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Original poster

Thorpe Hall or Belfairs Academy

13 replies

Highbeam · 18/09/2018 13:41

My ds will take the 11+ on Saturday . He is borderline so although we are keeping our fingers crossed he may not pass.Our catchment school is Belfairs but we could afford Thorpe Hall. I have heard on the grapevine that the academic level is very low. In this case would Belfairs be the better option ?

We would love to look at New Hall or Brentwood but they are beyond our means unfortunately .

OP posts:
OldBean2 · 20/09/2018 18:03

Belfairs has definitely upped its game in recent years and has a better reputation academically and with pastoral care. I am aware of children who passed their 11+ and could not settle at Westcliff or Southend but went on to thrive at Belfairs.

beautyisthebeast · 23/09/2018 12:36

Belfairs imo Thorpe hall has not so great reputation atm.
I think that as long as dc have good support your ds will do fine at belfairs. Plenty of students go onto university there etc.

Original poster
Highbeam · 06/10/2018 11:58

Thank you both,we are awaiting the results now. He feels that it went well so we shall see. Otherwise it seems that Belfairs will be better academically and with pastoral care.

OP posts:
crisscrosscranky · 06/10/2018 12:18

Hello again @Highbeam Smile

Belfairs is also our non-grammar catchment; we were happy with it although we've applied for a performing arts place at Eastwood on the off chance.

Our other 'no pass' options are mostly in Rayleigh.

Original poster
Highbeam · 06/10/2018 12:27

I will be glad when the waiting is over. How easy is it to get a place in a Rayleigh school from Leigh? Are they better than Belfairs?

OP posts:
BrigitsBigKnickers · 12/10/2018 00:21

I visit Belfairs regularly and am really quite impressed with the place. The pupils look smart and seem to conduct themselves well around the corridors and as they leave to go home-the pastoral care also seems strong.

The Rayleigh schools are both very good but oversubscribed. I think they are fairly difficult to get into from Leigh- I know a few DCs who applied there from Leigh last year who were not successful.

HuntingtonHaven18 · 18/02/2019 16:02

I have name changed as it is identifying...
I am hoping your DS passed and this is no longer an issue but know national offer day is looming.
I am a year in front of you and we were in a similar position. Our child just missed a grammar place and we considered our catchment school and Thorpe Hall. Our child wanted Belfairs to be with friends and I think if your child is self-motivated and able to just get on, things will be fine. The school aims high and the setting is ambitious. Pastoral care is good and it is a much better school than it used to be.

However we have now moved to Thorpe Hall (as have other students in various years). Our child is easily distracted and although in top sets for everything, attainment was sliding as was behaviour. The school is huge and boisterous and the classes are busy. Our child was becoming increasingly unhappy because of this and asked to move. I think the small environment will better suit our child and we have been very pleased so far. The chance of participating in activities is huge and was one of the deal-breakers for us.

Many of our child's friends are very happy at Belfairs and are doing well. As I said, if you have a self-motivated child they can do very well there.

Sorry if this confuses you further

Busybeesagain · 05/09/2022 12:02

@HuntingtonHaven18 We are in a similar situation, may I ask how you got on?.

HuntingtonHaven18 · 05/09/2022 20:16

Busybeesagain · 05/09/2022 12:02

@HuntingtonHaven18 We are in a similar situation, may I ask how you got on?.

Hello @Busybeesagain my ds is just about to go into Year 11 at Thorpe Hall and we are so glad with everything we did. I agree with previous comments about the perception that THS is not too academic but that is changing quite a bit with the new head who joined last year. Things are tightening up and I know the waiting list is very big this year. For us, the peace of mind of having him somewhere he felt happy was everything to us.

Our daughter is about to join year 8 at a different independent. We would have been happy with THS for her but her interests meant she was better suited to the school she is at. Many of her friends went to Belfairs and we have had mixed reviews. It was never going to be an option for her. We did like King John though. I do know of three families that moved their daughters from Belfairs and are now at THS. It is not that Belfairs is a bad school but it is definitely not for everyone.

Hope this helps a little.

Busybeesagain · 05/09/2022 22:59

Thank you @HuntingtonHaven18 , this is really helpful. Good luck to you DS for his final year.

HuntingtonHaven18 · 06/09/2022 06:57

@Busybeesagain thank you. Now to start the hunt for a sixth form for him…

good luck with your decision.

OneRingToRuleThemAll · 06/09/2022 07:06

It's worth considering a little out the area too. We are central Southend and have one at Westcliff and one at Greensward. I'm very happy with Greensward.

There are hundreds of them all on the same train in the morning, it's quite a sight seeing them all.

HuntingtonHaven18 · 06/09/2022 08:45

Ooh ok thanks. He did mention Greensward and we are looking at lots: King John, Fitzwimark, Thomas More amongst others. I thought the website was very good for Greensward

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