Wix Primary - has it improved? Any alternatives?

[lalectrice]

Having resigned ourselved to being pretty much priced out of the Belleville/Honeywell catchments, we're looking at moving to a house on the Northside of the Common, but the '09 Wix Ofted report doesn't make for massively encouraging reading (I am a teacher, which doesn't help when it comes to being suspicious of the deceptively neutral-sounding euphemisms one encounters in Ofsted-speak...).

Does anyone have a child at Wix and, if so, what are your experiences of the school? Has it improved at all? Is there an alternative that doesn't involve going private? We'd be v happy with the bilingual stream (I am half-French), but with only 14 state places available we'd be very lucky to get in... Any advice appreciated.

Hi there
I can only give you a very limited viewpoint as I have no direct experience of Wix. We were offered a place for my son for this September, we live off Lavender Hill, and were out of catchment for Belleville. We decided against it in the end, and have taken a place at a private school, BUT, I know a friend who's daughter went there last year and who had nothing but praise for the school. Admittedly they were always going to move out after the reception year, but they also worked in the education field, and thought that Wix was a very good school. I think the alternative in the immediate area would be Clapham Manor, which has an outstanding Ofsted report, but is probably also out of catchment for you. It is a big problem in our area and a new school is badly needed. There is talk of a new free school, but who knows if and when that will happen.
I think Wix has the potential to be a very good school, but it needs a leap of faith from local parents who wouldn't normally consider it, like you and me, and I have to say, I wasn't prepared to take that leap. But I think if it had been our only option, I would've been happy enough, it's alot better than a couple of schools I've seen.
Probably not helpful at all, but hopefully better than no response at all!

Thanks very much for that - it is helpful. As you say, for the school to improve it needs more middle-class parents to forgo the independent option and show faith in a local school. Unfortunately, I will probably, like you, also go private if it comes to it though, as I'm not prepared to compromise my child's educational experience... Your friend's more positive report was encouraging though, it has to be said. It's just so annoying that a.) the Belleville extension site on Forthbridge Rd won't be open to the most local kids and b.) that many of the local independents are not quite as glowingly Ofsted-ed as Belleville and Honeywell!

Hi there

I have some connection with Wix and think it is a good, up and coming school, with an excellent head. If you live near enough then you can access the bi-lingual class, so if you're in the process of buying, definitely think hard about whether you would be near enough. This innovation is what is really driving the ongoing improvements at the school (this is not to say that the non-bilingual class isn't good too, and the children get lots of exposure to French there too).

The school has very dedicated teachers, good resources, a strong leadership team and, while the intake is mixed, there are already a good number of the type of parents you rightly identify as being the drivers behind improvement sending their children there. You can see the improvements happening very clearly as the first bi-lingual pupls progress through the school - that first intake is going into yr 5 this year.

Hope this helps