Please help me choose a public primary school in North Oxford

[lxkikiki]

Hi everyone, I might be moving to Oxford in August, and I'm currently leaning towards living in North Oxford. I have a 6-year-old child, and I've looked at four primary schools. I'd like to ask you parents for advice on how to prioritize (the schools) for application.

1. Wolvercote Primary School
2. Cutteslowe Primary School
3. St Philip and James‘ Church of England Aided Primary School Oxford
4. St Aloysius' Catholic Primary School

Btw, our family has no religious affiliation, but I'm ok to my child attending a religious school (if the school doesn't force conversion).

In short, if I'm only considering these four primary schools, how should I choose?

Do you mean state school? PUblic schools in the UK are very expensive private schools. As your child is 6 you will need to find out if any of them have space. This may change between now and September.

The two church schools might give priority to those of that faith so check if you would be at the bottom of any waiting lists so potentially unlikely to get in.
I would prioritise distance. Especially in Oxford which has new congestion charges on certain roads.
But to be honest it will be down to whichever school has a space. You might not get much choice at all.

Yes I agree, it will be about which school has a space tbh. Will your dc be going into year 3 (ie they turn 7 before end August)? If not and they will be year 2 then infant class size rules apply so classes are capped at 30 which means the school cannot admit sovereign that number.

All four schools are rated as "Good" by Ofsted. As your child will not be joining EYFS, it would be worth your while to contact them now and check re capacity for a six year old (Year 2 entry?) Worth noting that all of those schools other than Wolvercote have had plenty of space in recent years. This is partly a reflection of population change in North Oxford, and also the development of a new housing estate in Wolvercote. You can see admission statistics on the Oxfordshire County Council website eg https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/schools/list/2534/admissions. Wolvercote has been slightly oversubscribed, but last year still admitted children outside its catchment area. St Aloysius seems to have slightly more of a "faith" ethos than Phil and Jim. I think the best thing to do, if you can, is visit each school and try to speak to some parents to get a feel. Phil and Jim and Cutteslowe both have parks/playgrounds on their doorstep that are heavily used by parents of younger children after the school day finishes, and you can strike up conversations while the little one plays. It will also help if you know roughly where you're living - none of the schools are particularly accessible by car.

When I was looking at state school applications in Berkshire (RBWM), I didn’t put any catchment schools in our town and put rural schools in the first four places and two urban catholic schools in the last two places. We got our second choice, but we went private, but if the money fountain runs dry, I would go for rural schools (they accept out of catchment). Religious affiliation is all over the place (in our area). I am yet to see a Catholic school where a sizeable portion of kids are Catholic. I visited one Catholic school where I suspect 1-2% were Catholic. We are in a Catholic school now and no one, no one in our class is Catholic. (We are Anglicans). Can you join a local Facebook group (does something like Oxford Gossip Girls exist?) and try to gauge the lay of the land from there? Rural vs urban, strictly catchment vs not, overly hyped vs quietly delivering? Can you still visit schools?

I didn't see St Barnabas mentioned here, but depending how far north you'll be moving, this is also a very good option. This school has been moving up in the rankings the last few years and since it's a single form school, the children receive a lot more one-on-one time with their teachers compared to other larger schools. Many children from all over the world attend and the school is accepting of all faiths and no faith. My child is excelling academically and very happy. Spaces are filling up quicker than usual, so it would be good to enquire soon and schedule an in-person or virtual tour. Best of luck in your search!

since it's a single form school, the children receive a lot more one-on-one time with their teachers compared to other larger schools.

All schools have a (single or job share) qualified teacher per form of entry. 2FE / 3FE etc schools do not have one teacher er year group having to divide his or her attention between 60 / 90 or however many pupils.

All are rated good – but Wolvercote Primary was close to being outstanding according to its last report. Phil & Jims is often recommended by friends, but can be oversubscribed. St Aloysius is more religious than the others, so may be a challenge if you're not religious yourselves.

I am sure your child is getting an exemplary education, but can I just point out the reason your child is spending more time with their class teacher is because very small single form schools simply can’t afford to buy in extra, specialist staff, like specialist music teachers, MFL staff, IT staff, sports coaches, reading support staff, learning support staff etc etc. So while your child’s teachers may be excellent, they are being expected to be excellent across the entire primary curriculum, which is a bit of a hard ask imo.

Thank you for your message. While that may be the case for many smaller schools, this doesn't apply to our school. We have all the 'extras' you mentioned and the school is currently on the upswing receiving much publicity in the media. The school has more of a community feeling because it's single form so the children and teachers have a closer relationship which you don't often experience in bigger schools. This 'small' school puts a lot of bigger schools which i have visited to shame.

St Aloys is Catholic so I believe it has the strongest religious persuasion, while Phil and Jim is C of E. Phil and Jim has traditionally been known for being very academic - some children will thrive with this but I have known others leave and find a school with a broader ethos eg St Barnabas or Wolvercote. Wolvercote very good but generally oversubscribed and priority goes to the families in the village including Lower Wolvercote so even if you technically live closer eg top of Woodstock Rd you may miss out on a place. Cutteslowe has great energetic newish Head and strong staff and community - my friends with kids there have been very happy.

First question (once you have moved) is which schools have spaces in the right year group.

You may well find some of them can't be considered, as there is no space.