With the caveat that I don’t know how things work for in-year admissions, normally children at St Mary’s either go to the church, or at least live in catchment.
I only looked at the 4 schools that would have been realistically possible to fit in with our commutes so I only know about a really small area (Shenfield and Hutton). Some parts of Hutton are a lot more affordable than Shenfield.
In terms of the rest of Brentwood, all I know is that St Peter’s is equally sought after as St Mary’s. Bentley was also popular with my daughter’s cohort, and other friends are happy with Holly Trees. That is not an informed list at all!
With regards to Shenfield/Hutton, apart from St Mary’s, I looked at Long Ridings (which was our first choice), Willowbrook and All Saints. I really liked both Long Ridings and Willowbrook, and don’t really remember feeling strongly either way about All Saints. I would have been content if my daughter had gone to any of the four.
Both Long Ridings and Willowbrook are very different to St Mary’s, and I suspect they may not be what you are looking for.
St Mary’s has a reputation for academic drive. It had a very traditional feel, and they definitely get good results. Whilst still having a proper tie, Long Ridings felt more relaxed. The head made a point on the open day to say that they will not do any preparation for the 11+. Willowbrook has a beautiful school, and I was really impressed at their support for children with additional needs, but their results are less good, possibly as there are a large number of these.
Both my husband and I come from pretty academically rigorous backgrounds. St Mary’s in a way would have been the obvious choice. However, I wasn’t sure my daughter would be the right fit there. She seemed completely comfortable at Long Ridings right from the open day.
The one thing I can talk a lot about is our experience of Long Ridings (bearing in mind we are only part way through Foundation year).
We’ve been really happy with the school. I have been staggered at the rate of my daughter’s progress there. Last term, she came home and started telling me about Nelson Mandela, which I would have never expected from the Foundation Year! She seems very happy and really enjoys learning. They seem to be very responsive to the individual child’s progress, and the work that comes home has just the right amount of challenge. She has quite a short attention span and seems to need constant change of stimulus outside school. Whilst she loved the people at nursery, I think she got quite bored there. She has never once said she was bored or did not enjoy her day at school, nor has she ever not been filled with enthusiasm to go to school.
The teachers are really engaged and enthusiastic (and there is good staff retention), and there is a real community feel. The PA are very active and support the school well, and manage this without being pushy. There is always something going on.
The school seems well organised, and is generally very timely about getting dates out. I have to give 2 months notice to cancel sessions at work, and I’ve not been in a position yet where I’ve not been able to attend something due to insufficient notice (and no midnight costume making!).
Communication from the teachers is good, and they use Tapestry, so you get little online snapshots from the school day.
Behaviour at the school seems very good. Some of the older children are ‘playleaders’ for the little ones, and there does seem to be a very caring attitude from them generally. I was impressed by the approach outlined regarding bullying and behaviour at the Open Day, although we haven’t had to have any experience of it so far.
There is wraparound care on site too, run by the private nursery in the school grounds. Breakfast club starts at 7.45 and final pick up from afterschool club is 6pm.
There seems to be a healthy roster of extra-curricular and after-school activities.
In terms of cons:
The classes are large (30 children) which is something I was a tiny bit concerned about before she started. However I can honestly say that I can’t see that this has impeded her in any real way so far.
There was an expected bulge year a few years ago, which the school had to prepare for, but it didn’t happen, so there is a year with smaller classes. I was a bit anxious that this would make it financially tough for the school, but again, I haven’t seen the cracks showing in the education.