Calling all MN'ers living in Northampton - info re Primary and Secondary schools.....

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

my SIL and her DH are moving to Northampton in January. She's going to be working in Kingsthorpe (NN2) and I've ended up volunteering to find out some info about schools in the "north" of northampton.

DH knows the actual "areas" well so he's compiling a list of areas that fit their criteria .

Her DS is in Y3, and her DD in YR7.

I'm busy scouring Ofsted as we speak put could do with some pointers as to decent schools to look at..

TIA

anyone?

yoohoo?? I'm sure there are some people living in Northampton on here aren't there??

Currently all I can find perusing Ofsted is schools on Special Measures, and one barely managed to get "satisfactory" for things (all recent reports too!)

There must be some decent primary schools aren't there?

Well

I live in Northamptonshire! Not Northampton

I do know that the is Northampton School for Boys. Which has an excellant acedemic reputation. It also has an excellant reputation in both sport and music. But that is a secondary school.

I do think they have a juniors too.

web page

Other than that I'm not much help really.

Thanks Stary - I can't find any reference to their junior school.

I'n honestly really shocked, I'm along the road in Well'borough and I thought the standard of primary schools here was bad (in general) - but the number of (recent) appalling Ofsted reports I've found for primaries in Northampton is scary!

what are you after? primary or secondary? i can tell you the schools to avoid if you like!

seriously, if they don't absolutely have to move to N'hampton, i would suggest that they don't. the good schools are in the surrounding villages (i believe Roade has an ok reputation) but Northampton itself is the pits, really.

if they absolutely have to have to move to N'hampton, Castle Primary is where my godchildren are at and they have done ok there. as for secondary schools, Northampton Academy is probably the best one, but it's the wrong side of town for Kingsthorpe. Kingsthorpe Community College is the secondary school for that area, but i've no idea what it's like these days. when i was at school (started secondary school in '96) it was pretty dire.

we're moving out of Northampton partly because dh has a new job further south, but also because the schools round here are so poor. the borough council is the third worst in the country and the police force is one of the 10 worst in the country. put that on top of overenthusiastic parking wardens, stupid parking prices in town, no decent shops and a general population of awfulness, and Northampton is not a great place to live.

Sorry.

ps: they'll struggle with the catchment area as well. they might just have to settle with whatever's in their area as the school's are completely oversubscribed at the moment. my bf just had to appeal to get her ds into Northampton School for Boys.

Well I'm along the road in Ringstead!

The schools road here are dire in my oppinion but then I'm old fashioned!

Don't know about primaries, sorry can't help.

I only know about NSFB as I used to coach a student that went there.

ooh, i abused an apostrophe. sorry - schools, not school's.

yes schools to definitely avoid would be a good start (although I fear the list could be long given the number of primary schools that are currently on special measures that I've found!)

Need primary and secondary (DD is Yr7 - or 8 we can't quite remember LOL), DS is Yr3

They're going to be renting, and having been living near London even the most expensive areas to rent in will be affordable to them .

They're not really too fussy about where they live - it's just that her job is going to be around the Kingsthorpe area so it seemed like a decent place to start with regards to schools.....I now realise that was a bad idea LOL.

hmm, well parts of Kingsthorpe are really nice to live in. the trouble is that the catchment areas are quite big, so of course you have the dodgy areas as well as the nicer ones in there!

schools to definitely avoid would be Weston Favell (secondary) - i went there and it was bad then. it's now one of the worst schools for knife crime in the South of England.

put a shout out for Quadrophenia - her kids are actually at school in N'hampton and she might know a but more than me!

thanks Urban - shall put a shout out for her.

I have to say looking at these Ofsted reports (I'm currently search all NN1,2,3,4 and 5 schools which have had inspections this year) it's shocking how many of them are on special measures, or only just being satisfactory - I'd say that so far, over 1/2 of them are like that, and I've only found a handful of "good", or "ok", just one "outstanding".....not looking good!

oops meant to add - I now realise that actually living here in Welly isn't quite as bad as I thought it was!

my brother and SIL live in W'boro and it's not too bad. not my cup of tea, mind

Well the shopping leaves quite a lot to desired, but I do actually quite living here. I've often berated the lack of decent schools here, but having compared some of the "poor" schools (primary - haven't looked at 2ndry yet) even some of our "worst" are better than most of the Northampton ones I've found so far!

What's "Caroline Chisholm" school's reputation like - has a pretty decent Ofsted report (infact very good)......

quick bump for the late afternoon/early evening crowd

where's that QoQ? Caroline CHisholm, i mean...

it's on Wooldale Road, in Wootton, right down near the bottom of Northampton. It looks very modern (has a website - if you do a google for Caroline Chisholm School it's the first link).

I know a woman that went to work at caroline chisholm, she used to run DD's nursery.

I'll have a word with a friend that lives in Kingsthorpe, her kids have been to all the shcools round there so I should be able to get some good advice.

Thanks VS

It's so difficult as they want to find a decent school for their children, not just because of the obvious reasons, but because the DD in particular has struggled in the UK. They moved back to South Africa for a while, but DD was even more unhappy so came back again, so lots of moving around.

another little bump for the evening/night girls (and boys ).

PS - private secondary schools now also an option for the DD.

Hi,
Caroline Chisholm has a very good reputation - nalthough IMO class sizes are large at the primary end. It is very over subscribed and even living in Wootton won't mean they would get in. Living in Kingsthorpe they wouldn't stand a chance.

Unfortunatly Northampton does suffer from bad schools and any "good" school are over subscribed particularly because of the large scale housing developemnts being built with no accompanying school. It will also be difficult to get into "local" doctors and dentists due to the amount of new build putting pressure on services.

Primary schools are generally better in the "county" as opposed to the town - ie Hackleton and Hartwell.

Independent schools for the DD: Northampton High School for girls (near Wootton in fact). Spratton and Maidwell are out the Kingsthorpe side of the county. There is of course Wellingborough School, which you must know of, only 20 mins from Northampton.

Hope this is of some help....

StaryNightSky

I lived in Ringstead, as a child! When Back Lane used to have a farm on it. Is the hermit still in the woods? The shop-keepers used to keep air freshner handy for after he had been.

QofQ, northampton is alot worse than Welly, in many many ways! You jsut think of where my dd is living now and X by 20! Make sure your sil is VERY careful ont he area they choose to live!

Northamton School for Boys is "selective" and not to do with catchment area.

Northampton is a market town gone wrong...whereas Wellingborough is still a market town and has escaped the development that has brought Northampton down.

It all started with bad 70;s planning and the birth of the Eastern District and has carried on into the 90;s. By 2020 Northampton will be linked to Milton Keynes.

It wouldn't be so bad if they developed the services (inc schools)to go with it.

I'm no fan of Wellingborough though either...

They are planning to kill welly in the very same way though! With the housing plans for down by the railway station.

Welly seems to be a market town...with no market!