The Blake School or St. Mary's, Witney

[Cutesbabasmummy]

Really stuck between the two. We live a short walk from The Blake School, or a shirt car journey from St. Mary's. We were worried about The Blake's bad OFSTED but the head explained why it had happened etc.The school seems to be on the up and the children were lovely and very positive. I'm a bit worried about the size of the school though. St.Mary's was lovely and small and my son is shy it might suit him. He came with us there and had a lovely time but his best friend from nursery was also there and I think that's why he liked it.

If any Mumsnetters have experience or advice I would love to hear it please x

Our neighbours children recently attended St Mary's and they were very happy with it. Children leave at the end of Year 2 to go to The Batt School. I guess it would be worth checking whether there's a guarantee of a place at The Batt for your child at the end of Year 2? Personally, I'd choose the school I could walk to buy I'm sure whatever choice you make will be fine.

Thanks for that. Yes he would automatically get a place at The Batt.Having a look at that soon to see if we like it x

We didn't like the lack of outdoor space at at St Mary's. No field to run around on. Also not keen on Batt but only because it's C of E.

We picked St Mary’s for the size. We were not lucky with the heads, as had 3 different ones in 3 years. The current head is a no-nonsense, old-school type, which I actually liked, but I know some parents were not happy about it. DS liked the school. The reception building, in particular, is very well-built and organised, and they have their own green space in the back, with vegetable growing raised beds and the mud bath. The school has a lovely little library.

Thanks for the replies! We did look round Batt but we didn't like it. We've out Blake as our first choice and St. Mary's as second. We were also concerned at the lack of outdoor space at St. Mary's, and whilst we loved the reception building, the rest of the school hasn't evolved from when I was there 40 years ago.

@Cutesbabasmummy @funmummy48

Hello.... I know this post is going back a few years! but I found it by chance and I am in exactly the same predicament and wondering how the probably not so little ones anymore ! got on at their chosen school and if you could
Offer any words of advice to first time mum I. Witney not knowing where to start when it's time to
Choose schools for my 5 year old!

xxx

@tanya020 my son went to The Blake and is about to start year 4 there. We have not regretted our choice. He is very academic and the staff have recognised this and he is gets appropriately challenging work. The children are also encouraged to take part in their year drama productions and even though he is reserved, our son gave a great performance as John in Peter Pan. All the children get a role and the big parts are shared between 2 children.

The Ofsted has now improved and the school is rated as good.

My son was in school during lockdown due to our jobs but the school did run some lessons via Teams. My friend's daughter at St Mary's had nothing at all and had a lot of catching up to do when she went to The Batt.

My advice is go and have a look. You will get a feeling for which school will suit your child xx

@Cutesbabasmummy

thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I am
So glad I took the chance to reach out.. :-)
Your son sounds like he is thriving in so my ways .. so pleased it ended up being a positive choice.

My little girl is at cogges pre school a few mornings a week so linked directly to Blake's but was wondering if Blake's might be too big for her.. like your son she is very academic , is advanced in communication/vocabulary (often confused for a 5/6 year old because of this and her height!) . She prefers the company of older children 7+! and joining in their activities more than she does the activities suited for 3/4 year olds. She is also extremely active needs to run around a lot . One of my worries is that she easily gets bored with children her age and therefore can attach to adults for conversation and play instead and I think
maybe a part of me thought because St Mary's was smaller this might be better for her... in the sense that teachers might have more time for her.. but hearing how your son has grown has been so lovely and thank you so much for being so kind in taking the time to reply .. xxx
I saw the lockdown video that the Blake headteacher made over lockdown and thought it was so wonderful and genuine

@tanya020 in reception they have free-flowing play so the children get to go outside if they want as long as they are not doing phonics or maths. They do have their own play area so they don't get knocked over by the bigger kids and it has lots of fun things to keep them occupied!

Once they move out of reception they have the run of yhe whole playground woth the trim trail and adventure zone plus table tennis and footballs at playtime. They also do forest school.

I thought my son would get lost in such a huge school but in fact he found his confidence. He is not one to push himself forward but he happily contributed in class and every year the school keeps his exercise books to show to prospective parents and inspectors.
I'm on the PTA too and we arrange lots of fun events to raise money, including school discos amd this year we had a big wild walk where all the children took part in an obstacle course on the field.

My son does have friends in older years too.xx