Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Flip

Original poster

Finding a good secondary school in Hull

25 replies

kittya · 13/09/2010 10:10

Trying to help a friend out, the city has great primary schools but when it comes to secondary there isnt much choice!!

She doesnt really want to move house.

Do any of you have any experience of Hull schools?

OP posts:

Kushanku · 13/09/2010 14:57

Hull schools are a nightmare. The majority of them are awful and the ones that are ok tend to be extremely difficult to get into. What part of Hull is she in?

As far as I can tell there are only a handful of decent schools in Hull. They are Malet Lambert (East Hull), St Mary's College (North Hull, Catholic) and Kelvin Hall (North Hull).

Apart from the catholic school, if you're not in the catchment area, you've no chance of getting into the other two.

Stay away from Endeavour, Kingswood, David Lister and Henry Cooper.

Kushanku · 13/09/2010 15:00

Oh, if she has a daughter, she should consider Newland which has a pretty good name and good results at the moment. If she has a son she should try her luck with Trinity but it's almost impossible to get into (385 applicants for 38 places for example. If she's willing to travel, and lucky - she could try for Cottingham High which tends to have a few surplus places for pupils outside of its village catchment area.

Original poster

kittya · 13/09/2010 17:27

Is Cottingham better than St Marys? thats the question. Do you know?

OP posts:

Kushanku · 13/09/2010 18:01

I would say St Mary's is better to be honest but harder to get into. It has better results and has just been classed as "Outstanding" by Ofsted for its pastoral care.

Cottingham "apparantly" has a bit of a problem with bullying but then, I think all schools do to some extent.

Original poster

kittya · 13/09/2010 22:36

its such a shame that there is such a lack of choice there, with such good primaries. I wonder what went wrong?

OP posts:

Kushanku · 14/09/2010 06:06

I blame the parents! honestly I do - the teachers can only do so much and if a kid doesn't want to learn and there is no parental support, by the age off 11 it is impossible to force them to learn.

I've known kids go on to get 7 A* GCSE's at the worst secondarys so it shows it can be done - it's down to the child and the parents.

There is a huge ammount of parents in Hull that just don't give a shit unfortunately.

My DS has just started secondary and getting him into a decent one was an absolute nightmare - and I have it all to go through again in two years time.

Original poster

kittya · 14/09/2010 23:28

It amazes me that its such a big city and has such a lethargy about it when it comes to education. Most parents want their kids to do well. There's such a lack of choice. How come the East Riding is so different? Its very sad.

OP posts:

doobeedee · 18/09/2010 13:03

Cottingham High is a good school with no more bullying problems than anywhere else. They also take loads of students from outside the village. I can also confirm that Kelvin Hall is one of the better Hull schools.

overthehill · 20/09/2010 22:54

Another vote here for Cottingham High: recommended by a Year 8 boy who is a pupil there and from an educated middle class family.

Original poster

kittya · 04/10/2010 00:07

thanks, its nice to hear from people who have experience of the schools

OP posts:

Original poster

kittya · 06/10/2010 14:03

If the choice was between St Marys or Cottingham High which would you choose? its equal distance between both.

OP posts:

maize · 06/10/2010 16:55

St Mary's is hard to get into at the moment, lots of local Catholics wanting a place.

Kelvin Hall is very good and if its equal distance between St Mary's and Cottingham they might live in the catchment for that.

Have also heard good things about Newland girls but only bad about Trinity House.

Original poster

kittya · 06/10/2010 18:01

she was told there was lots of in house fighting between groups of children at St Marys, I think that has put her off. Its such a shame that none of the schools are outstanding. Its so different from years ago, I dont know what went wrong.

OP posts:

badgermonkey · 06/10/2010 18:04

St Mary's has just had an Outstanding ofsted this year, hasn't it?

Original poster

kittya · 06/10/2010 18:21

outstanding for what though? I dont think there exam results are outstanding. Its very difficult.

Ive never understood OFSTED reports, if you knew the inspectors where coming wouldnt you make sure everything was ship shape. Dont they know months in advance?

OP posts:

crazymum53 · 08/10/2010 09:22

You only get about a week's notice of an OFSTED inspection these days so no you don't know when they're coming !

Original poster

kittya · 08/10/2010 09:53

but can you have a great report and not so good exam results or, are the two related?

OP posts:

crazymum53 · 08/10/2010 10:14

Am not sure about secondary schools but know how it works at primary school as OH was parent governor and have been Clerk to governors myself for another school.

They allocate schools to a group comparing them with similar schools nationally (this is based on factors such as free school meals) so a school can be good if pupils are from a disadvantaged background and exam results are better than would be expected of them (ie. better than the national average for that type of school). If this was not done all the good schools would be in better off areas so it takes into account social aspects of the area.

Expected exam results at GCSE are linked to KS2 SATs so if you get 4c in English, Maths and Science you should get the expected 5Cs at GCSE including Maths and English at most secondary schools. This is why it is so important to be at a good primary school.

Original poster

kittya · 08/10/2010 10:20

Gosh how on earth do they work that one out?!!! I thought SATS were going to be dropped.

Most primary schools in Hull are fantastic, its such a shame it doesnt get carried through at secondary level. Its a mystery why there arent many great scecondaries, its such a big city.

OP posts:

sethstarkaddersmum · 08/10/2010 10:23

I am elsewhere in the East Riding but after my experiences with the LEA I suspect they are like a chocolate teapot and that probably makes things still harder for the secondary schools.
I think we might have to move north....

Original poster

kittya · 08/10/2010 10:32

its awful that you have to move to find a decent school!! Even the ones that have been mentioned here, their results are nothing special. I know lots of people in Hull that have gone private now, just ordinary folk that feel that they have no choice.

OP posts:

sethstarkaddersmum · 08/10/2010 10:50

I wonder if there's something in the culture round here that people aren't very interested in education. Where I live is not poor, children are loved and well cared for but results at primary and secondary level rather feeble.

Original poster

kittya · 08/10/2010 18:05

i wonder if its something to do with the lack of job opportunities when they leave school? Its very sad. Everyone I know there works for the government, no private industry at all. And that blinking shopping centre, whats all that about? Its such a shame, Hull never seems to get it right.

OP posts:

badgermonkey · 08/10/2010 18:07

I teach at a secondary school in the East Riding, and we get pretty good results, I feel, especially as we are genuinely comprehensive due to a vast and varied catchment area.

Original poster

kittya · 08/10/2010 18:10

isnt the East Riding meant to be much better than Hull itself?

OP posts:

Flip

Swipe left for the next trending thread