Carlisle or Hampton Infant - which one to choose?

[princesswhitewolf]

Ladies, I would greatly appreciate your insight.

I live in Hampton, London Borough of Richmond in the catchment area of two good school Carlisle Infant School ( Part of Hampton Hill Primary Federation now) and Hampton Infant School, which is aligned with the Hampton Primary School.
Ofsted Rating
Carlise Infant School: Good. Ratio student/teacher:18.5
Hampton Infant School : Outstanding. Ratio student/teacher:22.5

But =>

Carlise is a feeder school to Hampton Hill Primary School. ( Ofsted: Outstanding)
Hampton Infant School feeds to Hampton Primary.( Ofsted: Good)

Both schools have very good results at the exams.

Now, I have to pick one as a preferred choice.

Your recommendations would be appreciated!!

Hello, I can give you a bit of insight on Carlisle and HHJs - 2 children - one still at Juniors, both been through Carlisle recently.
So - Carlisle is great, friendly, lovely small and "little" ethos as it's a good walk away from the Juniors. The teachers are kind / caring and good at teaching. They are brilliant at some of the more creative extra things around music & arts. My two children enjoyed it, and did well. No complaints.
HHJS is amazing. Honestly could not have asked for more. It deserves it's outstanding, the teaching is excellent, but it is all the extras that make it so good - think sports, gardening, music, drama etc. There really is something for everyone.
I think you are in a good place if you are choosing between the 2 as I have heard very good things about Hampton too and I'm sure that either would be a great experience. I would say that I think junior level is more important than infants in terms of the amount of learning and emotional development (and the dreaded SATS!) so guess I'd prioritise Junior school over infants. But honestly I am sure that both would be excellent.

Many thanks bluesnowdog:) and warm regards from the fellow Hamptonian.

I too have had two through Carlisle and Hampton Hill. One still at HHJS. Both schools phenominal - Carlisle very creative, low staff turnover (hardly any staff movement whilst my two were there) - a lovely, lovely school, excellent results. Traditional classroom teaching with 30 to each classroom.

Hampton Infants, also has a very good reputation. It has the 'outstanding' OFSTED but do not let that be the decisive factor. You need to go in to both schools and go on your instant gut feeling. Hampton Inf. has teaching for classes in one big area not separated out. Something to be aware of and not for everyone particularly if you have a timid child.

And I cannot praise HHJS enough. My children have had wonderful teaching.

Hampton Inf. has teaching for classes in one big area not separated out. >Something to be aware of and not for everyone particularly if you have a timid child.

Thank you for this very valuable info. Maybe I represent the "old school" of thinking, but I cannot possibly imagine an effective education in classes larger than 30 pupils , especially at this age. Actually, 22-25 sounds most reasonable to me. But I recon for that I would need to send my kid to the local private school...
Anyway, you are probably very right that I should visit the schools and avoid taking Ofsted results as a gospel truth:))))

yes def don't take ofsted results as the most important thing.
sometimes a school can be rated good rather than outstanding just because of some minor thing eg record keeping. personally i would rather the infant teachers were on the floor with the kids teaching rather than sitting at a desk with a clipboard filling our the EYFS forms for each child which is incredibly labour intensive!

anyway re the one big class thing that can work well due to the vast range of abilities in reception/Y1. They can group children by ability for various tasks.

ps i would do carlisle to HHJS.

...well if they have to do subgroups they might as well split the pupils into small classes where they can receive more visibility and individual approach from a teacher. One teacher cannot possibly observe carefully a kid performance in the 90 kids class where there is 1 teacher and 2 T assistants

why do you think there is just 1 teacher for 90 kids?
i doubt that is legal

pure assumption basing on this thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/2515403-Moving-to-Hampton-Richmond-Borough

yes but it only says 90 kids in one big room - doesn't say "with only one teacher".

there are some pro's to that approach - as i said tighter groupings for tasks based on ability etc... more mixing of the kids etc.. i can see the benefits if it is well structured and managed and not just a giant playroom!

no it doesn't. In may mean what I mentioned before: 1 teacher + 2 teacher assistants as it looks in practice. Still it is getting to know all kids rather superficially.

Just came across this and wanted to add that having had experience of both I'd go for Hampton infants over Carlisle every time. The reasons are IME it's a much more vibrant and inclusive school. The classrooms are free flow so while there are still 30 children per class and per teacher the year group area is open plan. It's not 90 per class!
Not got experience of the juniors yet but looked around both HHJS and HJS and were really impressed with Hampton juniors. They have had a new head since the ousted and she is really passionate about the school, and has actually been told by ofsted at an interim visit that it is now an outstanding school, they are just waiting on the official visit.
I'd make sure you look around all the schools yourself and go with your gut feeling about which is best for your DC. Also if you are based between both schools then consider how you will feel about the journey to Hampton hill as it doesn't work quite as well from Hampton, particularly if you ar dropping off at both infants and juniors in the future.