Hi @MathsyMum. I'll post the response I sent privately to the people asking questions earlier -there seems to be more interest in this discussion than I anticipated. It is always tricky to navigate reviews and make an informed decision. My husband (I'll admit he's reasonably right in this case, grudgingly) says that the only people who write reviews are either those who are very happy or very unhappy. I'll do my best to be objective.
By way of a background, our son is an only child; we are both have science postgraduate educations and work in science; we live in Oxford and both work full-time also in and around Oxford. We visited our local primary, Dragon, Abingdon Junior School, and Chandlings.
How we chose Chandlings:
1.We wanted a school that is not stretched for resources - our local state primary seemed to be struggling to raise funds to supplement their offering. This seemed to impact what could and couldn't be offered. The independent schools all had very good and abundant resources. Chandlings won for its fantastic grounds, their own swimming pool, space, a variety of sports pitches, forest school space, and resources for languages and music, etc.
2.Convenience of picking up and dropping off – we live 3 miles from the school so it is a good manageable drive before and after work for either of us. Lots of dedicated parking availability (Dragon is a city school with very limited parking; Abingdon is slightly better but still doesn’t have straightforward parking space for drop offs – picking up might be easier)
3.Good wraparound care – Chandlings has early birds’ club from 8am and they can go into their classes from 8:15 am for an 8:30 start, and also afterschool care (with or without activities) until 5pm included in the fees. This can be extended both ends to 7:30am and 6pm for a fee of £8 a session per family. Very handy for when we need to be outside Oxford for early commitments. Dragon finished at about 3pm for the very young kids and didn’t have after school care.
4.Lunch and snacks provided – We don’t have the time (read are not organised enough!) to make lunches and snacks every morning. Chandlings has this beautifully sorted with snacks at breaktimes, a sit-down hot/cold lunch, snack before afterschool club, all again included in the fees. To be fair, the other schools did it too but I’m not sure everything was included in the fees.
5.Diversity of background and race – Chandlings had a great mix of kids and families that we could relate to – lots of different professional backgrounds, coming from different countries of origin, speaking various second languages. Dragon, at the time, was very uniform, though Abingdon was less so. Chandlings was right for us.
6.Nurturing – My child is quieter and gentler than most. He is very articulate but painfully shy. We needed a school that would bring him out and help him find his voice and celebrate his strengths. Chandlings is incredible at doing just that. The teachers, TAs, support staff are all kind, all remember his name, always make time for him, and really look after him, all the while nudging him out of his comfort zone which is perfect. We spoke to a few teachers and took a bit of a punt on this one based on our gut feel. It was hard to know if this criterion would be satisfied. Now that we’ve spent 6+ years in this school, I am pretty sure we’ve got what we wanted.
7.Sport – My child is not crazily sporty (he plays badminton which they don’t offer in his school) but we did want him to try lots of sports which again Chandlings does very well. They do very well to include him (all kids play for 95% of the fixtures – they have teams from A to D or more if necessary and they ability match them so everyone gets a shot and learns to play in a team. Being an only child, this is great for my son.
8.Academic rigour – This was important to us and to be fair we saw it at all schools we visited. Chandlings understands its place as a primary school very well and does a lot of work to prepare children for secondary school entrance without being a hothouse which again, worked for us. Dragon goes to 13+ which is more geared towards their upper school and schools like Eton – not a deal-breaker but not for us.
9.Co-educational – We were keen on this and this was not an option at Abingdon.
About teachers being made redundant, class sizes increasing, total numbers at school falling:
1.We have had two real changes of head in the time we have been there, and a couple of interim heads. These things happen for a variety of reasons. But I can assure you that none of the changes were horrible enough for us to take our son out of the school. The school has a very strong leadership team and regardless of changes in head-ship the ethos and feel of the school has been consistent.
2.Before Covid, numbers typically fell because people panicked about secondary school entrance exams and want to game the system by getting to the school of choice earlier for an all but guaranteed senior school place. We had our own panic before Year 3 and went and did assessments for entry to Magdalen and Abingdon. My son got offered places to both but we chose to stay because he was happy and thriving at Chandlings. These numbers get made up in the following year’s intake. Additionally, changes make some people uncomfortable – the change in head led to some people moving out fearing a quality change. Chandlings also is the school of choice for children of visiting executives from companies like BMW, Nielsen, etc. They are a transient population – they naturally have to leave at the end of their stint in Oxford. Post Covid, numbers have gone down because people have had to deal with financial instability. The school has responded to the drop in numbers by consolidating classes (increasing from 16 to 20) and reducing staffing costs (some voluntary redundancies). Cost managing was something that the parent body asked for in the wake of having to continue paying fees for the reduced face-to-face teaching offering and not being able to use the facilities.
3.You have to remember that the school is fundamentally a business – one that educates your child really well, but a business. They are doing and have done what they need to do to keep afloat during the crisis. They have handled the changes reasonably well and remain open to suggestion and feedback. This has been important in confirming we made a good choice.
This may have been more detailed than you asked for but I do get frustrated when I seen a lot of extreme opinions on forums, usually from people with no first-hand experience. Every parent will say the school they picked for their child is fantastic – it is an emotive subject. I think you have to come up with a list and work through whether the schools you are viewing have the things you want or not and take it from there. Good luck with your search!