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Original poster

Primary schools in Blackheath

25 replies

curlychloe · 19/09/2009 17:10

We are thinking of moving to Blackheath, and I am wondering what the catchment are is for John Ball primary school. I've heard you virtually have to live on top of it - is this true? Does anyone know what sort of radius applies (how many yards?). As we're a non-practicing Catholic family I can't see us getting into All Saints - or am I wrong? Any advice on good state primary options would be most welcome.

OP posts:
2to3 · 19/09/2009 23:09

Hi - no idea about exact radius for John Ball, but you might find out from their website/Ofsted? Kids I know who live far outside the village have been accepted this year because they've extended the reception year with 30 places (90 in total). They claim it's a one-off for this year only due to high demand, but who knows. And 60 is still a fairly big intake so you might be OK without living right next to the school.

I know two families who were accepted at All Saints this autumn through the normal procedure and without belonging to the church, so it isn't impossible. I don't think they can quiz you faithwise - some places are open to all. But it's not easy to get in as it's a small school that takes in a lot of siblings.

You can also apply to Brooklands, which is on the Cator estate. It falls under Greenwich but you can still apply if you live in Lewisham. It used to be 'outstanding', but recently had a major run-in with Ofsted; however this seems to be in the process of being sorted out and it's still a very popular, small school. Brindishe is another very popular school in nearby Lee. And St Winfred's, also in Lee, is also supposed to be good - it's catholic.

Original poster
curlychloe · 20/09/2009 13:55

Thank you 2to3, that's really helpful. I can't seem to find catchment info on OFSET or their website (but this could be me being daft).

OP posts:
gladders · 21/09/2009 13:35

cc - go onto the lewisham website and email them -they will tell you what the catchment area was this year.

I know of 3 separate cases of people getting admissions to john ball in late aug before a September start (and not just this year)....

All Saints is c of e not Catholic - you can belong to any c of e church locally to get in, but IME you do have to be a churchgoer - that's the only kind of place.

personally wouldn't touch brooklands with a barge pole.

brindishe is excellent - again check with lewisham for precise catchment area info?

slug · 21/09/2009 14:37

Hi Curlychloe. Good choice, my DD is at John Ball and is very happy there. We live on the Lewisham side of the park, as do several children in her class. The catchment are is a bit fluid depending on the demand of each intake year. DD was born in a bit of a slump, there are children in her class as far away as New Cross and Catford, but this year's intake is huge and they are having to put on an extra nursery class.

Unfortunately Blackheath is oversupplied with religious schools, so the demand for John Ball, being the only 'secular' school in the area is huge. St Matthew's Academy used to be a secondary school only, but has recently expanded to include primary provision as well. I think there is a bit of room there but, to be honest, It's probably a bit early in it's life to accruately assess what it is like as a primary school.

gladders · 21/09/2009 15:03

james wolfe and halstowe in greenwich both have excellent reputations although catchment area for latter reputed to be teeny....

see st matthew academy pupils every day from my office - def would not consider it.

2to3 · 21/09/2009 15:28

Re. All Saints - the 3 people I know whose children got in are not C of E churchgoers. They just put the school first on the normal application form and were accepted (to their great surprise - two of the families are self-declared 'heathens' and one is Catholic). I think most of the school's places are reserved for All Saints church members and siblings, but that they have to ring fence a few for others - maybe for funding reasons or something?

JJFD · 05/11/2009 21:17

Am a bit late on all this but my daughter hasn't got into John Ball as we live too far away - we are 10 min walk away!! Was told places are really tight this year.

Can I ask gladders - why not Brooklands? This is seeming to be my only option at the moment and just starting to think about Invicta & Our Lady of Grace..... my step son went to Brooklands and to be honest I'm not sure either so would be interested to know anyone's thoughts. I'd just been telling myself it was outstanding for so many years it must be ok...

Thanks

Madsometimes · 06/11/2009 11:24

JJFD, is your child going into nursery or reception, and do you need a place for Jan '10 or September '10? I was not aware that reception places for September '10 had been allocated yet.

You may find that if you live 10 mins from John Ball that a place will come up on the waiting list. People do tend to move around quite a bit, and particularly now that mortgages are being approved again. No-one moved from dd2's class in reception and Y1 but 4 have moved since September (Y2). I think this is because people wanted to move in past 2 years, but just couldn't.

gladders · 10/11/2009 12:11

brooklands is in a state of flux at the moment.

in special measures after summer ofsted - they had a new head about 3 years ago and she seems to have undone much of the good work there. met her - she didn't strike me as a very strong manager/inspirational leader.

so - they have a temporary head at the moment and lots of change.

personally i wouldn't want my child going into that environment - i would want it to ahve stabilised and for a new head to have proved themselves, and for the teaching staff to have stabilised in the wake of lots of resignations.

IME experience, if you apply to John Ball you will get in - albeit sometimes not til the last minute. Doesn't matter whether you live in Lewisham or greenwich - personally if I were applying for a reception place for September that would be my choice.

verybusymummy · 10/11/2009 15:59

Hi all, how do you rate the private schools in Blackheath compared to John Ball/ All Saints? Apart from the financial factor.. Thanks

gladders · 10/11/2009 16:56

pointers - ponce tastic uniform; slightly odd headteacher who is also the owner, a lot of boys leave at 7, but seem to get good 11+ results

heath house - v small classes and more expensive than the others. no insight other than that.

blackheath high - girls only, some negative feedback in terms of it being high pressure but don't know how reliable that is; also they don't prepare for the 11+ as they have their own senior school

colfes - has a good reputation and goes through to 18 - personally thought it seemed rather large for littlies but great sports facilities

blackheath prep - this is where mine go - some people dislike the entry process and think because of that it'a hothouse. this has not been our experience - great little school with good results and facilities. am happy with my choice.

verybusymummy · 10/11/2009 17:39

Thanks Gladders - I think blackheath prep is top of my list too. Can you sell me on why to go private? We're willing to move house and live next door to All Saints or JB if the education is worth it, but I guess the 11+ is a major hurdle.

gladders · 11/11/2009 10:35

living next door to all saints won't help - it's all down to church attendance and it's so oversubscribed that some year only siblings get in...

i dunno. horses for course - i looked round the prep and brooklands and the facilities were so much better at the prep it was untrue. briefly:-

classes are 23 - and there is a teacher and TA in each one.

own sports field and two indoor halls for sports

2 large playgrounds with great equipment

dedicated IT room with a PC for each child and min an hour lesson per week

active and varied extra curricular programme

bright confident children who were working happily in every class we were shown

great 11+ results

oneofakind · 11/11/2009 13:36

I am going to look at the state primary schools in the area soon - we are in between meridian and john wolfe schools but I prefer john ball to either of these (on paper). gladders, do you think we would be offered a place from this distance? the kids seem to do very well at jb considering there is a high proportion of children with additional needs and a fair few go on to grammar schools compared with meridian.
any views on meridian anyone?

gladders · 11/11/2009 14:46

no oneof akind - if you're in west greenwich it's v unlikely you'd get john ball - pretty sure catchment would be less than a mile. you can email lewisham via their website and they will telly ou what the catchment area was this year? that doesn't mean you wouldn't get on v late in the day - late August say - but that;'s a lot of stress?

if we'd stayed in west greenwich i'd have gone state and ds would have gone to james wolfe. pretty good school IMO? don't know anything about meridian sorry

icancancan · 13/11/2009 21:12

meridian has mixed reports - the head is retiring after 20 years. ime large classes and very mixed socially - no uniform and as such you can draw a line in the playground; boden on one side, trackies on the other and never the twain shall meet. post 11 destinations not too inspiring - think local poor secondaries. (boden lot btw all applied for halstow first
we decided to be 'honest' and rather than move house, sent dd to blackheath prep and she is very happy there and we are really relieved we can just about afford it.

passionfruity · 14/11/2009 14:57

Sorry this isn't right on topic, but any thoughts on Millennium Primary School in Greenwich?

gladders · 16/11/2009 10:03

all i know about Meridian is that everything is v new? friend was happy with it for her son (they have now moved away) but journey was a bit of a pain.

slug · 16/11/2009 10:19

I have a friend who teaches in Millenium in Greenwich. The terms "don't touuch" and "bargepole" come to mind.

gladders · 16/11/2009 15:43

sorry i meant millenium. is it that bad slug? how come your friend is still there?

slug · 17/11/2009 09:57

She's a special needs specialist, lives close and is close to retirement. And, bless her, she really likes the children.

mumsi · 20/05/2010 10:34

Hi everyone,
My son got accepted to go nursery in St Matthew Academy , blackheath south east.
Any bad /good experience to put yr kids in this nursery? Are the teachers are doing fine? A quick feedback will be appreciated!
Thanks

AnonymousCaller · 24/09/2011 12:50

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MrsBiscotti · 21/09/2012 19:26

Hello everyone,

This thread finished this time last year, but I've just moved to the area with a 2yr old and so am facing the horrible task of finding a primary school which will accept him since he's not on any list from birth! We're half way up Maze Hill and not religious. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations or updates on last year's comments?

How did you all get on CurlyChloe?

We'd be really grateful for any bits of advice!

Thanks in advance

se3123 · 11/02/2015 13:34

I would avoid All Saints... thread teacher isn't great in my opinion and they have had bullying problems over the years....

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