Is Cambridge primary school really excellent?

[Alizeex]

I'm attracted by the university reputation and the local community environment, so I'm thinking to register my daughter to the Cambridge university primary school. However, I read lots of negative feedbacks online from parents regarding the quality of teaching and bullying. I'm very concerned.

We are currently living in London, so moving to Cambridge is a big decision for us. Now I'm not sure if it is worth doing so. The catchment area just cover the most pricy properties sold by Athena. It will be difficult for us to afford a two beds apartment there comfortably. But if the school is really excellent as its ofsted rating, we are willing to invest in it. The thing is the new property price is way above the average price in neighbourhood. If the school is not as good as it meant to be, I'm also concerned the price of the property will drop in the future.

In Sutton borough of London, same price can afford a three bed house with a garden. And a lot of good schools nearby. Cambridge on the other hand has rich history in academic excellence so I'm very struggling and not sure where is the best place for my daughter's education and growth.

Can I please have your opinions? Thank you

There are lots of other good primary schools in and around Cambridge. If you have time to visit some, you will get a feel for what else is out there and what qualities you're looking for in a school. The Ofsted rating should not be the only criterion.

Move to Cambridge if you have a reason for doing so ie jobs. Don't move just for the sake of education - there are good schools in loads of areas of the country and living in Cambridge has plenty of downsides.

@FraterculaArctica
Yeah, to find a new job in Cambridge can be challenging as well. Btw when you say some downsides living there, what specifically are you referring to?

@BlueChampagne
I agree, to have a look around the school and talk with the academic staffs in person will allow me to know the school better. I've tried to call couple of schools including the Cambridge primary, they said they already have waiting list and do not offer parent tour in the near future :/ it's frustrating.
We want to move our house anyway early next year because the current borough i live is not very family friendly. So I'll need to make a decision on the school first and make sure the next home is within a good community. I know I'm paranoid when i make decisions

Housing is really expensive (Ok maybe less than London, but if you widened your search you could get much more for your money). The city is ridiculously overcrowded and traffic is horrendous - small city centre can't support the growing population, plus hordes of students and tourists. Sure it's got a lot of positive things going for it too, but your post reads as though education is your main driver for moving there, which I find really odd.

There are oodles of great primary schools in Cambridge. Do not be swayed by the fact that one has the word 'University' in its name!

Cambridge is very expensive and very congested. Move here if you have a job to come to, but don't move just because there's one school related to the uni.

If you're after the community, then one of the larger surrounding villages might suit you better. Sounds like you need to do a lot more research into what the place is really like: come and visit.

No it's not excellent. Have a look at the thread about Milton primary vs Cambridge University school which will give you a bit of insight into some of the problems with the school.

I know a lot of people who sent their children to the university school with high expectations, some of whom moved to the area specifically for their children to attend that school. However, not one of these families are happy with the school.

The school does not manage discipline well and children do not reach their academic potential. The school is full of propoganda, with a Twitter page constantly flooded with messages of the school's apparently fantastic work. But it's all a show. Under the surface, the school is struggling. It is very poorly led. There are big problems in some year groups with behaviour and children are constantly being removed by parents and sent to better schools in the area.

If you are only moving for the school, I'd say don't bother. If you want to move because you like Cambridge, then excellent, but perhaps consider some of the other local schools. Most Cambridge schools are very good, but the University school is rife with problems at the moment.

It's funny user, I literally have only ever heard of these problems on MN. I live in Cambridge and know lots of parents with children at the school and they are all perfectly happy. A few of them have children with SEN and they find the provision excellent, their children are making great progress and love going to school. I do also know some local people who dislike that it's reputation rides on the 'university' name but to be honest if the pupils Are happy and learning then it speaks for itself just like any other state school. Really odd how these comments pop up on here, it's unrecognisable from the experience of anyone I know! I'm not sure if the benefit of comparing it to Milton road anyway as they are different catchments and afaik Milton Rd usually fills with catchment/ siblings. I'm wondering if the school has pissed someone off somehow and they just enjoy coming on MN and saying random negative things about it!

Hey upthewolves! Well, I guess you are right that there's only a handful of views on mumsnet so we won't know what is representative or not! However, I am definitely aware of quite a few children in each year group who have been removed (some fairly recently) from the school due to problems with either behaviour (parents feeling behaviour not being managed well in the school!) or lack of academic progress, or both! However, as you say, there are probably also some parents who are happy with the school (I've not met many to be honest! But out of a school the size of UCPS, there must be quite a few I'm sure!!)

P.s. upthewolves - are you actually the UCPS head? (it's possible! He's quite savvy with social media and positive propoganda I hear!! 😉)

Lol! No, but my baby is in a nursery very close to the school (now I've said this you probably know which one I mean!) and I know a lot of mums with kids in the primary school. Just found it strange to see this perspective of it, that's all, and several times, but only on this site. But as I don't have a child there myself I really don't know. I suppose, as you say, with a school of that size there are always going to be some that aren't happy for whatever reason. I mean how big is a year group, isn't it 3 or 4 form entry? So a few in each year group could be 3/100 kids? If the behaviour situation is as bad as you say though I can't imagine it staying under the radar for long, I'm sure it will come out because let's be honest there will be a fair few people who will enjoy seeing the university get something wrong!

! I don't think it will be under the radar for long! (What age are the children whose parents you speak to? - reception parents tend to be fairly.positive (until around this time of year), year 1 parents a bit more sceptical, year 2 parents and beyond - largely unhappy with a few optimistic exceptions!!)

You know it isn't a mini college, right?
The relationship to the university seems to be more like the vet school - one keeps (very well looked after) farm animals for students to practise on, the other keeps children (in a lovely shiny building) to try out new teaching theories with.
And I say this as someone who did put it on my own family's primary school applications shortlist, so that is not 100% criticism.

Slightly lol at this discussion. Fact is that most primary settings in Cambridge are pretty good.

There is such a thing as finding a good fit. My DC was at a leading prep school in Cambridge and it was an awful experience for him. Then he went to a primary that slipped down to a satisfactory Ofsted whilst he was there but was - in fact - rather a brilliant experience for him.

Range of ages really user, not 100% sure but yeah, probably mostly younger year levels if parents also have one in nursery. Well, it will be interesting to see if it does all "come out"!

I think this is the first year they will get sats results too isn't it? Although to be honest I wouldn't put too much weight on that. If anything I would take 'outstanding' sats results as a sign they have been hothousing the kids and making a misery of y6 (bitter ex primary school teacher!)

Cambridge University Primary School is so excellent we couldn't bear it, so we moved our child out of there. Bullying, violence (the police were called after a particularly nasty incident) and despite the Ofsted rating the education is frankly, in our opinion poor for all those considering it.

Late entrant to this thread but my advice is: stay away from this school. I've heard some appalling things about it (especially regarding pastoral care and bullying) from good friends who have DC there. my hunch is: give it a year or two, and it will be stripped off its outstanding status despite the dogged efforts of its head to hold on to it. Major reforms will be needed to the school to provide a safe and happy environment for a young child.

Have to 100% agree with Lily. The school has problems in so many areas. Our children were at the school since it opened. At first we were really happy that they had been accepted and excited about the new school and it's association with Cambridge University. We thought they would have excellent teachers and it would be a happy place for the children. We expected they would get an education comparable with the best schools and they would be safe in the school.
How naïve and foolish we were.

The Bullying & Violence
All schools have an element of bullying, it's unfortunately true, either physical or verbal. The headmaster kept on repeating this mantra that there is no such thing as bullying (he said this in several newsletters) then it changed to “there is no such thing as bullying in our definition” until “there is bullying but very minor”
I hate to say our children were bullied. Our daughter was strangled (red marks all over throat and bruising) kicked in the stomach, hit in the face, spat on and challenged to a fight by another girl who said “I’m going to teach you a lesson”. Happily, our daughter defended herself and the bully didn’t do very well.
Our son was gang jumped by a group of younger children who would swarm older pupils and steal their stuff. He was also hit in the face. He also was attacked with his hair tore out by two boys.
Sometimes this happened on consecutive days.

My husband got rudimentary boxing lessons for our son, so he could defend himself and taught our daughter as well.

Also we heard from a friend that the police had been called as another girl had smashed a tennis racket, with some force, on a another girl’s head.
In another incident which my husband watched through the window, a girl from another class entered his class, stood on the table and threw board markers at the children hitting our son in the head. The teacher stood passively by until a male teacher grabbed her by the waist and hauled her off.
Our son came back one day and said that they were told that hitting somebody wasn’t bullying, unless you do it seven times –that is what he was told by the teachers.
The teachers listen to the parents, but effectively did nothing aside from an asinine “don’t do it again” The bullying and violence continued. The deputy headmaster told us what he was going to do about the violence towards our daughter, the next day it happened again.

Special Needs
There are a lot of special needs children in the school. I don’t mean dyslexia, but other special needs, like children with behaviour and anger problems to name a few. Many of them are the ones who cause the problems. Without strict guidelines in terms of bullying and no punishments, they run wild.
Education
Whilst it is true that the school did achieve an outstanding rating, in no uncertain terms should you regard this with pleasure. In our opinion, the education is poor, politically and socially oriented and with no depth. Children get left behind. In the reports they kept on saying that everything was all right and great and it wasn’t.
Sports
Competitive sports play was not encouraged, in fact quite the reverse. They school want to create a climate where nobody is competitive. In fact the school would give awards to pupils who didn’t win races, or who scored goals but to pupils “just for trying” even if they didn’t actually do anything. I can see some merit in this as it might encourage unsporty children to do sports. Actually it leads to resentment, as the boys and girls who did well, should be rewarded. They weren’t.

In one year, a fellow parent told me that in in her son's class, 20% of the children had left to go to other schools. We followed suit and moved our children out of that dystopia and now both are very happy, confident and thriving.

Make a choice. But this was our experience.

Another mum here. My child was also bullied at UCPS repeatedly, both physically and verbally. The school's response was appalling. I don't regret leaving UCPS. I regret not doing it sooner due to a slight case of Stockholm syndrome...
If your children are fortunate enough to avoid any issues (social, emotional or academic) then they may thrive at UCPS. Good luck!

The teachers, children and parents don't wear facemasks at UCPS.

They have had a few cases of covid 19 at the school already.

I don't recommend the school - find your local school and go there. I have a lot of experience of UCPS and would not send my children there if I had my time again. @Aeres post sadly doesn't surprises me - I have heard this over and over again and rather than deal with issues the school will just ignore parents until they give up and leave. It's such a massive school with high turnover that no one really notices or cares that children are leaving because they are unhappy.

We just got an offer to this school and wondered if anyone else would like to share their opinion of their children's experiences at the school? Heard great things about the school from people I know but the views here are concerning, esp. regarding bullying!

My information is from a couple of years ago.

A friend who works at a different local primary school says there is a lot of “churn” among the staff, ie heavy turnover.

I went on a tour of the school as part of an “Open Eddington” Saturday in 2018 or 2019. It started with a talk from the head, upstairs in the teacher training area. He is an excellent salesman. As we walked round the school downstairs later I noticed at least a couple of things which conflicted with what he had said.

And that was when there were no children in the building!