Radnor House/ Kew House/ St James Ashford

[Isitreallyworthit23]

Can anyone please give me any recent info on the above three schools? Our DS will be taking the entrance exam for these schools and I can’t find any recent reviews on them.
I did read the recent ISI report on St James which gave me a couple of concerns.
Any advice, review from current parents good or constructive would be much appreciated.

Interestingly Radnor is on St.James’s old site!

One think to note with Kew House is as well as the 900 flats going up behind them on the new Football stadium site...but I understand 400 flats have permission to be built on the nearby Citroen garage.

OP- there have been many threads discussing Radnor and Kew- several in the last few weeks. If you do a search they should come up. Lots of positives on both schools.

Look at Maida Vale School. Brand new and owned by the Gardner group which runs Kew House. If child is applying for both, exam and interview only needs to be taken once.

Thanks so much, not sure why I’ve not been able to see these threads, I can only locate really old ones. I’ll look again now.

I have a DS at St James and also considered the other two schools you mention. My son is very happy at St James. It was his first choice of school of all the ones we looked at. We were aiming for middle not super selective. We discounted the other two due to lack of on site sports facilities as my son enjoys sport and really liked the atmosphere but we know DC at those two schools who are very happy too.
My comments would be:
Small friendly and kind boys
Great ethos and culture - they do mindfulness and have the 'pause' for reflection which just enables boys to be thoughtful
In the main very good teaching. Boys are set in maths and English (English from yr 10) and there is a wide range of ability, as you would expect at a non academically selective school, and the setting is aimed at boys being placed to achieve their potential. Some incredibly bright boys and some less academic also as you would expect.
Great on site sports facilities and they are about to build a proper sports hall building.
Staff turnover in a couple of subjects (stem) but that is the case in most schools
Focus on rugby and hockey so if your son is football then there is less opportunity for fixtures
No real after school activities and although there is a homework club boys can't stay on and study in library which you can in some schools. Co curricular done during day and generally limit to 9 GCSEs (which I think is enough) to allow time for sport and co curricular. Co curricular is wide with some off site at specialist facilities eg sailing, mountain biking, badminton, squash, etc
Pastoral is very good.

I would say that overall I think the teaching is very good. When you look at any school think about their value added score rather than just the gcse results per se as this in my view reflects the quality of the teaching. Schools who turn out a high percentage of grade 9's have selected pupils who will do that. sJ has a positive value added score which in theory means they achieve better results than expected upon entry. about half boys leave after gcse to pursue college courses rather than A levels. SJ , along with most schools have a minimum requirement at gcse to do A levels.

If you let me now what the concerns are that you mention I can comment on those specifically. Pm me if you prefer.

Also following this thread as my ds is applying to St J and Kew just now. We know several local families with happy children in both. I didn't know about the 9 gcse thing, is that limiting in terms of 6th form choices?

I don't think it is limiting in terms of A level choices. Most kids do 3 A levels and universities, including the RG ones require 3 and possibly an EPQ. Many kids will often start with 4 and then drop one so as not to jeapordise good grades in the required 3.

Since the Gove reforms and the move to linear GCSE's the content has increased and is based on final exams only (except for subjects like Art) so the number kids take has I believe fallen a bit. My friends DC at a grammar school is taking 10 which is the norm there. I think most kids take 9 or 10 unless at a highly selective academic school where it will be more.
It's best to ask the schools when you visit about their A levels and GCSE's.

Thanks @lovethecrown. Ds really likes St J so fingers crossed

Did you hear back from Kew or St James?🤞🤞

@Isitreallyworthit23 thanks so much for asking. Ds got a place at St James and waiting list at Kew. He has chosen to accept St James rather than wait for Kew as he prefers the site and small number pupils in Y7/8.

Small number of pupils I mean!