Move to Swansea

[Naturebabe]

Hello - I have been offered an academic job at Swansea Uni. Before I make a decision, can I ask which are the good primary schools? My son has hearing loss (high frequency - aided) so would benefit from being with other pupils that have hearing aids (only one in his current school) and additional support. Also looking for good nurseries for my 20 month old. Please help!

Hiya,not sure about primary schools, but the children's room in uplands is considered one of the best nurseries. The rose garden is also supposed to be good.
There's a waiting list for the children's room so best to call asap if you do choose there.

I think Grange Primary in West Cross has a specialist unit for children with impaired hearing if that is what you are looking for. It's not that far from the main uni campus either.

Ah yes, I noticed that one - does it have a good reputation do you know?

Crymlyn primary is very good only about 50 kids in the school

Thank you BillyBob. Are there any schools / places to avoid - or are there any that are really known as good?

Excited now it's happening!

Definitely avoid Coeddfranc,, horrible school. Crymlyn is amazing. Small, friendly school and the community is lovely.

Also, crymlyn are very very good with any needs the kids may have.

Thank you - I was also looking at Brynmill as I will be working at the uni, also Bishopston - are these any good? x

would probably need good breakfast and after school clubs

Hi - I am a supply teacher in Swansea, so have quite a bit of experience of a lot of the primaries!

I actually sent my children to a private Primary (Oakleigh House) because a lot of the schools had no places in my son's year. However, the ones I would consider for my children are: Newton, Sketty, Parklands, Mayals, Knelston, Pennard, Bishopston. I don't know the western schools as well as the central and eastern ones.

Brynmill is a bit hit and miss - some year groups are lovely, and some are very disruptive.

The Grange used to be on my favourite school list, but the last headteacher was a bit... odd. She has moved on now, I believe, so I don't know what the new head will be like. It does have a specialist teaching unit for Hearing Imparied children, though, so is very used to hearing aids and stuff.

I would avoid areas like Blaen y Maes, Portmead, St Thomas, Terrace Road etc.

Most Welsh Primaries have breakfast clubs and after school clubs.

Secondary school wise there is a lot of great choice - Olchfa, Bishop Gore and Bishopston are all fantastic schools.

That is really great advice thank you :) I will visit a couple of schools you suggest to get the vibe, and fingers crossed they have places!

I went to bishopston, as did my kids and it's fab and a lovely village. And bishopston Comp got best gcse results in the country last year (or some big feat along those lines...)
There is also a lovely nursery 5/10 minutes away in pennard called squiggles. Can't recommend them highly enough.

I know there are lots of parents at the school who are academics at swansea uni too so you would be in good company :) feel free to pm me if you want more info!

Ah I have just come across the notion of feeder schools! Bishops Gore or Olcfa would be our choices of secondary - do they have particular feeder schools? So much to consider. Have been investigating and not all primaries have places - Grove does - anyone want to PM me about that one (Oakmaiden?)!

Feeder schools are a bit confusing. As I understand it priority is given to children in catchment, regardless of which school they go to. If a child lives outside catchment, and goes to a feeder primary, they will be next on the list - before other out of catchment children. That said - Swansea has lots of secondary places - neither Olchfa, Bishop Gore nor Bishopston were oversubscribed last year, so it wasn't relevant anyway.

However, the schools do have very good transition links with their feeder schools, which means that there is often a fair amount of contact between the "usual" primaries and secondaries.

Olchfa is seen as the more "academic" of the schools, with a generally very "well heeled" parent. Bishopston is more rural, and again is in a reasonably upmarket area, but has no sixth form. Bishop Gore has a far more mixed cohort, which does affect their published results.

I chose to send my children to Bishop Gore, and I am very pleased at the decision we made. I have three very different children,and they have all settled in there really well. My eldest only went in the Sixth Form and has significant SEN. He was accepted by his peers easily and almost all the staff went out of their way to support him academically. My daughter is very bright and very involved in sports/singing/drama at the school. She is being challenged academically and their performing arts department are extremely talented teachers, and they put on amazing shows. My youngest is also a bright spark, doing well in lessons and enjoying himself. He is a regular at Geek Club, got into the finals of a computer programming competition recently and is making a music video in Visual Media club.... so yeah, they are happy, so I am too.

Anyway - officially Brynmill, Whitestone, The Grange and Oystermouth are feeder schools for Bishop Gore. Olchfa has Killay, Hendrefoiland and Dunvant. Sketty and Parklands feed into both schools, depending on your home address. But as I say - this is by no means a dictat on where your children will go - you can apply wherever you want, and a lot of children go outside catchment.

That is extremely helpful thank you. I think it will boil down to which primaries have places at the end of the day, and where we decide to live. Your info has helped immensely - thank you handmaiden!

Hello, I appreicate this e-mail thread is over 3 years old and have no idea if anyone on this dicussion will monitor, but can I ask which school did your kids go to in the end? We are in the process of moving to Swansea and more or less have the same questions as yourself, in particular secondary schools?

We're in the process too, @DCJack. Best of luck!