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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Therfield School Leatherhead

17 replies

SOSEJ · 18/09/2015 07:40

Hello there,

I hope that someone can help. We are relocating to Surrey and last night we attended an open evening at Therfield school. We thought it was amazing. However because we don't live anywhere near, we haven't got any past/present parents to ask for their experiences. The head was at pains to say that we should do this and I agree. So I'm asking here if anyone knows anything about Therfield within the last year or so - I know in the past things there haven't been great but it looks like improvements have been made in the recent past.

Any help gratefully received!

Thank you in advance!

OP posts:

merlottime · 18/09/2015 07:53

I have a friend who's kids go to Therfield. She is really pleased with how things are going for her DC and says the new head is really good and it is definitely on the up. She speaks very enthusiastically about the school.

Original poster

SOSEJ · 18/09/2015 08:03

That's really reassuring! Thanks so much for replying so quickly! It's such a huge move and decision!

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kitkat2000 · 21/09/2015 07:41

I too have friends with children at Therfield and they always praise the school and the children are very happy there. Have you checked out their facebook and Twitter? A lot of great stuff seems to go on! I know that in this area all the secondary schools are good - I would say that Therfield is a good option.

homebythesea · 22/09/2015 07:29

I'm afraid Therfield does suffer by comparison with Howard of Effingham so (very) locally it is considered second best. i don't know any more than that but you might want to look at the Howard for comparison? Have you fixed your accommodation yet?

Original poster

SOSEJ · 22/09/2015 16:48

Hi there,

No we haven't fixed accommodation yet. However in have looked at The Howard and although it does look fab, it's a huge school and my DD has ASD so it would be too big and busy for her. The size - or rather the amount of pupils - of Therfield is one of the attractions. I really appreciate all your advice! Thank you!

OP posts:

mummytime · 22/09/2015 18:58

Umm if she has ASD the Howard might be better. It is getting a new ASD unit (or it may have opened) so it will have staff who know about ASD.
It is also not that big a school for Surrey, in fact most schools which are smaller would have more pupils if they could fill the places.

titchy · 22/09/2015 19:49

Therfield's intake is 210, Howard's 240 - not that much in it.

titchy · 22/09/2015 19:50

St Andrews also worth a look for an ASD kid.

AChickenCalledKorma · 22/09/2015 22:59

OP - I've PM'd you.

But for anyone else who's listening in, do beware of intake figures.

The Howard is full and currently has about 1500 students; Therfield is not full and has about 950 students. So if you're looking for a smaller school, there's quite a lot in it!

Original poster

SOSEJ · 22/09/2015 23:00

Howard is getting a unit? I didn't know that.... I was basing their numbers on the Ofsted report which states that they have over 1500 pupils whereas Therfield said last week that they have just over 900... That's quite a big difference if the Howard's numbers are correct.

Therfield also has a unit... That's the reason we looked at it in the first place. It's for children with speech, language and communication needs including children with ASD.

We will look into the Howard as well especially with regards to the unit but we have an older child already in secondary and I doubt that he would get a place.

OP posts:

mummytime · 23/09/2015 03:20

This is a news story about them:
news.surreycc.gov.uk/2014/09/29/pioneering-autism-centres-to-open-in-surrey-schools/

The Howard's prospectus states it has 1221 students, 1500 sounds like the figure it would expand to if it gets to move to its new school site.
The recent Ofsted report says Therfield has 1178 on role. (And more boys than girls.)

AChickenCalledKorma · 23/09/2015 07:53

The figures I gave were from the current DfE performance tables for the current number on roll. Possibly the figure in the Howard Prospectus excludes the Sixth Form? Therfield might have had 1178 at the time of Ofsted - that was at least two years ago now and 2013 intake was a very low birth year in Surrey.

Is the Howard's unit dependent on them getting permission for their new site? The site is in the Green Belt and extremely controversially locally. So I wouldn't base any decisions on their future plans. They might get it ... and if they do it will be lovely. But take a look at the Cobham Free School saga to get an idea of the politics around Green Belt development for schools in Surrey.

Original poster

SOSEJ · 23/09/2015 09:55

I got my numbers from 2015 data for both schools. Therfield's Ofsted inspection was in 2013 and numbers have dropped since then. Howard numbers are much higher - the link to the current data is here

dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk/dash.php?urn=136833

I have read the press releases regarding the new units across Surrey and the Howard is listed bug nothing appears to have happened regarding this yet and we can't take a risk that it "might" happen in years to come, especially with the numbers of pupils being that much higher than Therfield.

More boy-heavy is no problem for my DD... Most of her best friendships have been and are still with boys.

I will definitely keep the Howard in mind but it looks like they may be going through a lot of change which for my DD is not going to be very helpful.

OP posts:

Original poster

SOSEJ · 23/09/2015 09:57

Sorry here's the Therfield current data

dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk/dash.php?urn=125252

OP posts:

NetExp · 05/11/2015 12:34

Just came across this tread searching for something else and whilst I realise it's probably too late now, I thought I would add comments anyway.
My DD started in Year 7 at Therfield in September and we have been very happy so far. She is very happy too.

The new head is doing great things and has a real hands on approach around the school. He phoned every new parent back in March when places were allocated to introduce himself and have a chat - very impressive. His blog is well worth a read to get a feel of what is going on at the school - www.therfield.surrey.sch.uk/index.php/autumn-blog-2015
They have an 8 form intake, however, my daughter only has 21 in her form so numbers are lower than capacity at the moment. Great for her though.
The SENCO is lovely and our experience of her unit has been really positive.

N567ash · 11/01/2017 16:43

This threat is precisely what I have been looking for, my son has Asd, we're researching secondary schools now to make a move from London in good time. Where we live currently doesn't have any secondary's with ASD specific unit so I'm over the moon to read the article link above! Thank you x

school5 · 18/04/2023 18:33

Any current parents what is the school like now ? Any current year 7s traveling from tadworth by any chance ?

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