Hoping to move to Stroud. Schools info needed!

[Danebrit]

Hello Everyone,

We are a British/Danish family living in Copenhagen and hoping to move to Stroud so that our son can start secondary school in September 2016. We also have a daughter who is currently Year 2 age.

Has anyone had experience of taking the Marling School Entrance from abroad or outside of the county ? Do you need an address in the area in order to register? Is there any chance of getting in if you take the test in March rather than October? Are other secondary schools in Stroud generally oversubscribed? We will hopefully be visiting schools in July but are weighing up whether it will be easier to move this year and have my son do Year 6 and have an address in time for school applications or whether we can delay it for a year and come back July 2016 and hope to get him into a good school in time for September. All the secondary schools look good in the area..Archway appeals more. Anybody have any thoughts on Maidenhill, Thomas Keble or Archway?

Any thoughts would be appreciated as it is a minefield to deal with from outside the UK. Both my children are in the danish system and danish is their strongest language but hope this won't hold them back!

Hi Danebrit
My experience is a little out of date but hopefully someone else will come along and provide more current information.

When we moved to Stroud several years ago, DS1 was given a place at Marling despite not having an address within the county (we moved from Kent). We didn't actually move to Stroud until about 3 days before term began in September.

One thing possibly in your DSs favour is that Marling is hoping to get permission to take an extra 30 pupils in Sept 2016, although this still needs to be agreed.

As to the other schools, I would agree that none of them has a bad reputation. Thomas Keble tends to be thought of as the next best school after the grammars but the catchment area seems to shrink each year and you wouldn't stand a chance of getting a place without an address near by. As well Archway and Maidenhill, quite a few local children travel to Deer Park in Cirencester which has a very good reputation and also to William Romney in Tetbury which I've heard mixed things about.

Thank you for your information TheCommonWoMan. Did you apply for any other schools or just hope that your son got into Marling? Did you take the test at Marling in September and then put it at the top of your application list?

Thanks so much for the info on other schools too.

The admissions procedure has totally changed since DS1 started at Marling.

Now the 11+ test results are back before you make your application so you know if your DS is likely to get a place. To be honest, the whole procedure seems to change every year, so it's probably a bit difficult to second guess what it will be like come September.
I think you'd be better off talking to the education department at Glos County Council who will be better informed than me.

Thank you for all your help. I will contact the Marling school and take it from there.

Hi. My son is 15 now and goes to Marling. Message me all day long. I have an excellent rapport with the School. I am Volunteering to be Secretary to the PTA there. I know the area backwards and forwards and the do's and don'ts. A big don't by the way is Archway. Marling arranged for an older boy in his Tutor group to meet my boy off the bus and walk him back to the Bus Stop in the afternoons because because of lovely Archway children. When Marling says they do not tolerate bullying they actually mean it. My boy got his glasses broken at school a few years ago. He has photochromic lenses I pay for to prevent Migraine. I emailed the School when my son arrived home. Within 10 minutes I had the School on the phone letting me know the only reason we weren't getting a phone call from the Headteacher is because he was currently on the phone to the boy's father at that father's workplace. We received a cheque from the boy's bank account to replace the lenses. How could you ever consider sending your precious children anywhere else? Marling is a Teaching School. They train Teachers. They give back to the local Comprehensives. Stroud High is next door. Good grief. Archway. Please reconsider.

Hi, I have only just joined mumsnet so I hope you got on ok.
The beauty of Grammar Schools is no catchment area. Thomas Keble et al. Their catchment is a 3 mile radius and housing will set you back a fortune.
My boy and I have lived in Gloucester since he was 6 but he's always gone to Stroud Schools. He passed for 2 Grammars. One in Gloucester and Marling. It was a no brainer. It simply had to be Marling. Ex pupils show you around. No teachers. Just boys who are currently doing their A Levels. No propoganda. No spiel. My boy and I looked at lots of Schools. It's the best in the County in my opinion, my boy is doing really well there and loves it.

Hi StroudWoman. I wonder if we know each other! I was on the Marling PTA for a few years.
I'm not sure that you can tar all Archway pupils though just because of a bad experience with a few. I've known several families with children there and not come across a bullying problem.
Also please don't make those who do not have the chance to send their 'precious children' to the grammar schools feel they are letting their DC down. They are not for everyone, whether by choice or not. There are alternatives which suit other children better.