Primary schools Didsbury

[FInesS]

Could anyone please recommend what the best primary schools are in Didsbury and around Didsbury?

There are loads of great primary schools in the area and it is worth going and looking round.

St Paul's in Withington is a hidden gem with a lovely mixed pupil population and good support for SEN. It has a school street and a focuses on active travel/environment so you can't drive to the school door, you would need to park nearby and walk or walk/cycle/bus from Didsbury.

The other CofE schools are didsbury and West Didsbury. Didsbury CofE is small with only 30 in a year so hard to get into if you don't live nearby or attend church. Quite a lot of children are tutored for 11+ outside of schools from year 4 and some will leave before year 6 to go to private school. West Didsbury has 2 classes so more likely to get in and more mixed, less traditional feel but still gets good SATs results (if that is important to you).

Beaver Road is big with mixed reviews as 150 children in a year. Some people love that there is so much on offer but others say it is big, unsupportive and not good for SEN. Broad Oak seems to have been struggling recently and when we went round 5 years ago it seemed quite chaotic but again, there are parents and children who are happy there.

Hope that helps. Pros and cons to each so depends what you want.

@kaffkooks thank you so much. What about Cavendish school?

All the schools are really good. All are just a bit different. Cav is a great school. 3 form entry. Decent wrap round / extra curricular.
Beaver Road expanded massively in a time of population boom.
Sites are tight for outdoor space.
Broad Oak is smaller with great specialised SEN provision & great facilities.
DidCofE is tiny and lots heavily tutor for private grammars.
West Dids is 2 form and new

Hi Guys, I was going to ask the same question then thought I'd just resurrect the thread! We're moving to Didsbury in the Spring and looking for a primary for my daughter for September.
Won't be able to visit in person before applying so wondering if anyone could share experiences of what these schools are like?

Didsbury CofE - closest and looks lovely but I've heard they're very evangelical?
Beaver road - also looks nice but I'm worried it's such a big school
St Paul's - also looks lovely? Is it less evangelical than Didsbury CofE?

bump

What age is your DD and do you have an address to move to yet?

I've never heard of DidsCoE described as evangelical! It's a very active modern parish who also run Didsbury pride and other community events. I didn't apply for my non Christian DC as I wanted a bigger more diverse school with different religions etc but it's a very popular school. St Paul's is a CofE school but prob more diverse and less actual church goers.. but active community
All the schools are good. If not reception entry you may need to see where there are spaces.

She's almost 4 so we'll be looking for reception entry for next september. (Nursery for a few months before)

And yes :)

Oh that's very reassuring thank you!
It was a colleague of mine who described it that way and their kids are older teens I think so hopefully that's just out of date!

It's a small church school within a trust of local church schools. It's a busy parish with active congregation. Admission criteria includes church attendance. So it depends if that attracts? Wouldn't say any of it is a negative otherwise.

St Paul's doesn't require church attendance whereas Didsbury CofE does. Half of the intake for West dids CofE is church attendance and the other half isn't. All of them have fairly diverse communities.