St George's Junior School Weybridge

[beirara]

We are planning to move to the Weybridge area from London and looking at St George's Junior School. DS1 is not good at sport but enjoys taking part. He is very into art and music and a sensitive boy. DS2 is very young but his teachers all say he is very bright. I know the school is RC and wondering how and if that makes the school different to say C of E schools? We plan to go to their next open day. I would appreciate any information on the school please. How is the pastoral care? Any information would be really useful or other suggestions for schools in the area, both state and private, as we are not the moneyed type. How oversubscribed are the state schools?

Anyone able to help me please with schools in Weybridge please!

There are quite a few old threads on schools in Weybridge, which should give you an idea. St Georges is a catholic school but the majority of people I know who have sent their children recently aren't catholic and are selecting the school for different reasons. Children are required to complete an assessment before being offered a place.

There are quite a few state options in Weybridge, but you will need to be careful with catchments to make sure you get in. The state primary options are St James (4-11), located in the town centre and although recently been reclassified by Ofsted has a good reputation, St Charles (4-11) is the catholic school and I think is still classed Outstanding. Then up in the Oatlands part of Weybridge there are two infant schools, Manby Lodge and Oatlands Infant school, both of which are classed as either Good or Outstanding. The majority of these children then move to Cleves Junior School from 7-11.

In terms of secondary, most Weybridge children move to Heathside, which is located in Weybridge Town.

If you are considering State, you need to be very careful on where you rent/buy as there are black holes in the area, which means you may not get the school you desire.

Hope this helps. Good luck

I forgot to say that the state school options in Weybridge are often oversubscribed in the entry years (Reception/Year3) but the population is fairly mobile and so spots do open up.

Other private options tend to be Feltonfleet which is on the outskirts of Weybridge near the A3, but I believe fees are higher than St Georges.

Thanks Clare7787. Great info and advice. Do you perhaps know what the latest word on the street is about St George's? I have seen mixed comments on old threads.

I don't have any direct experience of the school and so can't really help but I can say we have a family member at the junior school and they are very a happy there. Sometimes it's best to look at the school and see if it feels/looks right. I know some people who have looked at and have discounted it for all sorts of reasons but the reality is that the majority of children are happy there.

I know a few people with children there. They are generally very happy with it. I looked at it for my children and thought the staff were lovely although was a bit put off by the Catholicism and thought the buildings were a bit run down compared to some of the alternatives. I also thought that there was a bit of a presumption that all children would go to the College for secondary when it might not be the best school for everyone.

St Charles in Portmore Park is lovely, I have friends there, but very difficult to get into unless you live very near and are fully paid up Catholics.

Feltonfleet is I think the most expensive independent primary in the area. Alternatives are Notre Dame, St Andrews, American School, Westward...

My best friend's son go there, he is in year 1 a year younger to my DS She drives from Shepperton to Weybridge. He is a very happy child and it seems he is doing well in terms of confidence , academics etc.
My son is in reception and we went to look at St. George's last year. We needed to put our DS in nursery. Everything was nice. I loved the big building from outside, the nursery head showed us around but at that point I felt it was too busy , lot of kids in one class and saw lot of boisterous kids. The school focuses on sports a lot. School has a good bunch of parents, I meet them on birthdays so overall a good. Impression and lots of Asians are there so I wouldn't think not Catholic would potentially be an issue
I would have loved to put my son there as his friend was already going but my son is academic, nature loving, arts etc so I decided to put him somewhere else and anyways area was not a problem for us so we moved to Epsom.

Hope this helps

Sorry I meant a year elser to my DS :)

Thanks neeti1. Is St George's therefore seen as a very sporty school and not really into Art and Music? Please could anyone let me know as DS1 is more into music and art.

SGC v v musical-look at the Senior School pages of the website. Amazing choral/orchestral provision x

I think it's a good mixture of both sport & arts. The sports side of things has improved vastly since I was there(back in the dark ages, now looking at schools for DC), but I was really stunned by the improved provision for music & drama when I went on an open day a few years ago. All students get to learn an instrument from second year I believe, and there are so many different orchestras/groups from classical to jazz for the children to join. The art department has always been excellent in both senior & junior schools.

I would suggest that you try & book into one of the headmaster's forum mornings as well as the general open day, as you will be more likely to get to speak to the staff of the relevant departments in person & in more depth.

My two boys have both attended St George's since nursery - my eldest is now in final year at the College and youngest in year 6 at the junior school. My boys are quite different in nature, ability and interests and I cannot speak highly enough of the junior school and how well it catered for both of them. It's a big school and yes it can feel busy, but I always feel it has a happy and welcoming feeling, lots of kids with smiles on their faces, eager to get into school in the morning. Sport is well catered for, but if your children are not especially sporty, that's not a problem - the sports staff work hard to make even the most reluctant sportsman feel positive and confident and there's no pressure to do extra sport if it's not your bag!
There has been a big redevelopment programme over the last couple of years and there is a stunning new building for the lower years, a completely refurbished nursery and a new performing arts centre (music provision is excellent btw). There is a forest school on the large area of farmland adjacent to the school. I understand further refurbishments are planned in the Upper Years building and a new science lab is on the agenda, which we sadly won't benefit from!
Someone else commented that it's expected that children will go on to the College.....I would say that the links between the junior school and College are still strong, but the junior school now has a teacher dedicated to senior school transition and they were very open and supportive about the prospect of considering other secondary schools for your child. The College has been superb for my eldest ds, but my youngest is actually moving on to a different senior school this September, as are a number of his year 6 peers. The junior school did a fantastic job of preparing them not only for the College 11+ entry exam, but also for any other school entrance exams that pupils might be taking.
Please let me know if you have any other specific questions. I have been a parent at the junior school for nearly 15 years (and you can tell I'm a fan!), so hopefully can answer most things.

I have 2 children at St George's Junior school and one of them is nearly finishing up there. I feel like sharing my honest opinion as I sometimes think that people make their decisions of where to send their children to school based on what they read on forums like these. If I did it all again I would not choose St George's. I have felt that they place children in 'boxes' based on their ability from a far too young age. Children develop at different rates and from my experience once the school has placed you in your 'box' especially with regards to sporting ability it is very hard to get out of it and work your way into a different box. From a very young age you are labeled a 'sporty' kid or a 'academic' kid. If you are either of those or both you'll do well at this school but if you are not you tend to slip through the cracks. Kids pick up on the things they hear about themselves. If they don't believe they are good at something it's easy for them to give up. Both of my kids have had times where they come back from school very disheartened because they felt like they were rubbish at a sport because they got put in the D or E team for something. This was when they were only 7. I did find that instead of building confidence on many occasions my two were losing confidence in themselves.
I don't believe that this is the type of school for everyone. If you do have a very sporty or academic kid, they'll fit right in. If not, perhaps look around. If you are paying heaps for an independent school then make sure it's a good fit for your child.

Does anyone know whether Cleves (state) or St George's (private) in Weybridge is better for the average achieving sporty child?

Torn between private and state - please don't judge, would just like to hear from anyone with constructive knowledge.