Chalfont Community College - any thoughts?

[mulranno]

Any feedback, reputation etc?

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Size can be daunting - 300 children per year, not the biggest site. However know of lots of children/parents very happy there.

Catchment stretches right down to Slough fringes so quite a geographic spread. Results v respectable given it's a 'secondary modern' - 64% A* to C at GCSE inc English and Maths. Friends with dcs who just missed the 11+ seem happy with how streaming works. Head is very dynamic.

If you want to look at somewhere smaller, Amersham School is becoming much more popular.

Everyone I know with children there is very happy with it. The reason it's so big is because it's so popular! You'll need to be in (or very close to) catchment to get a place because as far as I know it's always over-subscribed.

Going by the recent allocation profiles if you're in catchment you'll get in.

I have friends with children there who are very happy with it. The sheer size of the school can be off putting, however the school apparently manage this very well.

We live in Italy and are looking at moving back to the Uk for various reasons, also largely because my son who at the moment is 13 wants to go to school in the UK and also because I think that the A-level system may be better for him rather than the Italian system (more like IBS where you take up to 11 subjects all the way through). We would be living in Gerrards Cross and as far as I can see Chalfont St. Peters Community College would be in our catchment area. What is it really like? Seems to get generally good reports? How does it perform? I am also looking at the Royal Grammar School and my son is in fact going to do the entrance exam for year 10, however, I am concerned that he may not get in simply because he is not used to this type of testing coming from the Italian educational system and that they may have done things in a different order and he has not covered it. I have ordered the relevant KS3 revision books, but if he does not get into the RGS is Chalfont Community College a good alternative? We went to look at it from the outside as it was closed over Christmas and it looks very nice. Please advice also because I do not have that much of an idea of the English system having gone through international schooling myself. Thanks

Hi, we are in this same situation and I was wondering whether your child did end up going to Chalfont community college and if yes...how has it been? Thanks

I think, to be honest, if you cannot get a grammar school place, then this school is excellent as a back up and better than many. If you can pay then that opens up a few more possibilities but boys private schools in south Bucks are in short supply. If you want state this is a good school.

I live nearby but cannot comment on the school from experience. Only that it is massive and lots of people are moving to the area.
Don't knock the IB system though: it is very good. Italy as far as I gather, has a better emphasis on maths and engineering so it is an excellent place to be educated. I do have experience of clinical and biomedical research and it is really excellent and works leading at that too.

Thanks for your replies. I would be interested to hear from parents who have children at the school? Thanks.