School advice - moving to Yeovil

[Beliv]

Hello, we are moving to Yeovil shortly and I'm after some primary school advice... I have seen the ofsted results for the schools in the area but am well aware an outstanding school doesn't necessarily mean it is a school you would want your child to attend!! Our current area is a schooling minefield😜. Just wondered if there are any schools you would recommend or even recommend we avoid? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated 😀

Hi - it sort of depends where you are in Yeovil and which years your children are looking to join. Have you asked the council about available spaces in schools? Also ask about nearby village schools - parts of Yeovil are in the catchment for these schools.

There are two new primaries which have just opened in Yeovil so the situation is changing but on the plus side it means that there is more capacity.

Huish, Preston and trinity have good reputations and are nice schools that perform well.

I personally wouldn't be keen to send my kids to st Michaels academy or millford infants/juniors. Quite challenging catchments, and patchy achievement. IMO

Thank you for your replies. The council said I had to go to the schools direct! None of the schools have places at the moment for my two! They also said I can't apply until we have a move date, which is a pain when you are waiting for your house purchase to go through :( I'm planning on applying for Huish and Trinity as we will be in their catchment, so thank you Nilbyname :)
I have a daughter that is in year 5 and a son in year 3.
What are the 2 new primarys called Lambethwalk?
Thanks again for your replies :)

I think one is called primrose lane and the other I'm not sure. One is run by the Preston academy trust and the other is Huish academy trust.

Hi :)
We finally have our move dates and we have applied for pretty much every school in yeovil or surrounding areas! We have only been accepted into Birchfield, St Michael’s and St Gildas, the others we would need to go to appeal on, which more than likely we won't win!. With that in mind... If you had to pick between the 2 which one would you choose (We have visited all 3 and have ruled St Michael’s out). Both schools left look very good but I was just wondering if there was any local knowledge on the two to help us decide... Any help would be appreciated. Thank you :)

St Gildas is a catholic school and their head is leaving. A new head can be a really positive thing. It has a nice feel. Good space. Parking is a nightmare.

Birchfield had a challenging catchment and feeds into bucklers mead (not so great!) but you can choose Preston (better). I think it has a very warm environment and the teaching is good I would say IMO.
Birchfield edges it for me as it is NOT a catholic school.

Hi Nilbyname :)
Thank you for your opinion. Due to the parking issues with St Gildas we have been leaning towards Birchfield.

Thank you for the information about St Gildas head, I hope the next one is as good as her.

I couldn't believe the space both schools had, the school's here are nowhere near as lucky, it was good to see :)

Thanks again for your help, it's really appreciated :)

Oh good- they are both good schools, I'm
Sure you'll be very happy with either. Good luck!

Hi :)
To throw another spanner into the works.. Oakland's have just come back to us with a yes... I am arranging a visit but again, I wondered if you had any local knowledge on the school? Thanks again :) As you can probably tell I am hopeless at decisions!!

Oaklands is a popular school. Only built a few years ago so good facilities. Depends where you are living really - if you can walk to Oaklands then that is a benefit. Also think about secondaries - most Oaklands kids probably head for Westfield and Birchfield kids go to Bucklers Mead. Not exclusively of course but in the main.

No to birchfied - go to st gildas - trust me on this please! Seriously

Hello, Thanks for the replies :)
Lambethwalk, both of the secondaries have good ofsted reports... Is there one a lot better than the other?

Holdtheslaw, St Gildas over Oaklands too?

Yes very much so! St Michaels academy of Milford would be my choice. Seriously promise me you won't do birchfield.
Although the location of st gildas is far from ideal it's actually a very nice school. To be frank birchfield and oaklands are rough. Oaklands looks shiney and new but it's really awful. Birchfield got a good ofsted because it was so bad they invested in it. It's not the schools per say - it's the children and awful parents. Might have to name change after this lol

Holdtheslaw, the best schools in Yeovil, in your opinion are St Michael’s and Milford????. Or have I read that completely wrong??

Nope - in my opinion it's holy trinity but out of the ones the op is talking about I'd go for those over birchfield and Oaklands

Birchfield, st Gildas, st Michaels and Oaklands do serve the more deprived areas of Yeovil, that is true, but good leadership and good teaching has made a big difference to those schools.

I would choose the best school you can get to by walking there. St Gildas although is a good choice, getting there is a pain in the neck.

If you have able, more academic children then I still say Oaklands or birchfield. But the other poster makes a good point as birchfield dies feed into bucklers mead and I personally do not like that school. Preston is better.

St Michaels, pen mill and Reckleford probably serve the poorest and most challenging catchments, and have quite needy children.

I think you have to go with your gut.

I do know that birchfield has very good teaching and the children are well behaved in school. It does sit in an estate but who cares?!

Milford infants is ok, juniors, I don't know.

It's such hard to know what to do!

hold. What about huish or Preston primary?

Thank you all so much for you input, it's really appreciated. We are coming down again on Friday to visit a few schools so hopefully we will find the one that feels right for us :)