Rutlish school

[SarahJayne38]

This has probably been done to death but I need current opinions. DS in year 6 so we went to see Rutlish last week at their open evening. Overall we liked it. But, and I am preparing my Teflon suit, there was alot of swearing, messing about and rough boys. To be fair, there was also some lovely well behaved boys. But of course I mostly noticed the rough boys. I just wondered if behaviour is an issue at this school and if you have boys there, do they like it? My friend said she wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, but she has the choice of Wimbledon College whereas we don't. We are off to Coombe boys next week so will compare.

Having seen the behaviour of some of the Wim College boys on the 200 bus I don't think your friend should be so dismissive of Rutlish!!

That's interesting. My friend is convinced they are all perfect what with all that church attendance . Tbf, wimbledon college has always had a good reputation, whereas Rutlish was considered one to avoid not so long ago according to my brother.

I've got 2 boys at Rutlish and have been really impressed. You don't get the real flavour of the school on the open evening as it's actually full of non-Rutlish boys. Do a morning tour and see how quiet it is when normal lessons are on. Behaviour has been one of its strong points for a few years now and the school was rated outstanding in its recent ofsted. Both my two are very happy there and have made great friends and are working hard - I have nothing but good things to say about it.

As for Wimbledon College - I can't speak for how the boys are in school but take a trip to Tesco Metro in Centre Court at 3pm and see the extra security that they put on to try and stop the boys stealing sweets!! They are a disgrace - and it's definitely Wimbledon College boys.

Thank you MintyGirl. The rough bits were definitely from Rutlish as they had uniform on. But given what you say about wimbledon college, maybe it's just teenage boys.

I meant boys not bits

Think you'll find there are well-behaved and 'naughty' elements in all the state (and even some private) schools. Think it's always the case that one remembers the bad behaviour rather than the good.

OP, your comment sounds similar to something that was said not so long ago on here about Ricards girls (compared with Ursuline ones). Interestingly, both sister schools to the ones mentioned above. Again I would say that the RL girls were being unfairly compared with the U ones.

Realistically you cannot necessarily judge all pupils by a few. For some reason bus journeys also seem to magnify 'behaviour' issues

A good friend has two boys at Rutlish. She is delighted with it.

I've got girls so don't have direct experience.

We know lots of families with boys there, all very happy with Rutlish.

My son just started at rutlish in year 7 and so far loves it there. He said he overhears a fair bit of swearing amongst the older boys but I think you would get that at any secondary school regardless of whether it is a comprehensive, grammar or a top private school.
From what I've heard so far the school are very strict on behaviour and have a low tolerance. He hasn't encountered any problems and is starting to get involved with lots of sports and the boys are well looked after by their form teachers and seem confident in raising any concerns.
With 240 boys in a year of course I'm sure they are not all angels but 3 weeks in and we are very happy that we chose the school and it is walking distance for our son which is a big bonus. His classmates seem to be mainly from wimbledon and morden with a few a bit further out but I think the radius now is a couple of miles so they have the bonus of having local friends.
I agree with the comments about wimbledon town centre and wimbledon college boys! (Plus other schools I'm sure).
If you are close by then Rutlish is a really good option I think especially if the boys journey doesn't involve passing through town as that minimises the chances of getting involved in anything too untoward!
Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks all. That's really helpful and reassuring.