Secondary Schools in Tunbridge Wells / Tonbridge

[McGooo]

Hello. I am looking for advice on non-selective schools in T/Wells and Tonbridge, particularly Hillview and Skinners Kent Academy and what support they have for dyslexic children.

Thanks

Hi, my two children have attended Skinners Kent Academy which is a rapidly improving school. My daughter then went to 6th form in TGs which is one of the super-selective grammars. We have also looked at Hillview. SKA has a good level of support for the many children it takes who have any of the range of learning difficulties and I would think that Hillview does too. However Hillview is a specialist performing arts school, so if your child is that way inclined then it might be a good choice. Otherwise in terms of education and teaching, personally I would lean towards SKA
Good luck with your choice!

SKA is getting a good reputation and is doing very well.. DS has friends there who loves it and is flourishing.

Hillview friends children there are loving it but are very into the performing arts part of the school her dyslexia is getting support and she is staying there for 6th form.

Have you considered
Bennett Memorial? Tunbridge Wells Amazing for dyslexia support (currently have a child there can not fault the school)

Trinity in Sevenoaks? I also hear good things about for support (no close friends with children there)

St Gregory's Tunbridge Wells Friends dd is thriving there and says she finally feels her dyslexia is being understood.

Thanks so much. As we aren't religious Bennett and St Gregs are out and I have a good friend with a dyslexic daughter at Trinity and the support has been poor.

Another round of school visits before we need to decide!

I would stay clear of Knole academy I know 8 children who have been moved from there over the last 6 years.

Personally not keen on High Cristie either

There is Mascall’s School in Paddock Woods but I dont know much about it.

There is Hadlow I dont know much about it as we are other side of T Wells so it really is to far for us. We went to visit for school visits the year it had opened and I will admit it was a bit of a shambles at that time. However the school has now been around for a few years so I hope they have got things better together . (When we visited it was the first year they were open and they had just been told they were not getting the planning permission they had applied for)

Will you be close enough to go for some of the Surrey/Sussex schools ? As they without the grammar schools have a completely different school possibility . Will admit I do not envy you it is such a hard part if the grammar schools are not a possible choice.

SKA likely would be my first choice out of what is available. if Bennett and St Gregs are not possible.

My DC is at a specialist dyslexic school out of this area but I know the schools. I looked at hugh Christie 2 years ago and would have been very happy with the provision. They seemed clued up on offering dyslexic support with the more academic subjects eg triple science. They are , imo, a small secondary school at approx 750 pupils. So that might suit if your DC is also anxious.

Wrotham offer great support as well but perhaps for more general Sen rather than dyslexia.

The schools previously mentioned that I was the most unimpressed by was Hadlow. It was clearly set up to offer a vocational path, whilst offering academic quals, I spoke to the Senco about my DC and their needs. She said they wouldn't be able to cope. She has never met my DC nor seen any reports and sounded ill equipped to cope. The vocational kept being changed. I am not sure that they are delivering what was initially promised to the local community.

Hi there
I just read your thread and was wondering if you have found a school that you liked? I am moving to TW this summer and am looking at SKA at the moment.
Would be great to hear from you how you got on 😃

My daughter is starting Hillview in September. My DH has very definite views on the grammar school selection process so going the 11+ route was never an option. Our challenge was to find a well performing school in the area given that the grammars cream off a lot of the brighter children. My DD is academic & of the local options, Hillview seemed the best option. Yes it’s a performing arts school but if you look their GCSE results they regularly are in the top 3 of the non selective schools in the county. To be fair, location wise, Skinners Academy was never an option so I know little about its current performance. My DD did get into Hillview on a music place but I don’t think she’s West End bound & we’re not sending her there for those reasons. They did make Tatler’s Top 10 Best Secondary schools in 2017 (if that counts for anything!!) - www.tatler.com/article/best-state-secondary-schools-uk-2017

Ps - having just re read your post I realise I’ve completely missed the fact your DD has dyslexia. I appreciate that does add a whole other factor in!

Thank you for replying to my message. I will look at Hillview again as my daughter is very creative. I am relocating from London so it’s not straight forward. I think Skinner Kent academy is very good these days but somehow I think it would suit mum son more then my daughter. You said your daughter got in via a music scholarship, is it quite hard to get a place?

Ps no my children aren’t dyslexic, that was from the above thread.

They offer 20 places in total to children with a talent in performing arts - that’s 5 for music, 5 for dance, 5 for drama and the other 5 places split across the 3. We’re edge of catchment so went for it not really expecting her to get offered one if I’m honest! The majority of the kids for the music places had instruments with them - my DD has singing lessons & singers are also considered alongside players. She’d rehearsed a song, was asked to come up with a musical piece on a xylophone on the spot (which she says was really bad!), had a pitching test & an interview. She has a decent voice but she isn’t a child prodigy by any means so weren’t expecting her to get in as there were quite a lot of kids. There was a huge number of children auditioning for the dance places, quite a lot for music but only about 8 kids for drama. So if you like Hillview then I’d suggest getting your DD to learn a scene - the odds this year at least would be good!
The pluses for the school are on the Arts side - my DD is greater depth in English & their English department is very strong performance wise. Their Arts department is exceptional. What does concern me a bit is that their Maths performance isn’t great - it’s an area my daughter is very average on & struggles with.
What I liked about the school was their pro woman stance - it does feel very much a school that encourages girls to achieve & celebrates women. The 2 girls who took us around were very polite & bright. It’s also a school that appears to have a very firm anti bullying stance.
It’s definitely the school that impressed me most & definitely worth considering. The auditions for the performing arts places are in October & the application process starts before that.

Thank you! Great information.
I will go and view the school with my daughter in May.
Where about do you live as you said you are out of the catchment? I was thinking of moving to Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells. I also have a boy and need to think of a school place for him too. Not sure about schools for boys out of the grammar system apart from SKA

Borough Green - edge of catchment area depending on the year basically! There is the Hayesbrook School in Tonbridge - I don’t know it & non of the parents from here opted for it (but that doesn’t make it a bad school!). Hugh Christie has a decent enough reputation but again, no parents I know of here went for it. Wrotham is on our doorstep & is a strong secondary which is what most parents my way not going the grammar route opted for. Tonbridge from a school and house price option is a better option I’d think - however I do like TW a lot more!! SKA used to have a bad reputation but times have changed. During my eldest DDs secondary education, TW parents would send their kids to Uplands in Wadhurst rather than SKA but that was some time ago! Uplands is popular with the non grammar East Sussex parents & parents I know with children there love it. A friend of mine did work for Uplands a couple of years ago & she’s less complimentary about the school from a behaviour point of view.

Excuse the typo’s - I’m multi tasking!!

Thank you for replying again, means a lot. How will your daughter travel to school as I am not familiar with the school bus system in Kent. Do parents normally drive them or do they just use the public transport?
I guess TW is not too far from Tonbridge though I have heard roads get very busy with traffic.
I should not rule out Tonbridge I guess just the lower part of the high street seems a little bit grim. But lots of things to do for kids there with swimming pool and the river going through.

I agree - the lower part is a bit grim but the upper part is better and there are some nice streets of Victorian houses. It’s a bit of a mixed bag Tonbridge & the shops aren’t great! However from a school & commuting & house price perspective, it is a better option than TW. TW I know well - great town, good properties, good shops, great restaurants etc. Tends to attract a more overall affluent demographic than Tonbridge which is pretty mixed, even the teenagers look glossy & well put together! As above, children and commuting aside, I’d choose TW over Tonbridge. It’s rather unkindly referred to as Scumbridge locally by some but that’s not 100% fair or representative of what it’s like in 2015.
My DD along with others will be bussing it in most days. There’s a lot of kids here going to Tonbridgd grammar schools. It’s not an ideal option but that’s what happens in Kent!

2019 not 2015 - where is my brain today!!

😆
The area I am at the moment in London is way more grim and scum 🥴 then Tonbridge
But that why I think if I make the move I may aswell go and live in a lovely town rather then compromising again. By the sound of it most kids in Kent travel a while to school anyway so I shouldn’t just base it on where the school is that’s where I should live.

Travelling between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells can be murder because of the traffic, so I strongly recommend living and going to school in one or the other! Tunbridge Wells has lost a lot of shops lately, Tonbridge has a better commute but is overloaded with new flats at the moment.

I might end up with one child at Hillview Tonbridge and one child at Skinner Kent Academy TW ha which makes travelling not easy but I guess there is always the option of train between the two rather then driving 😆

You where on this thread and I was wondering how your daughter is getting on at Hillview?
My daughter is currently in SKA but she really misses the creative side of it.
So I was reconsidering Hillview for her.
Would be great to hear from you!

Hi Lizzy - technically she’s only had half a year obviously as we’re all in lockdown! In truth, pluses and minuses although overall we’re still happy with our choice for her. Have summed these up for you:

• very strong & positive communication from the teaching body
• A variety of subjects (the most important being English and Maths) are streamed into ability set classes. There are four streams. DD is either stream one or stream two and the quality of teaching is good. She is doing well and in 9 of her subjects is performing above expectation according to her latest report.
• They are very strong on the Creative side and have recently added Visual as well as Performing Arts to their specialism. DD has weekly classes in Dance and Drama and Textiles as well as the traditional Art and Music. She has joined one of their 6 choirs and a Drama club. The performances at the Christmas concert were something else - they have many talented singers and musicians and if your DD has an ability there then there are lots of options for her.
• It’s a very big school! Being all girls, there are the typical problems associated with an all girls environment. DD is pretty shy and while she has made a few friends she likes, they are probably not the ones she would have chosen in another environment and she very much misses her Primary best friend. Quite honestly, she hasn’t found her groove there yet socially and two of the more confident and popular girls have been unpleasant to her. We have spoken to the school about this (who did offer solutions and suggested DD attends the weekly ‘confidence building classes’ they have.

To sum up then, academically she’s doing well but on the social side, yet to feel she fits in. It’s still very early stages though!

Forgot to mention travel! DD is one of a very very small number attending the school from here. My impression is that girls are coming in from all over the TW, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks areas. That’s made friend meet ups hard and with 2 friendships we had to go straight into sleepovers (which I think really should be for more established friendships). Luckily she has made a local(ish) bus friend who is in another Year 7 class and they have hung out after hours and travel together. The bus journey into Tonbridge runs frequently late (although 9 times out of 10 she is in class on time) and thanks to Road works Tonbridge itself is a pain to navigate. Many many of the girls are bussed in and as the buses also serve virtually next door Weald as well as the other Tonbridge Grammars, they are absolutely rammed morning and afternoon.

Just jumping on this thread.
Can anyone comment on Upland community college in Wadhurst? Good and bad please :)