john masefield in herefordshire. reviews please.

[Willyoulistentome]

We're thinking of moving to near ledbury in herefordshire. The local school is john masefield. All I have to go on us the ofsted, which is fine. Before second house viewing and visiting the school, is there any reason, other than the rural nature of the area, that it would have 20 spare year 7 places? We are rural where we are, but the good local schools here are all massively oversubscribed. Their website is rubbish so not much to go on there.
Can any parents give me the lowdown?

Some parents put their children in for Gloucester grammars or the faith secondaries in Hereford that have had excellent reputations for decades, for example St Mary's takes nearly 50% non-RC children (although with recent demographic changes the proportion of RC pupils is increasing).

And generally, outside of the city most schools have spare places in Herefordshire. There was an attempt to close/merge lots of the smaller, village primaries a few years ago that caused uproar and most have stayed open.

Thanks mariluisa. I like that John masefield has a 6th form as ds1 has mild ASD and takes a long time to adapt to changes. I think for this reason, so long so there is nothing else apart from being rural which means it has so many spare places that I would prefer it over st marys, which has gone down to 'good' from 'outstanding' recently one reason being it is less good for boys than girls.
Ds1 isn't grammar material. Ds2 will thrive in any setting.
Can anyone else recommend secondary schools good for sn in that area?

I think its a good school. lots of spare places in Herefordshire. most people in the locality will go there - due to distance most people go to their local school unless there is a reason not to - independent schools etc. I should think there is a sen unit of some description within the school too.

I think bishops in Hereford has a specific send unit but I cannot remember what it is. Ofsted report will tell you.

hope that is some use!

I'd choose it over St Marys too.

Thanks both of you. I need to speak to the SENCO and visit. All sounds very positive.

Agree with Marisluisa, most rural secondary schools in herefordshire have spare capacity. John Masefield is a super school with a passionate and dedicated head. The SENCO has only been in place for a year but is keen, well liked and knows his stuff. My kids went to another local school but I would fight tooth and nail to get them into JMHS. It's just been given an award for being in the top 20% of schools nationally for value added too.

Ooooh. Sounds great. The kids are giving us massive guilt trips about moving away from their friends, but they are only 9 & 11. Ds1 is lined up to go to a school where he knows nobody here at the moment due to catchment for secondary meaning all his primary school pals will go elsewhere.
They heard a phone message from the estate agent v asking for an update and went mental at me yesterday.

You have my sympathy! We moved when ours were 8 and 10 but the one that found it hardest was me. Took a year for me to settle but love it now. Good luck