Gerrard cross/chalfonts schools

[Kennington]

Which are the good state primaries?
Which is the best independent? Maltmans, St Mary's or gayhurst?
Interested for next school year.
Thanks

Isn't the best state primary by far in GX the one in Moorlands Drive?
(if I remember the road correctly?)

AFAIR it is the only state primary there!

Boy or Girl? Guessing Girl.

Moreland Drive is the only primary actually in GX, it's a great school - outstanding Ofsted and SIAMS (C of E school inspection). You have to be reasonably near the school geographically to get in.

For independents, yes Maltmans and St Mary's single-sex girls, Gayhurst for mixed. Really depends what your child is like tbh, they're different in character/ethos.

If you are looking at the state schools, a lot are very good. It will depend on where you actually live though. Catchments are quite small. Which village are you in?

St. Peter but on the other side of a413
I am a little fed up as I am not keen on the grammar system but am very keen on being academic later on, if possible
Not sure about catchments but guessing robertswood

If you're C of E the academy in CSP is definitely worth a look. Robertswood is on the up.

Is it a boy or girl you're looking for?

I know a couple of children who go to robertswood and love it, but another who didn't (not sure of details why) and whose parents pulled them out of there.

Have you looked at Chalfont st Giles village school? Have heard good things

Girl
Not c of e unfortunately although was brought up that way
Looked at catchment and only robertswood shows up. I want to look around robertswood but I would like to know why no one is keen on it. They won't say!!!!
I really like St Giles but would assume it is oversubscribed.

The Ofsted Data Dashboard will tell you what you might want to know about Robertswood. The 2015 results are not in the dashboard yet but 2014 doesn't show it as particularly "on the up". It has always been the less favoured school in this area and always had a more mixed intake than the other C of E school in Chalfont St Peter. It is a class thing! However, check the school out and see if any other schools are likely to have spaces.

My friend lives in denham and her child got into St Giles although they had to go on a waiting list. Might be worth going on the list just in case. Will try and find out more about the robertswood issue!

I would also look at Jordan's - great school although only to 7

Thanks all
Will do some more digging - it is interesting to hear you can go further afield
Local school would be nice though!

On the private front - St Mary's has a more nurturing feel to Maltmans

I got that impression too. Am not keen on hot housing
Maltmans looks snazzy.
It is just a headache. I went to the local primary. End of story. I will look around robertswood though as don't want to write it off based on hearsay. Am interested in local opinion though as I don't have a clue.

I would look round Robertswood - it's results I think are skewed as from hearsay (no real knowledge!) it takes a genuine interest in SEN. Go with gut instinct. What suits one child doesn't necessarily suit another and OFSTED only gives a snapshot box tick picture

The Ofsted Data Dashboard is not a snapshot! It is not a report but data on progress and achievement in comparison with other schools. Compared with school nationally it is in the lowest quintile. Not so bad compared with similar schools. However this probably reflects the children . It used to have high SEND and Traveller children. Therefore it might be difficult for it to get good results but it is no excuse for not achieving good progress. I would look at the pupil premium statistics too - these should be on their web site. Are many children receiving this? How successfully are they closing the gap? How many children are getting into the grammar schools? Generally, in Bucks, the less good schools have vacancies. Any school that is well respected will not.

If you look purely at the number getting into grammar schools you'll find very varied data. CSG had a good year in 2014, much less so in 2013.

CSG is great at infant, a little more mixed at junior. You're more likely to get a place at junior as there's always some 'leakage' to the CSP Academy, St Joseph's the RC school and local privates.

Double-check if you're in catchment for CSP Academy, you may find you are. Gets very good results - very 'focused' but with that comes a lot of pressure.

Thanks. Have never heard of CSP academy.
I need to visit all the primaries now.
I will look into who gets into grammar and how many. Rather unfair if they all come from the private sector but hey ho.
Child is not the best behaved so I want to choose carefully.

I know a few people at Robertswood who seem happy enough - all the kids from DS1's playschool went to Lovell End (in the town), it's apparently pulled its socks up a long way and is lovely now.

Further afield there is just the C of E in GX (huge, 2 infant intakes last year), E-Cat in Denham (doesn't get good reviews) and Denham Village Infants - which had a bad rep, but seems OK at the moment, but is only until 7 like Jordans (and like Jordans, is tiny - less than 20 in a class).

I know nothing of the independents - I have boys, and Thorpe House doesn't do it for me. The girls from St Mary's have always seemed pleasant when walking around GX.

Oh, I should say - getting to Denham from CSP is probably easier than GX - straight up the 413 which pretty much never has traffic - used to take me 9 mins door to door.

Ok Millymollymama I stand corrected - no need to be aggressive!

Actually 2 classes of 30 is quite common, CSP academy takes 3 classes of 30 into Yr3.

The schools are all very different in character, get a feel for which you feel will suit your dd best. Good luck!

I googled this -

Ofsted Data Dashboard
dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk/
The Data Dashboard provides a snapshot of performance in a school, college or other further education and skills providers. The dashboard can be used by ...

Lol Maladicta - can you tell I'm a country girl used to village schools :)

I didn't realise the CSP Academy was so big - but I suppose there's quite a few infant only schools around who are looking for places from year 3 (Denham Village is virtually empty in year two halfway through the year as people move their kids ahead of the rush!)