Schools in Maidenhead

[pickthatupNOW]

Hi
Due to relocating we have to find a school for our 3 older children (ages 5,7&9) I've looked at Ridgeway,St pirans & Winbury .I was wondering if anyones has any knowledge of these schools
Thank you

I know St Pirans - it is pretty good, very solid.

I wasn't very comfortable with the Head for some reason,I get the impression only "perfect"children are welcome.My 5 year old has aspergers and the other schools seemed more accepting.Its so difficult.I will have to see how their visits go of course,as I might be a little over sensitive!

My ds is at Ridgeway. We originally looked at St Piran's but thought the head was overly smug. The head at Ridgeway, Mrs Rogg, is superb. She knows every pupil by name and knew the names of all the reception boys within 2 weeks of starting (and probably earlier).

I think St Ps has a reputation of being more academic but when they both did SATs Ridgeway's results were better. I like the fact that the boys at Ridgeway are polite, attentive and a little bit cheeky. The pupils at St Ps seem more subdued. Interestingly we didn't see any pupils in classes on our visit to St Ps and I know of 3 other couples where that happened too (we all did individual visits). At Ridgeway we saw all years in classes and it was good to see teaching staff actually teaching.

Having said that I have friends with dc at St Ps who are very happy. St Ps also do scholarships at 7 and add a class at that age so your dcs would be one of several if they joined at that age.

I know of two pupils who left St Ps to join Ridgeway this academic year because their parents were unhappy about the lack of provison for SNs.

My ds had some problems when he started at Ridgeway and I was impressed at how quickly the issues were dealt with and resolved and how active the head was in helping.

Winbury only take boys up to 7, smaller than St Ps or Ridgeway but I don't know anyone who goes there so can't comment.

Ridgeway also does excellent wraparound care and holiday clubs.

Well I'm glad is wasn't just me who thought that about St Pirans, wasn't over impressed with the head teacher of the nursery either.My boys will be going for a visit at Ridgeway next week.I liked the headmistress and the form year teachers and as you say, Mollieo, the whole atmosphere was different.Not sure about Winbury but as they only go up to 8 I might think about the nursery/knindergarten for the girls.

Another school you might want to consider, is Herries in Cookham Dean (about 2 miles from central Maidenhead). My children attend there and having looked at St Pirans, Ridgeway and other schools out of the area, we were very impressed by the head, the school, the results etc etc.

www.herries.ws/index.shtml

Would agree with the comments re: St Pirans. Having looked around and spent sometime with the head, there was something there that I wasn't entirely comfortable with. The facilities are excellent, but it is a very large school for that many children - and all those children have to use those same facilities. I do have friends who have children there and they recommend it, but there was something there that I just couldn't put my finger on.

HTH

I live in Cookham and had forgotten about Herries ! I know a couple of people who moved their dc from Herries because the class sizes were too small for their dc to have a reasonable school social life. However that was 4 years ago so it may well have changed.

The other school to consider for girls is Highfield which has an excellent reputation. Quite a few people I know send their boys to Ridgeway and girls to Highfield. There is also the College which is the girls part of Claires Court. Good for secondary level but I've heard the class sizes at primary level are very small.

Conversly, we are having quite a few moving into the school from other private schools in the area. People always "forget" about Herries and automatically look at St Pirans when seeking a mixed school.

No problems with social life... I can't keep up with my two's playdates/parties/social events

We looked at Ridgeway and Highfield - I think I can say I have been to them all (Silchester Manor another one in the area but since being taken over by CFBT has about 20 pupils left in the entire school!).

I think St Ps does a lot more marketing than Herries. You have to know where Herries is to find it whereas St Ps is on a main route into Mhead. The view re Silchester is that it is an excellent day nursery but practically no one stays for the school. I don't think it can compete with the facilities of other private schools in the area. They also have a higher turn over of staff.

There's a whole lot more to Silchester than that, believe me. My children went there up until a couple of years ago.

I think it is a shame about Silchester. Many years ago it was a good school. I know a number of people who have used the nursery but I don't know anyone who has stayed once their child has reached school age. Neither do I really understand the popularity of St Ps which was the first choice for most my friends.

Yes, it is a shame. My DS is now in year 4 and he did so well at Silchester. But there were all sorts of issues surrounding our decision to move him out (and my DD too - she was just about to start Reception there).

Lots of people moved their children out at the sametime, the majority of them to St Piran's. I think people become impressed with the facilities and the sales pitch tbh.