Views on Radnor House, Twickenham

[john249]

Would love to get people's views on Radnor House, for our daughter. We aimed too high with recent 11+ (LEH, Putney, Kingston Grammar, Latymer) so are looking at schools which accept admissions now. Our daughter is bright but not in top league for top tier private schools.

"john249", great to see you back on a new thread and glad to see you are making progress with new options. I looked around Radnor a few years ago and loved the vibe and keenness of staff and pupils. It's a good option if your dd is interested in rowing. I hope other Radnor parents can give you feedback and best of luck for your school place search, I hope your dd is taking it in her stride. It's a brutal process with this year proving to be especially bad.

I have friends with children at Radnor who are all pleased with their choice. They have also applied for places for their younger siblings which speaks for itself.

I'm very pro Radnor. My Dc moved in mid-way through so I don't have any experience at the lower end, but they have been mega efficient and very kind, both of which are exactly what is needed.

Tawneypippet - being a current Radnor parent could you help me out with some specific questions I have that have gone unanswered on a post I made yesterday? I've cut and pasted it again here and hope it might help John245 a bit too (John245 there is a Radnor thread a bit lower down the list under this topic board which has others opinions on the school on it you should read..... )

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!

I'm afraid I don't know the answers to those questions because my DC wasn't around for the lower part of the school.

But I can possibly answer most helpfully Q3 re parent/school communications: extremely good, IMO. They are very open, metaphorically and literally. Parents can go and have a coffee in the coffee bar/terrace when they want and have key fobs to access the school to do this. (Not a safeguarding issue - the door opens straight on to reception!) I do not live in the immediate area, plus work some distance away, but it is a nice offer. Everyone I have dealt with has been pleasant, helpful and welcoming and from my perspective if I had any questions I would just contact the school. I would not worry about keeping your head below the parapet - just ask them!

I have also heard very positive things about Radnor House. It is in a great location too.

Sorry Putney did not work out either - I am sure many lurkers have been crossing their fingers for you, as I have done.

In addition to pursuing Radnor, I encourage you to call the registrars at several schools mentioned by posters on your other thread, if you find those schools relevant (perhaps Kew House, St Catherine's etc) in exactly a month from now. Most of the "action" - cascading waves of offers being rejected - happens in the first few days of March, just after state school offers are out, and just as independent deadlines expire.

When deciding how many offers to give, the registrars have guesstimated acceptance rates, and your hope is that at least one of them clearly under-offered and will be scrambling to reach their target admissions number. Many of their waitlisted DC will also have settled on another school (where they got a straight offer - independent or state), with the registrar suddenly rushing to contact people further and further down on the waiting list with, perhaps, moderate success.

Places also come up later in the spring: Some parents will pay a deposit on an independent that they are quite likely to later reject, to "buy time" - e.g. if hesitating between independent and state (say, a grammar or good comp) which can be held without any financial penalties until school starts - feeling they still "save" a fortune if they abandon their deposit. That's when you want the registrar to know that you are keen.

(Prep to 13 is another alternative, as several on the other thread said.)

Don't panic, and be patient. Best of luck! Now back to lurking...

I'm so sorry OP that your school head gave you such poor advice. To suggest only the toughest schools was unforgivable. Everyone needs a proper banker. I've heard good things about Radnor. Did you contact St Catherine's ?

I also have friends whose ds recently joined. They are happy so far.I attended an open day last year and ds liked it.The headmaster came across very well. The river views are superb:-))

@StressedOut11plusNameChanger

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

Yes - I think it's Spring term they do it. Maths and English

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

Not sure on this one

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

It's good if slightly chaotic at times, pastoral care excellent.

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

Yes - but for one term only in y7.

@john249

100% recommend here, very nice caring school.

I have to say though, why those 4 schools - you should have had a banker in there! (and having been through it with a bright, but dyslexic child three bankers would have been better as one of our bankers was a decline)

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

Only Maths I think some time through Year 7

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

It's a new one so probably no results to publish

4. Are there any opportunities to swim at all - either in sports lessons or in a club? No only in year 5 and 6 - it's not very sporty

Another parent of child at Radnor here. It's a great school, but I'm not
sure john249 if you have a place or not? All offers have already been
made for year 7. They have lots on the waiting list too. People there
I know have chosen it above Emanuel, Ibstock, Kew House among others. I don't agree with the last poster that it's not sporty, as they do lots of rowing, football, rugby, hockey, cricket etc. Also, swimming once a week. And yes, they do set for maths from spring term year 7.

I have DC at Radnor and very happy there. Small enough to be pastoral, with teachers knowing the children well. Enjoys a good balance of stretch and challenge - seems to thrive there with encouragement not pressure. Solid results with 50%A*A and about 97% pass at GCSE, 100 pass at A Level and in top 5% Nationally for value add. They don't chase league tables as have a more moderate intake, academically selective but take notice of school report and all kids interviewed at exam day. If a school only takes in take top % you will get top % results. Bright kids do well there with all kids encouraged to meet potential.

They do GCSE and A Level Computer Science.

They have lots of sport and do compete with other schools, use St Mary's university grounds for Netball and Hockey, from September a new partnership with Teddington Cricket Club in Bushy Park for Cricket and Football (Boys & Girls) and Rugby, Rowing is a big sport as well - my DC does not row but has friends that do and they do well. Swimming in year 5,6&7.

My main issue with Radnor would be the other children there, to be honest. I personally know of 3 students that went there after being expelled from other schools for serious bullying behaviour. And I’ve heard that there are big bullying problems. But I don’t have any first-hand experience. We decided not to apply because of feedback we got from others.

I remember looking at it when it first opened and wondering how they justified charging almost the same fees as Hampton Boys (for example) when they had absolutely no track record. I believe there was some sort of private equity firm behind it, and they had taken on a highly regarded head (who has possibly now moved on) and so I assumed they were going for the naive "reassuringly expensive" market. Obviously they would have had a lot of set up costs to cover.

It did take a while to fill up, and at first I believe they did take in a lot of kids who were struggling at other schools for various reasons. A friend of mine taught there for a while and wasn't particularly complementary about it. I'm a governor at a (state) school and one of the worst teacher interviews I've ever witnessed was someone from Radnor (needless to say, they didn't get the job). But then when we manage out poor performing teachers who haven't improved with support and training they always seem to end up moving to private schools, so that doesn't surprise me.

But my impressions may be out of date. More recently, the sheer pressure of numbers in the local school population has meant that Radnor has filled from Reception up, and so presumably their finances are healthy and their intake is more balanced. Reports from current parents generally seem favourable. Whether it's worth paying for probably depends in your outlook, rather than on the quality of the school.

Just to clarify this thread, @john249 was looking for a school in Feb for Sept 19 entry so will have now found a place.
Radnor reduced their Prep offering due to the massive demand for the secondary school and now has 20 dc in Year 5 and 20 dc in Year 6, this was the school's choice. Almost all the year 6 dc are continuing to year 7 where another 40 dc join. The school is popular with parents looking for a middling option and geographically it's easy to reach. Not all dd can get into St Catherine's and the choice for ds in the area is even worse - Halliford/ St. James's at Ashford being the next closest. Kew House and Claremont Fan in Esher are other mixed options.

As a current parent I can confirm that the views above are indeed very out of date and may have applied when the school was very new. It is selective and was over subscribed this year - from what I heard they did not even go to reserve list as were first choice for many.

I am not aware of any bullying or behavior issues and can only speak well of the support my child has had there - small school with a strong pastoral approach, I really think the DC's do well there without lots of pressure.

From a teaching perspective, I found the teachers to be excellent, accessible and prepared to speak with & meet parents - they put on regular clinics too. The results communicated last year were good - so I think the comment about teachers above is unfair and cannot be factually correct. They ranked in the top 5% schools for value added grades last year which I think has to be attributed to the quality of the teachers as well as hard work of the DC's...

Sorry if I'm a bit defensive but think hearsay is not always reflective of what a school is about. If you are interested - just go and have a look and ask lots of direct questions, find out for yourself...