Oakwood vs. Cumnor

[purleymum81]

Dear Mums
My little boy is an October born 2.5 year old and we are trying to decide between sending him to Cumnor House or Oakwood. We do feel pretty strongly that a co-ed education is best, especially during the formative years and separating them into boy or girls schools is just un-natural. However, we are also concerned that that Oakwood may not be as academically challenging for our quite bright son. Any experiences with either of those schools will help a lot.
Many thanks!

I don't know Oakwood School but.the standard all-round at CHS is very high. It's my opinion that it is a wonderful school, commanding a high level of commitment and competition. However, it not for boys who cannot cope with a fair level of pressure.

We have just placed our boys in CHS Treetops so time will tell. Its pretty difficult to find any recent parent opinions within the last 1-2 years on cumnor house treetops from parents on any of the discussion forums which I find very odd.

DF. How fitting - CHS Motto = "Time Tells All" ! 😀

We also decided to send our son to Treetops Purley for now. Indeed Time will tell.

I have removed my son from chs. They will help you if your face fits but if you are not a "gate mum" your child will just be left. The new head is in my opinion rude and was very defensive when i questionned him on what he was doing for my son. My other friends are in the process of either moving their son away or debating where to send them.

Interesting my DS has been at Cumnor since nursery and 7 years later is thriving and we rarely hang at the gate.

Your post is very vague and misleading.

Cumnor is strong academically and classes are streamed to maximise potential. Which school did you move him to? @39already

Few changes at both Cumnor girls &boys in terms of the Heads but still very good schools academically &sports. No need to be hanging by the gate, if you are really concerned about your child's progress have a word with the class teachers they are very open.

Hi @purleymum81, I’ve only just caught up with this thread therefore not sure whether you’ve made your decision in the meantime. Either way, just a few words of warning. We sent our children to Oakwood and we are one of the many families who moved them to different schools half way through their journey there. At first we were happy with what we believed being a very good provider with a catholic ethos but how different an opinion we have of that school now.....If your boy is particularly bright, like you mention, then this is not the right school for him, children are not challenged as they prefer to invest their funds making sure everybody keeps up with the national curriculum, I speak from experience. Similarly, for those with children at the other end of the spectrum, this school’s track record is nothing short of appalling: time and again they take them on with the promise of great Senco provisions only to then tell the parents, a couple of years down the line, they can’t cater for their needs and forcing them to seek alternative providers (doubly disgraceful and traumatic when it comes to children with special needs). I also know of a family whose child was misdiagnosed by their Senco adviser and, as a consequence, struggled through his junior years.
A very high proportion of pupils, considering how small the school is, are children of teaching staff/governors/founders and you have to think very seriously of whether you are happy with that scenario, again we discovered it’s very counterproductive to expect justice in the event of any dispute. Also, although the school advertises itself as having a catholic ethos, I must warn you this is in fact a hardcore Opus Day establishment so, in my opinion, only suitable to Opus Day families who agree with their modus operandi/indoctrination. I would warmly urge you, and anybody else who is considering Oakwood to research the matter thoroughly before you sign up to it, don’t limit this to what is published on their website.
Finally, although they seem to achieve highly in the various exams undertaken, it has to be pointed out the vast majority of pupils (almost all!!!) receive private tuitions, some of them from as early as Y1 so one has to wonder whether such results are secured by the school itself or the very expensive tutors.
I hope all this helps.