Chandlings and Our Lady's Junior (Abingdon, Oxfordshire)

[MrsZebra]

Hi
I'd be really grateful for any up-to-date opinions and advice about the schools above please. I have a 7 year-old son who is very unhappy in his state primary school due to bullying. We have worked with the school for more than a year but the same problems still remain. So we are planning to move him. Does anyone have any opinions of Chandlings or Our Lady's Junior School. I've heard mixed opinions about Chandlings so would be keen to know more about the ethos from insiders :) He's moderately dyslexic but outgoing (outside school) and very sporty.
It's such a big decision and I want to get it right.
Thanks

I did know someone whose very sporty son went to Chandlings and they were very happy with it - said the sports facilities were great. That is a few years ago though. I know some happy children at Our Ladys Senior but no-one in the Junior at the moment.

Assuming you live near Abingdon(?) the headmistress at St Edmund's was previously assistant head at a specialist dyslexia school (the Unicorn). So might just be worth a visit there as well?

Thanks HPFA - yes, we're near Abingdon. The info about the Unicorn teacher is interesting, I'll look into it. Thanks for replying.

Hi MrsZebra. I'm sorry to hear that your son has been bullied. Are any of the other state schools an option? Infant class sizes don't apply to y3 onwards so it's worth a call to the admissions office.

I went to the OLA open day recently and my impression of the secondary bit was that it is not a pushy school and that the school lacked that bit of drive you would expect for £15k pa. so I felt that this must filter down to the primary school too although I could be wrong.

The head did a speech that was not very inspiring and a lot of it was read from notes. In contrast, the Abingdon prep head was an accomplished public speaker.

Of the juNior school, I felt that it was a very warm school with small class sizes and good academic progression.

I haven't looked around chandlings so can't comment.

Have you considered Abingdon prep? FWIW I'm not completely sold on AP but am hoping that it will suit my son by the time he would start there in 2y time, so I'll visit again and keep it on my radar.

We have 2 children (boy 8 girl 5) at Chandlings and have been very happy with the school. I don't have an opinion on the Senco offering in regards to the dyslexia, as neither of my kids are dyslexic, but regarding your son being sporty he would be very well catered for. The sports provision at Chandlings is excellent - in year 3 boys play football, rugby (touch and Walla), hockey, cricket, swimming, PE inc a bit of dance and both track and field athletics. There are lots of matches against other schools too. It did have a reputation of focusing too much on the sporty boys, to the detriment of the not so sporty ones, but that is changing and sport now feels pretty inclusive.

There is lots going on at school both in the timetable and in terms of extra curricular activities. My kids are never bored.

Chandlings has a new head this year, so there has been some change, but we are happy and most importantly our kids are. I would definitely recommend having a look and feel free to message me if you have any specific questions (I am just a parent - I do not work at the school).

Regards