Ark Priory Acadmeny versus Grange Primary, Ealing

[HanOlivia]

My son is due to begin Reception in Sept 2017 and I am completely torn over which school I should list as my priority.

Grange is rated Good by Ofsted, seems bright and cheerful, if not a touch disorganised. When visiting, I wasn't shown any work by the children, but can say the environment is welcoming.

Ark Priory is rated Outstanding by Ofsted - the children achieve extremely well, but I am worried by the ethos as they are highly disciplined with extra homework and longer school hours. If a child is late twice in one week, the child may receive a sanction, which makes no sense to me as being on time is the responsibility of the parent and punishing the child seems unfair.

I still have an open-mind, and am undecided. I want to make the right choice for my son and any information regarding either of these schools would be greatly appreciated!

Hannah

Your impression of Ark is correct. Is that the kind of environment you want for your child?

It's a totally personal decision, depending on which ethos you liked more.

ARK Priory has a really small catchment area and Grange primary is in a different area of Ealing - not sure how you would be in catchment for both?

Well I'm on the Acton side and on the heat map online, I'm just on the cusp for ark Priory. And grange is accross the commons and we are definitely in the catchment. They are my 2 preferable schools as I didn't have a good feel for other schools. However if you know any others you'd recommend in the area, suggestions are welcomed ! Thanks for reply.

Yeah, I'm aware of all of this. Thanks! :)

Have you been to see other schools in that area? Derwentwater has a great reputation (better than Ofsted made out and it exceeded my expectations when I went to see it), there's also the Ark Byron. Personally I don't have Berrymead on my list.

Good luck!