Emanuel School vs. Reed’s scholarship

[MumAtHomeMainly]

Can anyone give me their thoughts about these two schools?

They both seem great but are very different too. Our son has been given an 11+ offer from Emanuel and a scholarship offer from Reed’s (bringing the fees down to the same as Emanuel fees). We need to decide which to go for.

It’s such a hard choice. Reed’s looks amazing but it would be quite a distance to travel for our son. Do-able but a much longer day than his current state school day and his two younger siblings will be home hours before he would get in from Reed’s.

Emanuel is an easy journey for him and only a few miles away. It seems great too but we haven’t had much personal contact with the school unlike with Reed’s who seem to know our son well already.

Reed’s is perhaps more appealing to our son but being further away I feel we should play safe with Emanuel and enjoy him being closer to home.

Any views?

[Thomasinathorn]

Don't count on the Emanuel sibling policy. I know of bright siblings who haven't been given places.

[Iamsodone]

Hockey is also a major sport at Emanuel, both boys and girls. I believed it is played winter to spring, before they move to cricket/athletics …

[StayWithMe21]

@AnotherNewt thank you for the reply. That's good news.

So is football now possible for two terms all the way through the school? Or is it still:

Rugby - Autumn/Winter,
football - Spring
cricket - Summer

It would be so nice if he didn't have to play rugby ever again.

[AnotherNewt]

Yes, Emanuel started boys football a couple of years ago, and I think girls are starting too.

[StayWithMe21]

Sorry for resurrecting a zombie thread but I was wondering if anyone could let me know what happened with regards to football at Emanuel.

Did they ever acquire access to football pitches?

Is it still two terms of rugby?

When football is so popular across the world, I find it odd they'd still cling to two terms of it. DS hates rugby and is really bad at it as a result so if there's no football we can put a line through it for this year's application which is a shame.

[itschilly]

It was Wimbledon High so yes, technically higher up the League Tables but not really comparable as all Girls! We had chosen Emanuel over another 'higher' Co-Ed so weren't really fussed about that.
We have made our decision and are all happy but still can't thinking about the ones we turned down! (Lucky position I know!).

[MumAtHomeMainly]

Itschilly... what is the other school you’ve now been offered? Is it high let up the league tables? I’ve started to realise just how misleading those tables can be but I know it’s tempting to analyse them like football league tables but the difference is they show average results of individual successes whereas footy tables show absolute results of entire teams and people tend to root for the team not one individual player. Hmmm....!

[MumAtHomeMainly]

We went for Reed’s in the end

[itschilly]

We have filled in the Emanuel form and have now had a wait list offer from another school which has caused much discussion ( and tears...). Much family disagreement as DH slightly too obsessed with league tables..am exhausted by it all ( and yes, liked the mumsnet reference on Wednesday!)

[penona]

Have you made a decision yet? I think we are getting there but it’s tough!!
(And did you like that the head of Emanuel says his wife reads bits of Mumsnet to him )

[testbunny]

Thank you for the further info on football possibly coming (at some point) to Emanuel! I know current parents there who are lobbying for it, but they have been doing so for some time. Maybe now with the new head things may start happening, at last. Good for him. The lack of football has long been an issue for some DC and their parents . I wonder if they will offer it for girls too?? Will be interesting to see!

[AnotherNewt]

Well, the head of sport would have been recruited into a rugby school, so might not be hugely enamoured of the change. I am surprised they need more space - perhaps they could use Wandsworth Common?

[itschilly]

I was there on Wednesday as well. He was definitely talking about acquiring more space nearby and football was mentioned but by no means definite. My DH got the impression that the Head of Sport wasn't to thrilled by the football option..

[AnotherNewt]

"But that it was dependent on them securing more playing fields"

Are you sure?? They've got acres at Blagdons. Yes, that would mean the footie boys would have to go on buses (just like the hockey girls do) and they'll need to repurpose rugby pitches to football in line with expected usage (which is how I would understand the phrase 'negotiate the space') and work out the staffing - because I doubt rugby will come to a total halt in spring term for the main squads.

[Pompomsarethebest]

Update from us on decision made following previous post. We have definitely decided on Reeds. Ds and us v happy and I’m glad the agonising is over.
We were also at the Emanuel open day on Weds. Thought the new head was impressive and liked him a lot. Would be a little bit cautious about getting too excited re football though as my interpretation of what he said was that he’d ‘like’ to offer it. But that it was dependent on them securing more playing fields. Given that process is still in progress and the time it would take to get stuff sorted I didn’t see it as immediately imminent.
Few things finally swung it for us for Reeds 1. Futuretech at Reeds (this was an area Emanuel said they needed / wanted to improve on) 2. More organised school day with extra activities. There are a lot of things to do at Emanuel but I didn’t get the impression that take up was particularly big. 3. Last but not least that indescribable ‘fuzzy’ feeling that it was just the right place for our son. Have come to the conclusion that you can analyse results and transport etc for ever but I think if you follow your ‘gut’ as everyone on here recommends then hopefully you’ll never regret the decision.
Good luck to all those still making up their minds.

[chaosreins]

So love Reeds. My son has been so happy there. Whilst the journey is tough for the first year they do get used it and I really feel that the benefits outweigh it. My son has had a great education but has benefitted hugely from all the extra curricular the school has to offer. It is over and above a child centred school and turns out lovey children - IMO!

[11Nightmare]

What are you going to do OP? Vested interest here as we're on the waiting lists for both schools...

[testbunny]

Woah...this is BIG news! Why on earth did he not say that at one of the Open days in the autumn? I guess, because he was quite new... arghh, but that is VERY annoying. We've missed out DC1, but I guess now more of an option for DC2.

[MumAtHomeMainly]

Well, we went to the Emanuel open day today. The head was lovely, and it was all fine though I didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling of really seeing my son fit in there like he would at Reed's. However.... big news: the head said they're going to introduce football. He said two terms of rugby is too much - they're currently negotiating the space they need to offer football. This is massive news, as we know a number of boys who didn't apply there because of football. My son seems to have swung towards Emanuel because of this simple fact. I, on the other hand, am now firmly in the middle. Oh dear!!!

[itschilly]

They talk about tennis on one of their videos- the sporting one I think?!
We are going back on Wednesday as well and I have been rather obsessively looking at the website in the meantime- It's for DD so different choices to make...

[MumAtHomeMainly]

SugarRush123 I know exactly what you mean about Emanuel being the school you'd have loved to had gone to - I had the same feeling, and the library is very inspiring indeed. Not sure my son is as excited about it as I am, but we haven't been to look around for AGES. We'll go back on Wednesday and hopefully things will be clearer then. Shame we weren't able to look at Emanuel before Wednesday, as we can't make a decision until then....

I hope it'll be clear after then...

Does anyone know if much tennis is played at Emanuel? My son loves tennis and that'll be a big thing for him to give up if he goes for that rather than Reed's... I think they maybe play some tennis in the summer term - can anyone confirm?

[sazzy5]

Mumathome I talked to the school about trains and they said definitely not in the first few years. It is a walk through some woods and will be very dark, I wouldn’t consider it until they are older. The coach is far better. I agree the Head is great that was why I found the school hard to turn down. Logistics is the issue and for us the length of day was very long unnecessarily so IMHO. The scholarships offered there are big but I wouldn’t let that sway you as many or most turn them down. Reeds will start pushing you soon as they operate a waiting list we were pushed last year.

[Fridayschild]

We have a friend whose kid was so exhaust by the commute to Reeds he's gone to weekly boarding. I'd go for Emmanuel in your shoes - the scholarship is great, and flattering, but long journeys like that wear you down.

Think too about parents' evenings, sports matches, school plays, mums' nights out... You're less connected to secondary school than you are to primary school, though in some ways it's even more important. That sort of distance just it even harder

[ifonly4]

As Emanuel is closer, take your son to see the school again in the next few days. He may get a better feel for it one way or the other and you'll get the chance to meet staff and get a feel yourself.