Sancton Wood Cambridge Senior School

[kiwimum2024]

We are moving to the UK and would love some insight into Sanction Wood Senior School in Cambridge.

Can anyone tell me about their recent experience in the senior school? We liked the small numbers. One of our main concerns was the outside space- we value our kids being outdoor and overall academic achievement.

If you are at Sanction Wood Senior School or your kid has been their, can you please let us know your experience.

Thanks

Avoid Sancton Wood Seniors like the plague. My nephew was there for 5 years. Here are some things that happened while he was there:

1. his form teacher told him he didn’t deserve to live in a house as nice as the one he lived in.
2. Head teacher screamed at him that he was ‘a dickhead and a shit’, when all he had done was sit next to a boy who had been cheeky. (deputy head then lied flat out to his mum and said this never happened.)
3. My nephew’s best friend got accused by three female teachers of ‘sexual intimidation’ when he tried to break up a fight between a boy and a girl - apparently getting into physical proximity with a girl constitutes ‘sexual intimidation’ even when you’re trying to prevent that girl from getting kicked by another boy.
4. when the dad of one boy had to be reported to social services for violently assaulting several members of his own family, senior staff at the school rang the family in question (their mates!) and told them exactly who had reported them to social services, putting the woman who reported it in danger.
5. a friend’s daughter’s form teacher invited the whole form group to comment on how bad they thought friend’s daughter’s acne was.
6. visits to a nearby Tesco during the school day were in theory forbidden. Sometimes, when staff caught kids in there they winked and said, ‘ I never saw you! Haha!’ and other times the kids got put in detention for a week - total inconsistency.
7. The head of upper school, still in position as far as I know, cut short more than 100 classes she was supposed to teach in one term. Her trick was to pretend she had forgotten something, leave the room to get it, and then reappear half an hour later, missing most of the class.
8. Same head of upper school made a point of telling off one boy in the middle of the hall in front of loads of other people, saying ‘I was going to do this in private but I really want to humiliate you.’
9. Same head of upper school, in capacity as so-called English teacher, suggested off her own bat to two girls that they might want to miss every other class - yes, one out of two! - in order to just chat and spend time together privately. Girls said ‘No thanks, we’d like to do well in our exams if that’s okay.’
10. Boys’ toilets had no running water or working taps on basins for nearly a year. Around same time, a friend I know who worked at the school said school had no records of the allergies, particular safeguarding issues etc relating to particular children. They’d just lost all that vital information.

I could go on and on!! Do not send your children to this messed-up establishment!

Gosh!! Shocked to read this, my child is at seniors and hasn't mentioned anything about these type of incidents. I will ask them, they have been very happy there for their senior years.

I recall an issue with water briefly but was only certain areas, not the entire school?

I am write to express my strong disagreement with this old resurfaced comment from a parent who forms every schools 1% of the parent population. As a parent of four children who have been through the school only with positive experiences and a fantastic education I absolutly do not reconise the school from the comments.
The Principal and old head of seniors were incredibly supportive and caring, always going above and beyond to ensure our children's well-being and academic success. The school's emphasis on a nurturing and supportive environment, combined with excellent academic standards, has helped countless students achieve their full potential. The last inspection recieved the highest grade.
I encourage anyone considering SW to ignore unfounded criticisms and visit the school to see firsthand the wonderful community and opportunities it offers, the minute you walk in the door and meet the staff and children you will know that its a wonderful school.

@SallyMcCarthy so all.these dreadful things happened but your nephew stayed there for 5 years?

I have taught there as supply and thought it was fine but not sure it is worth the money as there are lots of great state school in Cambridge

I have since asked my year 11 about these things - he has been unaware! The only story he agreed with is that the old head of seniors used to frequently disappear in lessons to "get something" for a long time... however, they are no longer head and the new head of seniors seems incredible and motivated. They are not perfect but will listen and try their best. It's a kind, calm school and despite being small, my child has had amazing opportunities for exciting travel and is currently in Greece on a classics trip! New York next month, Iceland last year and 2 ski trips in the last 2 years!

My child has thrived in a school with smaller class sizes so it's been perfect for them. There are some great state schools in Cambridge but they will all have 30+ in a class and not all kids thrive in that environment

Yes that’s right - my nephew stayed there for five years because he insisted that he wanted to, in spite of his parents almost begging him to consider moving. He really liked his friends there, and shrugged off the teachers’ often appalling behaviour. And there were also, at every stage, just enough brilliant subject teachers to make it not entirely a washout from an educational point of view. In about 30% of his lessons, he received good teaching.

It is also true that many families go through the school and find it to be perfectly fine for their children. The teachers can be nice and supportive to ‘the right kind of children’. However, even if four children go through the school quite happily without being on the receiving end of any verbal or psychological abuse (as per the commenter above), that doesn’t quite cut it for me. I am not a fan of any school in which the head calls any children dickheads and shits, ever. Or whose head of upper school says, ‘I’m going to tell you off in public so that you feel humiliated’. I could provide countless other examples of abusive verbal treatment too. But if anyone’s point is: the school doesn’t persecute all of the kids who attend it? Yes, that’s perfectly true and I’m happy for you if that’s a high enough standard to satisfy you!

If there’s a new head of seniors, then things will almost definitely be much improved. The previous head of seniors was a big part of the problem. She missed around a third of nearly every class she was supposed to teach on account of going to get something and taking a very long time. When this was reported, the head said ‘oh it’s very difficult for her at the moment’ rather than agreeing it was unacceptable and telling her so. This problem partly arose because the head, deputy head, head of senior school and head of middle school were all very very close best friends. There is now a new management company in place who were very aware of the unprofessional mess that the school used to be, so I imagine they’ve sorted out at least some of the issues.

I think people often don’t want to hear the negatives, that doesn’t mean they are untrue! I went to the recent open day for seniors and was positively underwhelmed, especially in comparison to other well regarded state schools in the area. I wasn’t impressed with the head and didn’t find him personable at all. I was also surprised at the lack of work on the classroom walls and although the building itself was impressive the classrooms were very stark. I also don’t think it a great look at an open day for teachers to be on their mobile phones! The main selling point seems to be their often tiny class sizes but I feel that works against them when it comes to the children’s GCSEs as, for example, we were told only 2 children were doing GCSE music, so the opportunity to play in orchestras and ensembles during school or actualy with anyone else at all are completely limiting.

I have a child at a seniors and thru are really happy, the new head of the Senior School is excellent and very proactive, my child has had opportunities to go on many school trips - Greece, Skiing, NYC, Norfolk and Iceland in the last couple of years.

I like the school as it has a nurturing ethos and doesn't sweat the small stuff. The class sizes are small because the school is big enough to allow for 3 forms per year.

The outside space isn't great but they are really creative with opportunity to use local outdoor spaces and sports facilities eg rowing, Golf, mountain biking even! They use sports facilities like hockey etc at the Cambridge University.

They are not perfect but are usually very receptive to concerns and respond to you quickly.

There are other small private schools
In Cambridge but SW seems the most 'normal' if you get me - Landmark is WAY too small and The Heritage is meant to be good but very Christian with a different, more alternative educational stance.

St Mary's is a really excellent option for girls, if there was a mixed or boys version I would put all of mine there!

I think the problem in Cambridge is that the state schools are strong, so there is limited market for “normal” private schools, IYSWIM? There’s the Perse for amazing academics, the Leys for trad boarding, and the small quirky schools, so I don’t think that SW is a really good value proposition in Cambridge. It’s known as the private school for those who got the hump with their state options but aren’t smart enough for the Perse.