Radnor House Twickenham

[user1467280347]

Has anyone any experience of RH Twickenham? We have an academic DS who has offers from other schools with higher academic results, but we like the 'feel' of RH. In particular does anyone know if they offer extension classes for scholarship children? Many thanks for your help

It seems some in this thread just really don’t like the school, look down on it and the pupils or don’t see it’s value.

1/ Unlike other comps it is small, personal and open house, parents are integrated into it, we can sit in the cafe any time we want and be part of children’s lives and know all teachers extremely well. The community is like no other school I have ever experienced. This part doesn’t deliver high gcse results but it does bring a huge amount of well-being.
2/ the results you are looking at are on intakes when the school WAS a new school so you have no basis to pour scorn on results of children coming in now.
3/ A school for children who can’t get places anywhere else or full of expelled children? Really? Can you back this up as maybe in the early intake higher up the school this happened but I know if none of this or children with issues in the years my kids are in.
4/ current year 8 is the first intake of year 7 all in one go. Before that there were 20 coming in for year 9, 13+ non common entrance is not a wide pool of top tier which would inevitably affect results. But now intake all at year 7 so cohort very different. So you have no factual evidence to say the results “will not improve”. I have a child in year 8 and many of the children got into 6 schools but chose Radnor because of the ethos, intimacy and nurturing environment.
5/ you choose a school for the teaching and the environment plus locality. The teaching is excellent at Radnor, the teachers are enthusiastic and dedicated. The turn over is because many were young on first or second jobs and after 3 years wanted to move up, this has slowed down and more balanced. Normal in a newer school.
6/ I would also say that parents who chose or love Radnor is because the so called good results you refer to are not their only criteria but also the total development of their child. Not something that can be tested for, but something they carry all their lives.
I’m afraid posters on this thread who are not at the school are determined not to see the value or the happiness that is there.
Update on entrance 2018........ out of the 300 who applied around 100 offers made ( so 200 no’s) and is barely going to waitlist. No different from your “top tier “ schools. I would call this selective.
And FYI talking to the registrar they get calls all the time now in year 7/8 from parents with kids in your “top tier” schools who are unhappy and want to move.
It may not be the school for you but that does not mean it’s not a good school.
Read the heads blog about kids they interviewed who were so over prepped some couldn’t remember which school they were applying for and cited their favourite authors as Charles Dickens etc....... no Radnor is not processing children being robotically prepped...... but it is about letting children grow into big independent thinkers.
This is the focus...... the GCSE results etc will naturally rise with time too....... but who looks at GCSE once you have A levels or at university?
So before posters condemn or patronise any school, think about if you really have the facts behind you to support these views?
These are children we are talking about with feelings and futures and lives, not statistics. How do you think the pupils at Radnor would respond to reading your comments about them? Or maybe you encourage your children to look down on children if not in certain established schools? I hope not in 2018?

I'm genuinely surprised at the vitriol towards the school from parents who, presumably, don't have children there.

It seems extreme to be posting such damaging comments about a school.

I know people who's kids didn't get an offer last year and they were very disappointed.

I think you talk a lot of sense. Some of the comments here are obviously wildly generalised and anecdotal. I have been round Radnor House and liked it a great deal, I can understand why you do. To a previous poster who claimed it is full of "expelled children from other schools", I have news for them, there are very few private schools which refuse to accept children who have been removed from other schools, and why not? Kids make mistakes, they can often move on given a fresh start at another school. I would hope and expect Head teachers to believe this. Finally, I have DCs at Latymer (bit of a clue in my user name), which for many is a "holy grail" school, still, I have London friends commiserating that they are not at St Pauls Boys or girls (sad face). The most important thing for any child is that they are at the right school for them, and that is a matter for individual families. If you like Radnor, go for it, there are few more beautiful locations (I believe Pope once lived there) and when I pass by the school, the pupils look happy and are well-behaved and polite.

So, if you are a parent focused on league tables Radnor is clearly not for you. If however you are keen to see your child encouraged and well supported in being the best they can be I advise you to go and take a look. I think the early days of taking anybody who could pay the fees are well behind Radnor and I know of a few people this time round who put their child through the 11 plus as a safe option only to be a little shocked to not be offered a place! I know for a fact that there is now a wait list in every year group at Radnor ( excluding 6th form and year 5 ) so think the information posted is a little out of date. Having been with the school since year 3, we looked at moving our son at Year 7 to a more academic and sporty environment as had concerns that the school was too small with limited facilities but having looked at options including Hampton and Kingston Grammer decided to wait and see as he was happy doing very well and very settled. With the new intake of 40 children in September I can tell you I am so pleased we did. He is thriving academically, socially and in Sport, rowing twice a week and enjoying several wins in fixtures in both football last term and rugby this term. We have seen him transition very naturally into the senior school and grow in confidence and maturity which I cannonlybthank Radnor and the influences around him for. I would only reiterate that you should go and see for yourself... I feel very lucky to have found a school like Radnor for my children. They always want to go in to school in the morning are challenged and engaged by a young and enthusiastic team of teachers and have a wide circle of friends with different strengths and weaknesses, something that seems lacking in the more hot house style schools. Anyone with children in Year 3/4 wanting to avoid the awful stress of the 11plus might want to take a look at the year 5 option at Radnor in particular. No 11plus papers, tutoring or miserable children!

Just to add I hadn’t read the last few in the thread but thanks to Latymer as a non Radnor parent bringing back some balance and perspective to the chat!

I thought my earlier post made it clear that I was not being rude and that I do personally believe that Radnor adds value but to clarify:
This is the 4th set of GCSE results for Radnor and I don't think it is unfair to compare them to the non-selective local comp.
When Radnor opened there was a shortage of good state senior school places in the borough which offered a source of potential candidates. This was the case for a couple of years but it is no longer so for most of the borough so stretched parents are less likely to make sacrifices to pay school fees.
There are already lots of established very selective Indys locally. This leaves Radnor a position as a school that can provide extra support and care to pupils, as clearly identified and apreciated by a number of parents who have posted. These are exactly the kinds of responses I would expect and similar to those I have heard in RL.
My observations were really in response to posters who seem to think that their results will significantly improve. I don't think that is necessarily the case and it is no more likely than the results at St James, Halliford etc significantly improving. But that doesn't stop any of them from being good schools.

'children who were expelled from other schools easily got places at Radnor'

1. presumably not in Y7, so nothing to do with original intake of kids

1. I know of several kids who were asked to leave dd1's school, and who have 'got in easily' to PHS, G&L and St C's. They're fine now. They just made mistakes early on and needed more structure...

1. Neither of the (top of the top sets) kids who got into Radnor from our local primary are remotely expellable or unacademic.

But all of this is anectdotal - I still say trust your gut, and look around to see what you think of the pupils who are already there!

Two years ago, my friend loved the school for her DD, but was not offered even a waiting list place for her DD at 11 plus. Her daughter was offered two other schools fortunately (with better GCSE results) and accepted one of those places. The day before acceptances were due, Radnor called to offer her daughter a place! This was after telling her she had no chance in February because she was too far off the mark in the exams. So they must have gone right down their waiting list and beyond. I don't think they even filled all the Year 7 places in the end.

My friend had loved the school but felt they are so concerned with pushing up the grades, that they are turning down and losing the very children who they should be catering for. There is a gap in the market for a school for those who won't get into the more competitive schools. Somewhere like St Catherine's opposite, on the other hand, know their "target audience" (i.e. girls who won't get into LEH etc) and they offer accordingly, so as not to be left with unfilled places going into Year 7. They claim to have very good "value added" for this cohort and achieve around 65% A*-A at GCSE, I believe.

There's definitely room for an independent for those who don't get into or don't want the academic pressure of Hampton, LEH, KGS and don't want to travel to Halliford, St James's etc.

That is Radnor. Like St Catherine's for girls.

I really hope Radnor House doesn't lose its focus. it's a great school by all accounts.

user1467280347 did you make a decision in the end? I wouldn't invest my money when there's such good state schools locally. And it's a start-up at the end of the day - the backers will surely want to sell it soon to get their money back.

Just thought I'd come back to let everyone know the decision we made, as I know how frustrating it is when a thread is unfinished. We sent our DC to Radnor, trusting our instinct. We couldn't be happier with the school, DC is stretched academically, is playing loads of sport and has made great new friends. It's a terrific school!!

Glad it worked out!

Hi think I may be completely in the wrong thread, but going not so slowly nuts over the 7+ waitlist at WUS-would anyone have any words of consolation/commiseration? I’m on virgin territory and it’s very intimidating.

I really feel for you. This is the thread you should follow www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/3380051-3-4-5-7-Support-thread-2019

Thank you so much!
It’s all so alien, and everyone but us has a place

Looking for answers to all the questions I forgot to ask on the Radnor House Open Day. If anyone could help I'd be so grateful as I'm loathe to call the school at this stage in the 'game' & want to keep my head below the parapet

1. Do Radnor House stream year 7 into sets at all and if so, in which subjects?

2. Do they offer IT at GCSE? From the results tables I was under the impression that they didn't but it seems from the website that this is now on offer

3. What is communication between the school and parent like? I obviously know that comms drop significantly from primary to secondary (sob) but I'm worried about an information void

4. Are there any opportunities to swim at all - either in sports lessons or in a club?

Pretty sure I've got more but I've gone blank with all the stress. Brutal process all round!

@cakeisalwaystheanswer you can't compare to Grey Court as the iGcse's are not included in the results at Radnor. So no English, Maths, languages, or history results included in the 40%. With those in the figure is 50% A*A.

Results are improving year on year. They have only just had the 1st cohot go right through the school, so results will definitely continue improving.

@OhHappyDayz maybe in the past but not so much now....

TBH RH may not provide the kind of stretch that an academic child would need.

Would Royal Russell in SE London be possible from where you are? Or perhaps Emmanuel in Clapham?

Several friends of DS from prep - middling academically speaking - have thrived at both schools. PM me for more info.

TBH RH may not provide the kind of stretch that an academic child would need.

Would Royal Russell in SE London be possible from where you are? Or perhaps Emmanuel in Clapham?

Several friends of DS from prep - middling academically speaking - have thrived at both schools. PM me for more info.

Just to add a comment on this topic. I do have a child at this school who has been there for 7 years so I feel I am able to comment. There is a lot of hate from one person particularly on here who does not have a child at this school and is commenting by hearsay. The comments seem particularly spiteful for reasons unknown. Therefore readers please if you are interested in this school, go take a tour, speak to parents of kids attending there and make up your own minds. Thank you.