The Cherwell OR Lord Williams secondary school?

[NancySp]

Hello mumsnet group,
We are looking into moving either in Thame or in Oxford. Is anyone familiar with the secondary schools The Cherwell or Lord Williams? They both have outstanding ofsted reports, but i would appreciate any more info from local mums. Many many thanks.

LWS is very big, 11 forms in a year, but Y7-9 are on a separate (by a couple of miles rather than across the road) site to 10/11 & VI form. Lower School is a safe, transitional space from Primary. 99% of children from Thame go there. It's properly comprehensive without a strong belief in setting (although there is some).

You'll get a lot more for your money in Thame and Lord Bills still has a good local reputation (as well as good reports).

They are, generally speaking, both schools people are happy to send their children to. It would rather depend on where you want to live; a market town is rather different to Oxford.

Are you looking for place(s) in September? These schools are very popular so don’t just expect to walk in. Have they got spaces? If you are planning for the future, you need a primary school first.

Thank you so much for the replies. We are relocating to Oxfordshire. We have found a place at the primary schools in Thame and the Cutteslowe Primary School in Oxford which is feeding to the Cherwell.

What sort of information are you wanting to know? Have you visited Thame and the area of Oxford you are interested in? What about the journey to work?

The Progress 8 for Lord Williams is not great - I doubt they would be 'outstanding' if inspected now - not many A*s at GCSE for such a big year group and they don't appear to offer triple science.

Many thanks for the information. Both Thame and north Oxford anywhere close to A40 (for example the catchment area for the Cherwell school and Headington) are convenient for my commute to work (John Radcliffe hospital) so i try to compare the schools before looking into the properties.

I used to work at the JR, several colleagues had children at Cherwell and on the whole they were very happy - got plenty of encouragement to develop academically and with activities and hobbies.

You're not planning to drive to the JR daily are you? It's virtually impossible to get a parking permit if you live in Oxford and the traffic is beastly most of the time.

Many thanks! I am looking for a school that would encourage the kids to develop academically. I have a parking permit as i am based in Bedfordshire at the moment and commute to Oxford. Moving closer i will lose the permit and will have to look into alternatives.

Whapwhang and Clavinova thank you for the information. I will have a proper look into the school's performance tables. How about the primary schools in Thame and Chinnor? Would you have any info for these? I have read the ofsted reports only.

Well one school in Thame is Catholic, and only 1 form entry so you would probably instantly know if that appeals or not. The popularity of the other two goes up and down over time. John Hampden is known for being creative. Barley Hill are a bit more focused on academic work, but they are both good schools.

Of the two in Chinnor, St Andrews has consistently had the higher ratings over the years - I can see it currently has outstanding ratings from Ofsted and it has a good history of supporting SEN and alternative learning needs as well.

To be fair, some children go from the Thame area to the grammar schools in Bucks. This could affect the top grades. They don’t from Oxford.

Do they get into grammar even if Thame is not within the catchment area? Of course they have to pass the 11+ test...
This could be another good reason that Thame is a very good place to live compared to Oxford then?

have you looked at house prices in oxford and thame? That would be a deal breaker for me.

Yes, Thame is well within the distance that the Aylesbury Grammars offer to. But the number of students who do that is tiny, and does not constitute a creaming off of the A stream.

Do you have much to spend on a house? The catchment area for Cherwell (north Oxford) will be eye-wateringly expensive compared with Thame

We will be renting at the beginning...
Thank you so much all of you for the useful info.

Personally I would rather be in Oxford than Thame. Thame is a very quiet town but Oxford is obviously very vibrant and there's lots going on. It's a no brainier for me if you can afford it

Does anyone know if there are any areas i should avoid in Thame? How about the Roundhead Dr. Close to the A418 roundabout? Many thanks for all your help.

It all depends where you are in Oxford. Some areas are not that hot. Summertown, parts of Headington and Jericho in particular are lovely. All the great areas are expensive though. Thame is ok everywhere but I would look at roads that are in walking distance of the town centre rather than on one of the estates on the edge of town. It’s obviously cheaper than Oxford and is a market town. It has a different vibe but you can easily get into Oxford for everything available there if you wish. Your children may well be able to walk to school and Thame has a Waitrose so it cannot be that undesirable!

Thame is much much nicer to live in than Chinnor. If you have primary aged kids, there is loads going on that the school's all get involved in. A real sense of community if you want to join in. There is the annual carnival, duck race, music in the park, town music festival, towersey festival, food festival, literary festival, 10k run, fireworks, a small cinema, school events, plus many others, essentially if someone puts on an event, the whole town turn out!

Lea park ( where Roundhead drive is) is a big estate, approx 25/30% of people who live in Thame live in lea park. It's absolutely fine.

Lord bills is a good school, as said above almost all Thame kids go there, bar the few that take the 11+ and go to the Aylesbury grammars.

If you can, go and visit both areas, as they are quite different. If you want any more info on Thame pm me.

And of the few that take the 11+ and pass only some actually go to Aylesbury. Plenty of Bucks children who are in catchment for LWS and the Grammars also choose Thame when they pass.