Oxford - Wolvercote and Phil & Jim's

[Relph]

Does anyone have experience of either of these two schools? We've got a place for September at Wolvercote, which I'm pleases with as it seems a nice school, but our original first choice was Phil & Jim's, so I need to decide whether to go on the waiting list there. (If we got a place, we'd automatically lose the Wolvercote place with no consultation, so I need to decide now.)

So, my question is, does Phil and Jim's deserve it's great reputation? Are there negatives to it? Or should we just be glad we got Wolvercote and stick with it?

"I think if you look at a level results it comes very high in league tables."

It comes between 301 and 350th in the league tables - a couple of hundred places below the best comprehensive I found in a random flick through.

I spent a lot to of time with lower sets of key stage 4...,not a peep from 3 up. They didn't manage the extreme behaviours of lower sets well. Kids just got up walked out if thry had a tanturn, and messed with phones in class, played music in headphones etc. Obviously a lot of these issues are familial and it was individual teachers as well. Key stage 3 were gorgeous and upper set key stage 4 as well. A yearly intake is smaller than most primary schools so it is like many schools in one. I doubt the kids know their whole year group.

Bigger than most.

Cherwell are very keen to avoid a 'lower set' culture though. Not setting till Y10 except for Maths and PE.
Seems to do particularly well for Pupil Premium.

I know my son had a great form class with no difficult kids so even when not setted in KS3 there were no problems, had several teachers mentio how nice they were. Maybe he was just lucky. As you say Poppy the year group is large so I guess the more troublesome pupils just weren't on his radar.

I meant to say that it doesn't just rely on an intake of bright kids and shove the less academic ones into lower sets from the start, but gives everyone the opportunity and encouragement to do well. And, from what I have seen, doesn't put results above good education.
There's a certain amount of behaviour problems in every school but again, from what I have seen, this school is very strict about discipline. So I'd say, from what I've seen so far, its good reputation is well deserved.

Glad to hear that Spires is improving, though.
Apologies to the OP for going on about secondaries!

Actually Poppy, Rupert Friend went to the Marlborough in Woodstock for most of his education – he went to Cherwell for the sixth form only.