Winchester Primary Schools Advice

[Susansan]

Hello, I’ve looked at previous posts on here about primary state schools in Winchester and would love some updated advice.

We are moving to Winchester and would appreciate Winchester area based Mums’ thoughts/experience about primary state schools in and around the city. There are currently places in St Peter’s Catholic, Weeke, and Western schools and therefore no issue with being out of catchment. Westgate has a waiting list, as does St Bede’s and St. Faith’s.

I know it’s all subjective and individual to what school best suits the child but generally it would be amazing to hear your thoughts on the above schools. We are renting until we find a place to buy and St Peter’s seems to be the closest school to the rental - their exam results look great on gov.uk - is it a good school? We need a year 1 in year transfer place.
thanks

St Peter's is a lovely school, I have family members there who are very happy. The Head seems excellent and it's a very caring school.

To be honest all the schools in Winchester are great, you can't go wrong. Western is lovely too and I have heard good things about Weeke.

Thank you. We managed to visit Weeke school a few days ago and we liked it - there was a happy vibe about the place especially in early years classes, plus a very good Ofsted report.
So I think we have narrowed it down to St Peter’s or Weeke.

St. Peters is awful. The head teacher is open with staff about her dislike for children and frequently makes comments about 'naughty children' (SEN).
I no longer work there. But I have also heard stories from parents in her poor handling to bullying, particularly children reporting being sexually assaulted by other pupils in the toilets and no action taken.

If you are rich, catholic and your child is likely to be the bully then they would be fine there. Otherwise I'd be highly concerned.

That’s very worrying to hear about St Peter’s. Thank you for letting me know. May I ask what role you had in the school and did you leave recently?
Is bullying an issue at St Peter’s generally or are there occasional incidents of it and in what year groups is it likely to occur? Given our daughter is 5, we haven’t come across any bullying at school so far, so would be grateful for more info. Anything else we should be wary of? Thanks.

Our experience of St Peter's has been very different to that of the previous poster. We've found it to be an inclusive and diverse (for Winchester) community. That's something I really like about the school. Many of the children speak more than one language, for example. Yes many of the families are Catholic, because it's a faith school, but definitely from a range of economic backgrounds.

We haven't experienced any bullying, though of course it will be present in every school and definitely how they deal with it is a good question to ask when visiting. St Peter's have a lovely, fairly recently developed, well resourced outdoor area for the Reception classes. Definitely worth a visit, and to meet the Head if possible, to form your own view.

I know people who have worked with her and haven't heard that from them at all. I actually heard the complete opposite, that she was all about the children's needs, but appreciate that different staff will have varied views.

If your house is near St Peter's it's worth driving over to Weeke at school run time to double check the journey - Romsey road and Chilbolten avenue get very busy.

I did leave, but don't want to say when as that would be outing.
Bullying in KS2 was heavy, including racial abuse which teachers never addressed and I know some of it ended up being addressed aggressively between parents as the school didn't act. I believe KS1 to be better in that aspect however KS1 teachers show a huge lack of enthusiasm towards children, TAs are left practically teaching the classroom and the teachers are lazy. Two in particular spring to mind for KS1 but again outing as it shows where I was at the time of my role.

Bullying happens in all schools with all children, I just witnessed the other side of how it was dealt with. As well as being told how it should have been dealt with.

I do agree with the other poster depending on where you live Romsey Road and Chilbolten Avenue are difficult drives in rush hour.

Thank you both for your views, it’s very helpful to know both positives and negatives about the school. Bullying is something that needs to be addressed quickly and effectively in every school and I hope there are now effective measures in place at St Peter’s.

I’ve heard about Winchester traffic! Certainly worth a trip to both schools to check it out.

A couple of final questions if you know answers to them - is there a class parent rep that liaises with parents and the school with any ideas/issues etc? What is the quality of teaching like? Both schools have good Ofsted results for KS2 with St Peter’s nudging ahead in this respect? Do the teachers individualise the learning according to student’s ability?

thanks again for your input.

Western is great. I hear good things about Weeke. The advantage of Westgate is it’s a through school so if Westgate is what you might want for Y7 then get on their wait list but it’s increased in popularity since it’s last report. If you want local school friends for walking to school etc Peters might not give that. I would go and see what each school looks like at drop off and pick up. I think it’s quite informative. Try not to go to a primary involving much driving - traffic is ridiculous.

Firstly all the Winchester schools are generally good.
Traffic is an issue, so do look into that before making a decision! It was really bad this morning at rush hour. Try and get a school you can walk to.

Sounds like PP has an axe to grind.

Certainly doesn't sound like the St Peter's I know. It's the most diverse primary in Winchester and has an incredibly caring ethos. Its catchment is a more deprived area so the value added to the children is great. I think the head is fantastic and very genuine.

Weeke is fine, it's right on a fairly busy road so I wouldn't be keen on the pollution going straight into the yard with all the exciting playground stuff. The Yurt is quite fun though.

Harestock is a bit further out than Weeke (only about seven mins walk though) and is another school with a fantastic, caring ethos, great staff, excellent wraparound and a brilliant forest school which every class does one day a week. Don't know if they have space though?

None of the schools are bad so I'd go for closest to where you want/can afford to live. Driving across Winchester in rush hour will get old very quickly.