Secondary Schools Richmond Borough

[rachelg1974]

I’m moving to the Borough of Richmond for secondary school and am looking at the following schools : Grey Court, Orleans Park, Teddington School, The Kingston Academy and Turing House.

My son is pretty well rounded - loves sport, fairly creative, interested in history and stories but also quite happy with maths and science. He makes friends very easily but also can be easily swayed. I wondered if anyone could share their experiences of these schools, from both an academic and social/ pastoral care point of view.

I don’t need advice on size of catchment area right now and obviously I understand that people’s responses are anecdotal and I will visit the schools myself…but would love to get a better sense of each school first. Thank you so much!

@rachelg1974 they're all great schools, and the other borough schools that you haven't listed are good too. They're comprehensives, so all suitable for children with your child's interests and strengths. There have been lots of other past threads about them which you can probably find if you look. Some views may be out of date, but you'll get that everywhere.

Approximately whereabouts are you moving to? Or are you planning to pick a property based on proximity to your preferred school?

Are you limited by budget? The most oversubscribed schools have small catchments and therefore high house prices because everyone else is doing the same as you and wanting to move as close as possible.

DSs went to Orleans Park which is an excellent state school, catchment area is small but if you can get in I’d recommend it. Academic and pastoral was good. I know teenagers at Turing House and Grey Court, again very positive feedback.

Teddington School I’ve heard more mixed reports, but I think it’s starting to improve as it went down a bit.

I don’t know anyone at Kingston Academy so can’t comment on that one.

How old is your dc and when are your applying for year 7 place? Orleans has a tiny catchment. For Orleans and Turing House you will be joining a waiting list for a place if you are not applying for year 7.

Teddington have just had a very good Ofsted report, so I expect their catchment will shrink on the back of it. It became less popular for a while when they had some management and financial problems a few years back, but it was turned around under new leadership.

Pleased to hear it.