Warlingham/Riddlesdown/Purley & surrounds secondaries

[islandmummy]

I'd be interested to hear people's feedback following the Open Evenings for local schools - I know Warlingham and Riddlesdown are this week. DS is in year 4 and we're considering moving to increase his chances of getting a place but we can't get to the open events. I know there are old mumsnet threads on this but a lot can change! What about Harris Purley? Thanks!

We saw Harris Purley last week, and liked it - it'll be on our CAF. They admit via a banding test to make sure their intake is fully comp.

We're too far away to have considered the others.

Thanks Rue, that's encouraging! Did they speak about pastoral care or teacher turnover at all, as these were things I'd heard negative reports about?

I have heard there have been redundancies. Have also heard of significant staff turnover.....but I think this is fairly frequent as many people want to quit teaching after all the pressures, funding cuts and changes.

What about Oxted school?

Dd has been at Warlingham for two years. She's very happy there (happier than at primary.) She's made a lovely group of friends and is doing well. The staff are nice and dedicated. A lot of staff seem to have stayed there a long time and several staff send their own children there. I think the facilities are good. Swimming pool, music block etc.
I liked Riddlesdown and Oxted also when I looked round. I ruled out De Stafford because I prefer a larger school and wanted a sixth form on site. Some people like a smaller school though.