Hi. I came across this discussion while looking for something else on the internet. My days as a mum worried about secondary school transfer are long gone. But I do have direct experience of DAOS as a mum so thought I would share. My oldest is just starting his second year at uni and my daughter is in year 12, lower sixth in old money. My son took the entrance exam, and got a place on the waiting list and my daughter started as a sibling.
Generally the school is absolutely fantastic. Almost all the teachers are great and have a very good repor with the pupils. Lessons are mainly fun and interesting and discipline is not draconian but good.
Pastoral care seems good, although as it is a big school you have to ask sometimes for issues to be looked at.
The buildings are a mush mash, some good, some old and tired. They are spread out a lot and there is no real heart to the school buildings. A brand new science block is almost finished, to join the maths and technology block finished a couple of years ago, the very good music rooms and auditorium ( go to a concert if you want to get a real feel for the school, anyone can buy tickets, not just family, and people not connected with the school do, the music is amazing).
The grounds are good, including lots of fields, a lake and woods. My son seemed to have perminatly muddy trousers from playing in the woods and rolling down grass hills, not many schools where they can do that?
This maybe brings me to the point about why the school is so good. Respect, trust and high expectations. They let years 7 and 8 play around a lake and in woods and fields. They probably are supervised but the kids think they are being trusted to be sensible. Similarly lessons might include listening to cricket on the radio or bouncing against walls to see what a gas molecule feels like. Interesting, engaging and the pupils are treated with respect and the same is expected back. But they work hard, maybe sometimes without realising it.
The school does not weed out pupils after GCSEs although I think about 7 in my daughters year did not carry on. Out of 200 not bad. They are also relatively free about what A levels can be taken, expecting good grades in relevant subjects at GCSE. I think the only restriction is on double maths where people need A*. A massive number of pupils take science at A level, I think chemistry is the most popular. And about 10 to 15% get offered places at Oxbridge each year. Almost all others seem to go on to good universities if they want to.
With 65 academic places, 10 music places and about 25 I think closest to the school places, around 100 places a year go to siblings. So there is a real family feel to the school, which i suppose might not be present in fully selective schools? This is important tothe school and there is much cross year support between pupils.
The pupils have their own form groups, then different teaching groups. There are also lots of clubs and activities and some amazing trips abroad so they tend to meet lots of others while forming firm friends in their form and main teaching groups.
Pupils are expected to work hard, and with a significant rump of very very able kids the overall expected standard seems to be high. This can put pressure on the less academic siblings, who may feel that a B is tantermount to a fail! Potentially a problem depending on personalities and abilities. Personally it has meant our daughter, who was bang average at primary school academically, has done much better than we thought she would at GCSE, and the school has really brought out her potential. She wants to be a doctor now. But being in lessons with the super able might have knocked her confidence a bit over the years.
There are problems, as with anywhere I expect, some of the teachers are not as good as they should be (and boy do the kids complain) and some of the kids can be spiteful and badly behaved at times. But generally it is a well run place with a very unusual set up. kids who go there should count themselves lucky and make the most of the opportunities it provides.
Like any big school ere will be many different experiences and perceptions, this is my take on 8 years association with the school, but others may say differently.
Happy to answer questions.