Burhill Infant school/Cleves Junior School and other schools in Hersham, Surrey

[snowangels]

We are planning on moving to the Walton/Hersham area in a few months and I would really appreciate any advice or insider knowledge on Burhill Community Infant school and other schools in the area.

I understand Cleves Junior has an excellent reputation in the area but I know little about the Burhill Community Infant school other than what is written in the Ofsted report. I am wondering how the (relatively) new headmistress has settled in and whether the change in leadership has changed the school since its last Ofsted inspection?

I would also be interested to know which infant schools are the main feeder schools to Cleves Junior?

Would Burhill/Cleves be a 'good' combination?

Any advice generally on these 2 schools or other schools in Walton/Hersham area would be very gratefully received as we will be new to the area and we are feeling a tad ignorant at present!

(I understand Ashley C of E school is very oversubscribed).

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

Hi Snowangels

I live in Surrey but not near enough to know the schools you mentioned. You need the booklet from SCC on admisions which is at

www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspublications.nsf/591f7dda55aad72a80256c670041a50d/47ae9356f8134b818025777e004d32aa/$FILE/Information%20on%20Primary%20Schools%20for%202011-2012.pdf

From this it says that the admissions nos for both Burhill and Cleves are under review (this is what the * next to the PAN means, most likely that they are being asked to increase in size). Plus at the back of the booklet it gives you the schools admissions criteria.

Good luck.

Hi Snowangels. No direct experience of Burhill Infant school although I do live very near it. I have heard very good things about it and a lot of parents around here are keen for their children to attend this school. I believe it feeds into Bell Farm Junior School at present.

My children attend Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary which is lovely. This is an option if you are catholic.

Ashley C of E has a great reputation although as you say, very oversubscribed.

Walton Oak Primary did have a bad reputation but is improving with the recent appointment of a new headteacher. I don't personally know anybody whose children attend it however.

Manby Lodge Infant school is based in Weybridge but I understand quite a few of the pupils are from the Hersham/Walton area. It has a good reputation and I think maybe is a feeder into Cleves Junior.

HTH. Good luck with the move.

Thanks Wools - do you know much about Oatlands School either? My research is showing that this seems to be a popular school also. Thanks

Hi Snowangels, With regards to Burhill Infant School, I would like to say that this is a wonderful place, three of my own four children attended, and as local childminder of twenty years experience, most of my minded children go to this lovely school, Mrs Calver is certainly not a new head as she was headmistress when my eldest son attended over twenty years ago (she was Mrs Marshall then) Mrs Taylor is our new deputy head and I feel that she is settled in and a very valued member of our school community. Burhill School has wonderful links with the community and holds many interesting and varied events thoughout the year, the arrival of twelve chickens last year created great excitment between both the children and the mums. It is always over subscribed and many people are dissapointed every year not to gain a place, they usually feed into bell farm middle school although a few do go on to cleves, but as the catchment areas have been changed this will probably not be possible to many in the near future. As both a mum and Registered childminder I would highly recommend this wonderfull school, and hope that they continue to grow and prosper in the future. I have always felt that this school is dedicated to its students and their families, and when experiencing difficulties they have always been friendly and approachable.

Hi Snowangels, Further to my previous message. Oatlands First School in St Marys Road, Oatlands Village. is the main feeder school to Cleves School.

I'm in Weybridge and Oatlands and Cleves are VERY hard to get into in regards catchment. They are really popular schools.

Thank you all very much, especially littlejan1.

Since I initially posted I have been to visit Burhill and I agree that it seemed a fabulous school - so much enthusiasm and space plus the chickens and bees are a superb idea!

I also visited Oatlands school - which will be v close to where we will be living initially. It seems that you have to live very close to either of these schools to get in, so we just have to work out where to live now!

Thanks for your help

There are NO feeder schools for Cleves and don't let anybody persuade you otherwise.

Everything is based on distance to the school and catchment area as you found out with Burhill & Oatlands.

If you go to the SSC website you might find a calculator to show you how likely you are to get in.

Don't make the mistake of thinking Cleves is a Weybridge school as more of the catchment is in Walton & Hersham.

However, if I were you before deciding to send a child there I would give very careful consideration to the matter.

I have had four children go through the school and, for a variety of reasons,
would not now recommend it to anybody.

oh no Tree2000, I am sorry to hear that you wouldn't recommend Cleves as a school anymore. May I ask why? Thanks

This is an amazing thread as i grew up in the area and went to what is now walton oak and then waht is now st james' in weybridge. cant comment on the schools now as i dont live there any more but i love to see all these being discussed! i ended up with great grades and a great job and i'm sure they werent the best schools in the area even then so it doesnt matter tooooooooo much???

whatever you do, don't use Walton Oak.

It is Horrific.

it saddens me to hear that penelope but i can believe it from reading ofsted reports etc. def i wouldnt send my kids there. i would love to know whether it was that bad 30 years ago!

ofsted report doesn't even scratch the surface! I wont go into detail incase their are people with children at the school here.

But it is seriously awful

I understand you need to live within a mile of Cleves to get in. There aren't feeders, its done on distance, which obviously varies each year depending on admission numbers/siblings etc, but as a rule of thumb a mile is the usual distance I believe.

I heard Cleves is applying to become an academy so not sure what that will mean for it (or its admission policy). Its certainly very popular and families move into Oatlands specifically to get into the catchment for it.

I think quite a few children from Weybridge go Manby then Cleves because Oatlands often has a small catchment, though I think they are admitting another class this year.

Thanks Cheggers. I just had a quick google and saw that Cleves seems to have successfully acquired its academy status in November.

Does anyone know what the consequences are, good or bad, in becoming a primary school academy?

At the moment, based on the location of our new (rented) house, its seems Oatlands and Cleves will be the most likely combination for us - so am interested in what academy status may mean. I have visited an open day at Oatlands but not Cleves yet.

Thanks

I would think very hard about Cleves as it's not for everyone I had a ds there. St James is a school often overlooked and I would recommend having a look at it as well my goddaughters go there. It seems to be a better school for pastoral care, good homework practice and seeing children as individuals. At Cleves there are a few amazing teachers and if you are lucky enough to get one great. My nieces went to Burhill and it was great for them, they didn't enjoy it at Cleves. The facilities look great but the Theatre is only used for assemblies and the show once a year. The fantastic sports hall doesn't mean the PE is great. This school is all about money and SAT results not the individual child. Homework is appalling, always projects that the parents have to do rather than set pieces of literacy and maths which encourage independent learning. All the homework comes home in one go just before SATs in y6. Quite a few children leave and go to other schools as they are unhappy. I would say that if tested the happiness levels of the children at the school would be quite low and that would be my main criticism. But here are a few more.

Head is not at all open to parental criticism and is very defensive so you won't get any satisfactory response if you have a problem. There is no meeting half way, its her way or no way. If your child is bright they will be bored and if they are SN it is well meaning but ineffective. Too much is about recording results rather than making real progress with each child. There seems to be a real fear of spending money or resources in a way that will benefit the children rather than purely affect the Ofsted report.

Saying that the school is well disciplined, the results are excellent, the facilities are good and they have very polite children. This is evident in the Ofstead but that isn't always what makes a great school.

I wouldn't send your child/children to Burhill Primary School, they might have a good Ofsted but they are not very good. My granddaughter currently goes to this school and her parents are looking to remover her and send her to a different school. They take the approach one size fits all and if your child can't keep up tough, they are not very caring or considerate to those who can't keep up. The worst school i've come across. I have a grandson who went to Bell Farm School in Walton-on-Thames and they were brilliant. Another very good school is Walton Oak. One of these schools is where we hope my granddaughter will transfer to.

Hello
I’m moving to weybridge in St. George’s lodge , queens road ..looking for good primary schools ? My children would be going to grade 4 n 5..kindly let me know the best ones in the area.. does offsted result show the true picture and are they anti bullying .. thank you