How does Tetherdown Primary compare to independent education?

[bumbalo]

I would be extremely interested in first hand experiences as to how good really is Tetherdown Primary in Muswell Hill (besides its outstanding Ofsted report). I would also be interested to hear whether anyone has rejected an offer from an independent school to go to Tetherdown or has moved from Tetherdown to an independent school. I am basically trying to weigh my options and decide whether it's worth moving within the catchment area of Tetherdown or whether I should go for an independent school if my daughter gets accepted to any of the schools we have applied (e.g. Highgate, Devonshire). (There are no good schools in my area unfortunately.) How does Tetherdown measure against some of the advantanges of independent schools: e.g. independent attention to pupils due to smaller class sizes, extra-curriculars, quality of teaching/teacher's freedom to walk the extra mile/teacher's motivation. Do pupils at Tetherdown get private tutoring (is that potentially one reason how its good national results are achieved)? I understand that Tetherdown parents are asked to commit to work with their children towards those results (by monitoring and helping out with homework). Just curious on this point: don't parents need to get involved as much in independent education? Grateful for any views on these points.

This discussion has been so helpful to me, I wonder if I could post? I am waiting for a place at Rhodes, as am now no. 6 on the waiting list. Does anyone know anything about the Pheonix in Hampstead, apart from the awful journey? We looked at Norfolk house and thought it too formal for us.

Many thanks,

Hi thefish22, the Phoenix is great. How did you get an assessment? I tried to sign my son up but they said that places mainly go to siblings.

The lack of space at the Phoenix is more than made up by the excellent education the children receive. In the prep school ( up Holly hill) there is a bit more space and of course the sports facilities are great.

If you get a place, please don't hesitate to take it. I am very jealous as my son will have to sit the 7+ which is much harder.

Not all independent schools are good but UCS ( and Highgate) are great and worth paying money for.

I hope this helps

Hi there, just my 2 cents. My son is at Devonshire and its am amazing school. True there are a lot of expats there, as in most Hampstead schools, and in my son's class one family is moving abroad and wont be continuing, but the rest are staying. The teachers are lovely, compassionate, and kind and as soon as you enter the school you pick up on the warm vibe from the staff as well as the pupils.
My son is just in nursery but I am always surprised at how polite and well spoken the older children are.
I don't know how selective the school is. We got in to the nursery, I dont know anyone who hasn't. It is a big school. But I have yet to meet anyone whose children have actaully attended the school who are less that absolutley in love with the place.
My son went to Mulberry House for a term prior to Dev H and his mood and attitude toward school and the teachers has been night and day. He looks forward to every day and talks excitedly about his experiences. We have been so happy there that we have pulled his applications to Aronld House, Hampstead Hill and NOrthbridge House cause we plan for him ( and his sister ) to attend till 11/13. The sentiment of other parents has been very similiar, especially when it comes to the welcoming warm atmosphere of the school.
We have had one transfer student who came from another London private and her mum's sentiment was excatly the same. She said she felt guilty that she subjected her daughter to a not so loving environment after seeing the positive change in her going to Dev H.
Good luck
PS I have yet to experience any snobbish-ness or flashiness from the other families.

Hi all, just wonder how did you finally decide - for Tetherdown or for an independent school - if the latter, which one? We are in a similar situation right now, that's why I am asking. Many thanks

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I just noticed that the Ofsted report on Tetherdown has been "downgraded" to Good, down from Outstanding.

I also notice the results were worse this year. Do you think it is because the school has expanded too fast?

The criteria for "outstanding" were changed (The goalposts moved...)

Broadly a number of things schools used to be rated on have been dropped, and the rules on the remaining tightened up. So it is quite possible for a school that was outstanding to be downgraded to good. This may well have happened to Tetherdown. You can no longer make historical comparisons.

Nlondondad is correct. The Ofsted report looks very different to previous reports - it seems there have been some major revisions to the framework. It looks like Tetherdown was rated 'Good' due to difficulties ensuring consistency in excellent practice. One of the areas that has been highlighted is ensuring appropriate levels of challenge/support for high achieving children (which does seem to fit with the experience of some of the previous posters above). It will be interesting to see what happens with other longstanding 'Outstanding' schools over the coming months/years. Given Tetherdown's reputation in the area I suspect this latest Ofsted has been a real disappointment, and that others schools may be feeling a little nervous.

I have heard from somebody who bought a house next door to tetherdown. his dd will start reception in September. he is not happy at all and is already thinking about moving his dd at 7. Bad news for house prices around the school.

I honestly think it is very difficult for a school with 30 children in each class to tailor the curriculum given the wide range of abilities. but who knows?

I agree regarding class size. I do feel for people who've bought near the school, however in reality it's unlikely that Tetherdown has changed that much in terms of standards, if at all. Reputation is everything though, and it will now be compared unfavourably - by those new to the area/unfamiliar with the school at least - to the remaining 3 or 4 'Outstanding' primaries. Tetherdown is still a great school though. Personally I think having one or two of the local school rated at less than Outstanding might be a good thing in terms of taking the 'heat' out of the scramble for school places and the crazy house prices (we rent in Tetherdown catchment, and could only buy if there was a substantial decrease). New head starts in September too, so that should be interesting.

A friend of mine has her son at Tetherdown, she feels that the reputation is overrated and that the good results are because every child has at least one tutor and many have two.

That may be true. Perhaps part of the disappointment is that, given the intake, the school really should be able to maintain its Ofsted Outstanding status regardless of the fact that Ofsted have changed their criteria. Interestingly, I have friends with DC at two other Outstanding Muswell Hill primaries and they both feel that the schools have become so accustomed to having such a great reputations/lots of competition for places etc. that there's a lot of 'coasting'. Maybe finally the MH primary bubble has burst . . .

Gah this is all so mad. I'm sure Tetherdown is a great school. I'm sure it's pretty much the same school it was when it was outstanding. I'm sure then it wasn't substantially better than the vast majority of schools, it just had a different intake.
The crazy emphasis people put on choosing a primary school is at fault here. You don't need to move house as someone above did. You need to go to good-enough school you can find nearby. The support from you for you child and for the school will make all the difference, not some mythic reputation.
Even to compare Tetherdown to a private school is a nonsense to begin with. Just because its intake is posh, doesn't mean it's more like a private school than any other state. It will have all the benefits of a state school over a private school and all the disadvantages of a state vs private. It's how you feel about those general differences that makes the difference.
I do think this is a good piece about the madness.
www.atl.org.uk/publications-and-resources/report/2013/2013-march-final-word-zoe-williams.asp

Mr Gove has changed the goalposts so that very few schools will now be rated outstanding. Tetherdown is just one of the first to be reassessed. If you want hard evidence in terms of SATS exam results, Tetherdown is one of the top state primaries in London. It is a friendly, academically demanding two-form entry school with a great sense of community. My children are very happy and successful there. They also walk to school and have friends right on our doorstep. Yes, there is a lot of tutoring at Tetherdown but isn't that almost universal for children from professional middle class London families? We moved into the Tetherdown/Fortismere catchment because it felt like a safe, happy, stimulating environment for our children and we have never looked back.

@farewell to arms:

You are SO right!

@DrKate

What you say fits everything I have heard about Tetherdown; you are also correct about the goal posts. (Any suggestion that a school is not "good enough" because no longer "outstanding give me strength!)

However you did not mention that it really is a nice bit of London to live as well. Actually I think you are really lucky.

Tetherdown was the same school that it was in 2009, when it had the recent Ofsted inspection. Tetherdown didn't deserve the outstanding status in 2009. It appears that the Ofsted inspectors in 2009 mainly considered the key stage 2 Sats results, which are better than average. However parents and private tuition play a large part in the Sats results. The "value added" rating for Tetherdown is not very good. Infact, in 2012, Tetherdown pupils made the second lowest amount of progress in key stage 2 in state schools in Haringey, despite a high level of private tuition going on! The teachers generally do very little written marking, and this contributes to the poor key stage 2 progress of the pupils. There is excessive emphasis on peer and self marking by the pupils. The lack of written teacher marking particularly affects struggling pupils who tend to receive even less written positive teacher marking than other pupils, adversely affecting their self esteem. The school seems to think the self esteem issues are solely due to pupils comparing themselves to other pupils, and don't seem to think that teachers could make a big difference to the struggling pupils by giving them as much positive and constructive teacher written and verbal feedback as they give to the "top" pupils (and preferably increasing the written feedback to all pupils). However, there is generally a nice community spirit and the children are generally happy. There is a new headteacher who came from a school with very mediocre results in a middle class area.

You might want to try looking at our Local site for Haringey, where you'll find talk boards for discussing local issues with local people, as well as listings for local schools which you might find useful. There are hundreds of listings which you can use for getting info on all sorts of things in the area, and you can also review listings of shops/schools/services etc to help other MNs.
Have a look here: local.mumsnet.com/haringey