Cranbrook grammar school

[askingneverhurt]

Hello all

Does anyone have experience of Cranbrook grammar school?

Also, what is the area like to live in. Are there good facilities for children, such as swimming, martial arts, music lessons, great parks etc and is it multicultural?

thanks guys x

I know it very well as I went there (a long time ago).

School is what you would expect of a grammar but with addition of boarders so was always more like the local independent schools than the day grammars. Music provision was always very good at the school.

Cranbrook itself is a fairly small sleepy market town in Kent with nice shops. Unless it has changed massively then it's not multicultural in any way beyond having a range of restaurants.

The school has a small outdoor pool, but I don't think there's one elsewhere in the town.

Demographics 2021:

https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/kent/E63005921__cranbrook/

@OhCrumbsWhereNow
thank you very much.

Cranbrook Grammar earned its reputation from pupils coming from private education ( lots of local private schools), wealthy people who could afford tutors to supplement the teaching if their child was falling below the high standard.
They opened their doors to year 7 & 8 a few years ago without the slightest idea that you can't just treat year 7's the same as the year 9's they were used to taking. Also, taking in the younger years meant more local state school children, something else they didn't seem to have thought through as they were shamefully unprepared for the changing needs of their cohort. The pastoral care had been pitiful up until now, the bullying in the school is swept under the carpet ( their preference has been to gaslight the victims rather than accept that they have an issue). The behaviour by too many students is out of control. Drugs ( mainly weed) are an issue with the boys. Cyber bullying is rife but it's fine if the perpetrators are good at sports ( this is the girls mostly).
However, they have just had a complete change of head and deputy. Let's hope they can do a better job.

@DeadbeatYoda
This is great info.

Thank you very much.

Doesn't totally surprise me.

Back in the olden days, it was very much somewhere targeted by those who couldn't afford public schools. Most boarders were from prep schools and a very large number of military families.

High percentage of day pupils also from preps due to the Y9 start. Those coming from state found it tough in Y9 as the prep school kids had all been focused on Common Entrance and were working much further ahead especially when it came to things like French and Latin.

I'd seen they were moving to Y7 and not sure how that would work. Badly it seems.

It was an okay school - and boarding was very much full boarding and they made it fun - but the teaching wasn't always high standard, and the results weren't all that considering it was super-selective for a large proportion of the cohort.

Like any school there’s positives and negatives of Cranbrook School.
Positives: Small safe school, children tend to love being there, lots of options to get involved in extra-curricular activities, fab for sport if your child is an elite/A team player, same for music.
Negatives: Academically not great. You generally need to pay for private tuition if you want your child to achieve their full potential. I sense improvements are on the way from the new Head but no noticeable change yet.

Re the Cranbrook area, it’s a lovely cute town, verry easy to go for walks from your doorstep and loads of great outdoor spaces nearby (eg. Bedgebury). You generally have to travel half hour for anything shopping related, or shop online (which you get used to). Swimming pool is lovely but for adults who work there’s not many swim slots (good for kids lessons though). A few different martial arts classes in the town itself, not sure about music lessons. For clubs etc, there’s significantly less choice than if you were say from a large town, but that’s to be expected living ‘in the country’. If sport clubs are important for you, most competitive teams are based half hour away in the nearest bigger towns (Ashford, Tunbridge Wells or Maidstone).

And re you final point, Cranbrook is not multi-cultural at all.