St Thomas primary school? - views please

[ozzy1A]

Hi. We will soon be moving to St Thomas area and I am wondering what St Thomas primary is like? It looks like a much smaller school than all the others - is there a reason for this? My children are aged 5 and 8 (yr 1 and 3) and are quite academic, arty, musical... Thanks (o:

My son started reception in sep and he loves it. I wasn't sure at first it wasn't one of my chosen schools. But now he is there I'm glad he got in to st Thomas. The teachers are lovely. And they do so much with them because it's a smaller school they do alot of trips etc... they are taking the school to the panto and reception are visiting santa at pennywell farm.

I don't have a bad thing to say about it.

X

My daughter is in Reception at St Thomas Primary too. I think that the main reason it is small is because the school's location and outdoor space available mean that it can't be expanded (plus i believe the building is listed which means they could not do major rebuilding).

Most people i know with kids at the school seem to love it (my neighbour's daughter had some problems there but it's been several years since she left the school). My daughter took a little while to settle in but she's really enjoying it now. The headteacher seems very approachable and hands-on. They also have an excellent Parent Support Advisor.

Thanks... it would make sense in a way as it will be on our doorstep if all goes ahead with buying the house... It's just the lure of schools with outstanding ofsted over the river that are distracting me I think!! Do either of you know anyone in later year groups (my kids are in Yr 3 and Yr 1) that I could chat to?

I've got children in year 2 and year 5. I didn't chose st Thomas as my first choice but I'm SO glad we ended up here. My children love the school. The staff team are all great and the head teacher is really good. It's very small as its on such a small site. The only downside is limited play space outdoors but there is work going on to make best use of the space we do have and the areas are managed very well, in that you won't find year 5 and year 2 playing football at the same time! The school doesn't have an abundance of technology equipment and isn't particularly wealthy in other equipment but it makes up for this is caring about the kids, making sure they are happy, fantastic teaching standards, giving the kids a wide range of experiences and lots more positive things too! I've not heard anyone speak badly of it!

Hi Jacqui... Thanks so much for your feedback. Because we're moving into the area with children of this age, there are waiting lists for the other schools - but I think the council have a duty to take the children on at the school closest to us whatever... (I think!). We won't be arriving until the summer hols so it's a little way a way yet but I would like to start getting the ball rolling with schools.
A couple more questions...Does the school do after school clubs etc?
Also - does the school feed automatically into the nearest secondary - or can you choose at that stage what happens? Every area is so different in how they handle this process!
Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Claire x