many applicants, had offered places on a first come first served basis. The boy was added to the WL. Wether he got a place eventually I do not know, but if you are interested, get moving.

Thank you so much and yes it is St Eds in Ware. We are going down the 13 plus route and have registered as yes it has become very popular. Further down the school there is plenty of space x

So sorry for late response - just seen this. There's no doubt some families really benefit from St Ed's, with quite a few we know with 2 or 3 of their offspring going through the school. Unfortunately our experience has not been that good. We loved the open days, the staff we met, the grounds, and the apparently excellent head teacher - witty, clever, kind. All in all quite seductive really. The reality once our DS started 3 years ago was very different. There was a huge turnover of staff in each year, with many of the youngest members clearly out of their depth in being able to control the classrooms. And to add to that problem, during our time, their best and most experienced teachers were leaving, mainly through retirement. The academic results are generally not very impressive, with a clear skew from overseas students' successes. Their senco help was also inadequate. Their sports teams are poorly managed - the sports director left in our first year there, her replacement took a year to join and then he left for personal reasons the same year. No-one was appointed to replace him. I'd say their maths teachers, as a department, were very good. On the discipline front, many of the teachers were not trained well enough to earn the respect of the students, and when that happens, chaos ensues. One arts teacher, who has left now, gave dozens upon dozens of detentions out every term. My opinion of the head teacher has changed markedly, as I place leadership in the centre of a school's direction. We've moved our DS to another school now.

Hello, has anyone got any recent experiences of St Edmunds college? I am looking at 2022 entry at 11+ . Thank you.