Reading - Crosfields and Dolphin school

[roman19]

Between Crosfields and Dolphin school in the Reading area. We are looking for our DD towards a place for Year 2. We currently live in Kent and would be moving to Woodley between Maidenhead and Reading due to work circumstances.

Sorry for lengthy message thread but would be helpful if discussed by experienced parents either of these schools on well rounded education which might help others like us.

Unfortunately we could not visit either of the schools due the current situation but that is something we would looking to as soon as situation improves but we are going through the virtual discussion process and hoping to get as much information through these meetings etc..,.

From what we have gathered online so far.

Dolphin:
Pros:
Relatively small school, Ethos and policies seem more relaxed and driven by kid's freedom (such as no uniforms, everyone addressed by first names), Heard good reviews about being a unique school in nurturing kids overall rather than just academic, Much closer location
Cons:
Facilities are not as great compared to Crosfields (Probably due to relatively small school?), Less diverse in terms of kids ethnicity, As much as glowing reviews - There are also very few negative reviews in mumsnet.
Unknown: In the last 2 years there has been a headteacher change so not sure if has been positive or negative overall, Financial stability of the school esp. in the current circumstances, Whether hot lunches are provided, No recent Independent school report (Dates to 2016) and only regulatory compliance report in 2019

Crosfields
Pros:
Excellent facilities, Bigger school that is established quite a few years and hence seems much more financially stable, Full ISI report in Sep 2019 and seems excellent.
Cons:
Farther than Dolphin so a consideration for the daily logistics, A bit subdued and not much reviews in other mumsnet threads, Atleast from the interaction and from the outside seems not as relaxed as Dolphin (but that could be a good thing too)
Unknown:
Whether the school transportation facilities is applicable for Younger years (Year 2)

We’re also considering Dolphin for yr 2 entry in Sept. did you make a choice yet and if so please can you say what swung it? We’re also considering St Pirans so a very different type of school altogether.

Hi bearandbug,

Sorry for the slight delay in response.

We have made a decision and accepted the place at Dolphin for Year 2 for our DD.

I also reached out via PM to one other mumsnet parent as their situation being more recent than any other threads I could find and hence helped clarify a few points with the experience of a few weeks with their kid at Dolphin (Both in school and remote).

It was a combination of factors that tipped the scale towards Dolphin:

1. Dolphin was good at progressing our email questions, arranging a call with the head and a virtual taster day for our DD - All in all a great experience at the same time gave us the time and space needed to make the decision - Crosfields was very slow in this regard but having made the decision I do not know the much about Crosfields apart from desk research as we had not gone through the full process and followed our instinct to take decision without confusing us further.

1. Overall vibe and experience during the virtual day as well felt that freedom to learn motto with the students - Very enthusiastic yet disciplined and my DD immediately felt comfortable with the teachers and also with some students (I was a bit worried considering how my DD a bit shy would take the virtual taster day but glad we went through that)

1. Our location to Dolphin is less than a mile and hence from a daily logistics would be very comfortable (Dare I say when the situation returns to normal ) - Crosfields would have been a bit of a journey through the traffic.

That was our perspective for the decision.

All the best and feel free to PM in case if you have any other questions.

Thank you so much for your response Roman19. Will send a quick PM and we may end up part of the same parent cohort!

We have a taster day booked in and I would love to hear your views now that your kids have been at dolphin for a while?