st peters cofe school farnham

[Camomileteaadict]

We've just put an offer on a house in south farnham but it now seems that the school that my children would be going to is St Peters CofE school. This school rates mostly 3's on the ofstead report, which isnt great! Does anyone have children that attend this school? Or have any thoughts on this school at all? Any help would be very much appreciated as we dont know much about this area and trying to get a good house in a good school catchment area is turning into a nightmare!! thanks

Hi Camomile, I don't know anything about St Peters I'm afraid, other than what you've already found out, it doesn't have a great Ofsted. But I am also moving to the south Farnham area and wanted to reply to your post as I know the school situation is a nightmare. We actually ruled out a big chunk of the area when house hunting as I knew we would stand no chance of getting into the good schools and so we are actually buying in Rowledge. I think it has become hugely popular to move to Farnham, and consequently the school catchments are nearly as competitive as they are in our current south west London location. Sorry this isn't a terribly helpful response! Have you visited the school? It might not be as bad as it sounds, and depending on when your children are starting, there is time for it to improve. It could be that more people moving to the area are finding themselves with the same school choices, and that in turn will change the schools themselves.
Good luck with it all, I hope you manage to work it out.

Thanks Ethel! We have now visited the school now and are considering it! If anyone out there reading this does have children that attend this school Id also love to hear a first hand account of what its like!
Good luck with your move too Ethel, it is sooo hard to juggle all of the issues of buying a house when children are involved!

Hi there. We are moving to south farnham next week and also in St Peter's catchment area, but my DS is only 1, so I was hoping it would improve by the time he was school age. From my reading of the ofsted report the 3 rating seemed a little harsh tbh, but I've yet to visit the school. Camomiletea, did you get a good feeling when you visited?

Hello, I have a child at St Peter's. Please don't be put off by the last Ofsted report, it's a lovely school. The new Head Teacher is fantastic and the school has already changed so much since she took over. KS2 results are really good, in fact last years were on a par with some other local schools that are rated outstanding so I don't really understand why the Ofsted report was so negative. Most of the parents were shocked by the wording of the report which was really very harsh and didn't seem to reflect the school that we all know. The Ofsted review was done at a time when the school was under an interim head, had extensive building works at a really disruptive stage, and when Ofsted had just changed the criteria. Happy to give you more info if you need it.

Hello
My DD will start Lollipop Tree pre-school attached to St Peter's in Sept 14 and we were hoping she would go across to St Peter's when she turns 4. I am a South Farnham Mum and have only heard good things about St Peter's. They have spent a lot of money on improving the school facilities in the last two years, which can only be good news. Everyone seems to think that getting into South Farnham School is the be-and-and-end-all because it's meant to be the best in the country, but it's very results driven (St Peter's is not a feeder school) and I spoke to a teacher locally and she said she would rather send hers to St Peter's.
But good to hear you are considering it after a visit!

I know this is an old thread but wanted to comment in case anyone was looking to send there children here. We moved 18 months ago from North Surrey and both our girls go to the school.
We've been pleased with how well they have both settled. The children are happy. We came from an 'outstanding' school previously where they did okay however the social dynamics with strong leaders in the class made it a stressful atmosphere to learn. I like the St Peters calm, happy and balanced mix there.
My eldest daughter is thriving there and even with dyslexia has come on well. The school has a programme with specialists Helen Arkell, who come into the school to give them 'booster' lessons in their unique areas which challenge them.
I like the school's mature teacher base also. Very experienced, capable teachers. You get the odd one who is not as strong however that is the same at all schools. Some of the teachers are stricter in the juniors.

When I've been to parent's evenings I've been happy that the teacher has understood the girls well and can identify their strengths and weaknesses and can demonstrate how they've been helping them and also showing them praise. Sometimes I've had to follow up on things or flag things up but they've always helped and got things sorted.
The Head teacher is to be found the mornings greeting the children when they come in which is nice.