Royal Russell School Croydon - anyone know it?

[Schmedz]

Very interested to hear from people with children in the seniors at RR or know children at RR. Is it as good as it appears to be? If you or fairness have children there, what have you found to be the strengths/weaknesses?

Good facilities and good pastoral and afterschool care. But it has a history of being good for those who would struggle in a more academic environment, and it is located in an area within commuting distance of grammar schools as well as very well endowed single sex independent schools with reasonably large bursary/scholarship funds, and therefore is rarely a first choice for an academic child (though siblings of children who would struggle at Whitgift/Trinity often seem to go here). I know that the current head wants to raise academic standards, but it will take time to become more selective. All the parents that I know who are there are very happy with it, and with the new(ish) head.

We considered sending DD here a few years ago and went through entrance exam process. I also know one of the teachers. It has a lovely environment beautiful buildings and nice 'campus' atmosphere. It's reputation is not very academic it's not nearly as competitive as Whitgift or Trinity. We were put off a bit by it being v pricey and a bit pretentious (staff in academic gowns on open day?!). There were spelling mistakes in the prospectus, and the exam day not being what it was cracked up to be (promised interesting creative activity turned out to be making a keyring). These may seem like minor deficiencies, but given that we had lots of other options, they tipped the balance in favour of another school. We also didn't think there were enough MFL options. But for parents working long hours, the after-school provision seems very good and extends into early evening. There is a new head, so hopefully someone will give you a more up-to-date opinion. It seems like a thoroughly nice school, perhaps not as academically pressurised as some of the others -- which might be no bad thing.

Afaik, it depends what you're looking for. It's always been considered a 'nice' school but results wise never in the same league as the other Croydon independents (eg Whitgift Foundation schools). So probably not your first choice if you have a very academic child, perhaps. But pastoral care has always had a good reputation.

But I don't have personal experience of the school so feel free to ignore!

It has a lovely swimming pool!

My friend's DD goes there. She isn't an academic child, but loves music, drama, cheerleading etc and is very, very happy there. Settled into Y6 very quickly, and now enjoying senior school.

Thank you all for your comments. They seem to support information I have heard from other sources. Always happy to hear more from others, too!

It's the old RR question again. Love the idea of it, but worried about it's lack of academic emphasis.Can anyone provide a current update?

DS1 is currently at local state just ending year 1, and though he has a passion for learning, I feel he is coasting somewhere in the middle.
He scored 37/40 in the phonics screening but not sure what the yard stick is, they don't like to get competitive.
We also feel he is being overlooked by his lovely teacher who does an excellent job but it inevitably ends up being a crowd control exercise or dealing with those struggling.

Long story short, what are your experiences, insights etc.? And any other independents I should consider? We are in Tooting and trying to avoid the likes of Finton House

Thanks in advance
Px

Try Hornsby House in Balham - lovely school and much more down to earth than Finton House, Broomwood and the Thomas's

Getting to Royal Russell will be a pain in the backside from Tooting

The grounds etc at RR are lovely but the children we know who are going/have gone there are on the trickier end of the spectrum behaviour-wise iyswim so I hope the teachers are all very experienced at dealing with disruption

It's a terrible school. Maximum bursary I've heard about at rrs is 5%. Not very generous. Would not recommend it. Terrible school. Don't be fooled by the good facilities. Would recommend The Cedars School - just down the road.

In what way would you say RR is terrible Working ? I have only heard good things in the past. Leaving aside the bursary issue, have you any experience of the teaching etc?

Yes, working, I would be interested in the examples that make it 'terrible', please.

It is very different to the other independent (ie Whitgift Foundation) Croydon . So many aspects of a school are personal and about what is right for a particular child. However, if there are hard core specifics that are unacceptable then it would be useful to identify them.

I have experience of both sets of schools. Both are 'good,' e. G for pastoral care, extra care activities but in different ways. and again, it depends what you are looking for in a school.
Whitgift Foundation have higher entry criteria so, ergo, produce a higher level of academic attainment. They are probably more competitive. This suits some children but wouldn't suit others. Some children thrive under pressure , others work better at their own pace but with more 'gentler' pushing. RR would probably suit the latter type of child better.

As well as knowing several children who got scholarship offers from RR at 25% last year, there was also one who got a scholarship and bursary of 80%. So 5% sounds wrong. The boys I know who went to The Cedars didn't get into any of the more academic schools and preferred single sex over co-ed, or managed to get a discount arranged with The Cedars. That said, I hope that The Cedars thrives - it is useful to have a non Whitgift Foundation boys school in the area. But in what way is RR "terrible"? The children I know there wouldn't have thrived in Whitgift or Trinity but have done fairly well at RR. The boys in particular have come out as lovely employable young men.

Working

Your argument about it being terrible seems based on the fact their bursaries are low. Remember they don't have the strong foundation and financial position of Whitgift and Trinity. It is worth checking out this summer's results- best ever at Gcse and A level. This may be because the new Head is starting t make his mark. My view is that it is a great school for the right sort of child- as Ladymuck and GetmeOut have indicated. Terrible is such a strong word- you must have your reasons but I hope other parents aren't misled by you

Seeing some slightly bizarre comments about bursarys and behavioral problems so just posting a few thoughts to give a different perspective. I went to RRS from '91 to '97, I hated having to go to school like any sane person does but looking back I feel very lucky to have gone there. The grounds were fantastic, looking at google maps I estimate we walked a mile every single day just getting around to and from lessons. The fact that it doesn't have the same academic focus as some of the other schools nearby shouldn't be taken as a negative IMO. In my year there were people who left with 10 GCSEs at a A*/A/B level (Which were very good results then) and there were people that left with 3 E grades to their name and everything in between. Your friends would typically be a mix of all of them, which I think gives you a pretty good foundation for life and interacting with the world. We had fun and I'm still very good friends with the people I went to school with. Some of them have gone on to very successful careers earning £200k+ at 35, but the main thing is all of them are happy. Another great thing is it was mixed and it has weekly and full time borders so you end up meeting and becoming friends with so many different types of people. There must have been 20 different nationalities in my year. Just to reply to the behavior comment quickly, I would definitely have been one of the more rebellious pupils and I can honestly say there were very few bad apples and nothing all that interesting to report in terms of behavioral problems, sorry! I hope the new head doesn't make it too academic because that was never really the point of RRS. I would totally recommend the place.

I am an ex-parent of Royal Russell School and a current parent of The Cedars School.

Reading the above comments there is clearly a lot of guess work here regarding both schools and very little factual commentary.

If you have any question regarding either school I will answer honestly.

would love some insight on how RR is from current parents or ex parents.

considering for DDs ages 8 and 9. Looking for a academically challenging but well rounded education ..so not being a hot house is a positive for us.

Not a parent or ex parent but it doesn't have a reputation as academically challenging tbh

V12Oracle, I have two young children and looking for options in and around Croydon. At the moment, we are due to visit RRS but curious to see how other parents would rate it. I understand the comments about the school not being very academically focussed. At this point, I am not sure whether that is a good thing or not as my children are too young for me to understand whether they will be academically inclined or not.

I would love to hear of your experience of RRS.

As an ex-parent of RR (left end of Y6), I would say that your DC wouldn't be academically challenged any more than they would be in a state school.

The school definitely does not stretch the more able or even support the less capable.

My advice - save your money for tutors or an independent senior school (not RR).

Royal Russell is not a good school at not worth the money. My friends son told us not to go there saying he got bullied. And he says that it is not worth the money. They are not good at academics. If you want a good school in the area go to Trinity

Royal Russell is a very good school. My DC is in the senior school and I have nothing but praise for the school. It provides the right amount of academic challenge for a range of abilities, backed up by a very good level of pastoral support and a whole range of activities. My DCs self esteem has grown impressively during the time at the school. It might not achieve the academic success of Trinity but it takes a much broader intake of ability. The recent ISI report in Summer 2016 the school as outstanding in all categories which was very well deserved. I would recommend it to any parent who values children's self development alongside 'headline' academic success. It is certainly worth visiting to find out more for yourself.

Royal Russell is a very good school. My DC is in the senior school and I have nothing but praise for the school. It provides the right amount of academic challenge for a range of abilities, backed up by a very good level of pastoral support and a whole range of activities. My DCs self esteem has grown impressively during the time at the school. It might not achieve the academic success of Trinity but it takes a much broader intake of ability. The recent ISI report in Summer 2016 the school as outstanding in all categories which was very well deserved. I would recommend it to any parent who values children's self development alongside 'headline' academic success. It is certainly worth visiting to find out more for yourself.

I was there a long time ago (1980's).

Always expecting to open the newspaper and see that someone has reported historical sex abuse at the school dating back to that time. I'm sure it's vastly better than it was when I was a pupil, but god, there were some very odd people working there in the 1980's.

I'm always astonished that people will pay 100K for school fees when there are state schools in the area which get better results for children from across the ability range.

And it's not like the area isn't awash with out of school sports clubs/theatre groups/scouts/music groups etc.

I am looking at RR for my two-year old (to join the nursery which is now their standard entry point) but am a bit concerned by the comments about it not being particularly academic. Is this a historic view or still the case? Very grateful for current views. Also any advice on other sources of information when researching schools beyond the independent schools guide and word of mouth? Thanks in advance

I went there! Danny, I must know you!

Sparky404, the junior school does not teach to 11+ levels. Parents there have to tutor their children themselves or get a tutor to prepare them for 11+ exams. Also, quite a few boys leave the school at the end of year 5 for 10+ entry to Whitgift or Trinity.

The bottom line is that the junior school does not teach to 11+ standard.