Anybody have kids at St Lukes?

[chestertonmum]

Hi,

Recently moved to Cambridge, deliberately bought a house in Milton Road Primary catchment, didn't get into Milton Road and have been offered a place at St Lukes... dissapointed sums it up.

I realise Ofsted reports are only a guide and happy kids are more important than exam results when so young, but being deemed only "adequate" across the board doesn't inspire confidence.

All we've been able gather from googling is that it seems "alright".

Anyone have opinions of St Lukes, good or bad?

Thanks.

I am sure you will get a response soon. I don't know anything about St Lukes from my own experience but have heard happy parents talk so can't be that bad! [My child attends The Shirley school in Chesterton and loves it. Also doing very well]. Don't get too hung about not getting into Milton rd primary.

don't get 'too hung up'......sticky keyboard!

I have heard good things about it - have you visited - that can help -the head is moving this year

Hi chestertonmum,

my somewhat intelligible reply from the last time someone asked this question is here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/local_cambridge/1150632-St-Lukes-Primary-School-Cambridge?pg=2

After 6 years of being parents at St Luke's we're still very happy with it. Our 3rd child will be going in Sept of 2013.

WRT the Ofsted report, that was disappointing but not totally unexpected. I think we were hit rather hard by January's Ofsted framework changes. So all the progress that has been made in the last few years wasn't really acknowledged as much as it should have been.

We've has a very good head for the last four years (the one before her was, I think, pretty useless) and we have a new head starting in Sept.

As a previous comment said, come and visit the school. I'm sure you'll like it.

There is a (somewhat inactive) PTA Facebook page here:
www.facebook.com/pages/St-Lukes-Primary-School-Cambridge-PTA/220861814594613
But if you post questions on there then you may get an answer.

Failing that, feel free to ask me anything.

Many thanks for the responses, visited the other day and feel less concerned about the school, great grounds and happy kids.

psrnbx - do you have any info on why the current head is leaving and who the repacement is? the current head didn't mention this on our tour.

Still gutted with a lack of Milton Road place as it feels we've paid (house in catchment) to attend and missed out, and number 2 son will also miss because we want them to go to the same school.
Should've cheated and rented next to it first, as i'm sure many have!

Hi chestertonmum, the existing head hasn't made it clear to parents why she is moving on. That said, I haven't asked her directly either. There could be any number of reasons.

The new head is a man from a school in Bedfordshire. We'll have to wait and see what he is like but he impressed the interview panel greatly.

WRT Milton Road, it is an over subscribed school, it's hard to get in there. In my son's year, catchment areas changed and Milton Road created an extra class in reception (so there were 3 classes of ~30) in order to avoid legal action from prospective parents. St Luke's, less than a mile away, had ~20 kids in that reception class. (Is Milton Road really that better? What would have happened to those kids if they actually had to go to shudder St Luke's?)

This is an example, I believe, of how broken the system is. I think that the success of a school has an awful lot to do with the parents of that school: how engaged they are with the school and how engaged they are with their kids' education.

The current system of Ofsted reports encourages engaged parents away from schools with less successful Ofsted reports and towards schools with good Ofsted reports. Sure this allows choice for (some) parents but it compounds existing differences between schools.

HTH.

Thanks prsnbx, agree with what you say.

Things are not all rosy at Milton Rd. I have heard very distressing stories about children humiliated for not being academically able.

You might want to compare the Ofsted Parentview results for St Lukes and Milton Road

You're not missing anything by not getting your child into Milton Road. Despite its Ofsted rating, it has a reputation for not being a very welcoming or warm place. I would send my child private before sending him to Milton Road.

I just stumbled across this and wanted to refute what's been said about Milton Road. It is a great school. My two sons go there and couldn't be happier. I worried about it being a bit of a sausage factory, and was concerned that if my children didn't turn out to be sausages of an academic ilk it might not be the right place for them, but it has turned out to be excellent for both of them. They are not daft but not academic stars either. It's a school with a proper community around it, hugely engaged parents (which yes, must be a bit of a headache for the poor headteacher but means people look out for each other's children as well as their own) and wonderful facilities, for a state school. I don't mean this as a way of gloating over the original poster (and to her I say that my friend chose St Luke's over Milton Rd for her son and is also very happy, so don't worry), but I thought the two comments based on hearsay were unfair. And to the person who would rather send their children private than to Milton Road, please do that, and free up a place at a good school for someone who actually needs it. The most recent headteacher (sadly just retiring) has done a lot to make the school or much warmer, friendlier and inclusive place, and we are getting a new SENCO in September which (read between the lines here) should also help with any lingering doubts about the school's ability to cater for less academically able children.