thoughts about Carr Manor Community school, Leeds?

[BrightlineBrowneye]

We're relocating to Leeds and are considering whether to buy a house in a street whose nearest secondary school will be Carr Manor. I'd be very grateful if anyone could give me their thoughts on this school as I'm a bit confused by what I've read so far - the Ofsted report is good, with some outstanding elements, it praises the outstanding leadership of the head and makes it sound as though they support their students really well. It's an overall glowing report. However the school is right down the bottom of the secondary schools in Leeds in terms of performance and is on this list from 2012 of the worst performing schools in the country at GCSE level:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21171279
I know it has huge challenges because of the large numbers of children from different countries and sometimes difficult circumstances who go there, so I imagine fantastic GCSE results across the board would be hard to achieve, but these results worry me, they are really pretty poor. Does anyone have experience of this school? How do you rate it? What's the teaching like? What's the general feel of the school? Would a more able pupil be held back or not allowed to reach their potential? Any opinions very welcome! Thanks.

Historically the school has a very poor reputation so the white, middle class parents that live in the area choose not to send their children there, choosing to go private or to cardinal heenan catholic school, lawns wood or allerton grange

It's very sports focused and the school offers more in the way of vocational subjects than traditionally academic -especially post 16

The facilities are fantastic and the school has made significant improvements but it is affected by a fairly fluid pupil turnover both in and out

The areas surrounding the school are very mixed in terms of housing, if you have the budget I would look at the ls17 postcode rather than ls7
Chapel allerton falls into ls7 but you want to stay away from the harehills border

Thanks, that's really useful to know.
The term "sports-focused" does drive fear into my heart a little - neither my dh or me enjoyed (or had any skill at) sports at school, nothing to say our dd and ds will take after us but we're certainly not a sporty household. Would prefer a school that was more academic and /or artistic.

I assume you're not Catholic? Cardinal Heenan is the better option but as PP says it's RC.

Is there any reason why you're looking at that area? There are a number of helpful posters from Leeds that answer these kind of queries regularly.

If you're new to Leeds but give us your requirements (commute, budget etc) someone might suggest an alternative solution.

OP, I have PM'ed you.

If you are moving to leeds, and so actually have a choice, then move into the catchment area of Garforth academy, horsforth, roundhay (or prince henry's in otley). TBH the rest of the state secondaries in leeds are pretty average.

My dd is at Garforth Academy and am more than happy with the school. It is excellent, both in terms of results, ethos and provision.
I agree with hobnob...Garforth, Roundhay And Horsforth are the best secondary schools in Leeds. If you have the option of being further afield, Prince Henrys, Tadcaster or, if you are Catholic, St Mary's at Menston.
Cardinal Heenan is also now judged as good by OFSTED, though I have no personal experience of it.

Others are much of a muchness imo. Average at best.

Thanks for all of your replies & apologies for my delay in replying - the rest of the family have been struck down with a virus for the past week which has delayed our house-hunting and left me with no time for mums net! We decided against the Carr Manor area. I've been narrowing things down now to Roundhay/Oakwood/Gledhow or possibly Horsforth or Otley. We've put an offer in on a house that's close to Roundhay school, near Gledhow Wood Rd, but I'm doubting that we're going to get it. (Even though we know that the vendors previously accepted an offer at the same price we've offered they are now holding out for a better offer from the viewings they've got lined up in the next few days….we can't afford to up our offer, I'll be a bit gutted if we lose it, but oh well….) We're going to look at a house in Otley as well, which could work for us. I think Horsforth might be out of our price range for the type of house we want, decent size gardens seem in short supply there as well, although we did really like the area when we visited. We liked the Roundhay area for the speed of car/bus journey into central Leeds. It seems the only place that combines good schools with a quick commute for dh, although we're at the top end of our budget there for the size of house we want. (But isn't that always the way?!?)

I would advise against Otley personally as there is absolutely nothing for teenagers to do

Roundhay is a much better option as its really easy for them to get into Leeds

Hmm, 17leftfeet, yes that's yet another consideration to bear in mind! Roundhay does seem to be coming out top so far….there just don't seem to be many houses for sale at the mo, unfortunately.