The Cedars school Croydon *MNHQ tweaking title to Norwood*

[tabbykitkat]

Hello,
I have been looking into The Cedars school. I know it is a Catholic school and has very good reviews.

The school is non selective (so it must intake boys of all abilities) but at the same time, the academic rigour appears to be strong, with boys expected to do at least 1.5 hour work after school time (to cover homework and self-study or revision), and boys undergoing frequent testing. This formula must be working well (along with the mentoring system) because the school exams results are really good.

Could any parent of a Cedar's pupil tell me how well children of mixed ability cope with the academic demands?

Also, how much homework is set per day/week and how challenging it is? Is there enough time for relaxation after all homework is completed?

About sports, could I ask how much of football is done as part of Games, and as fixture games against other schools? [DS is not much interested in rugby or cricket...]

What about discipline? How the school manage behaviour in lessons? Are disciplinary measures proportional, reasonable and consistent? Is school on the relaxed side or strict side? Is good behaviour recognised as well a bad behaviour punished?

Finally, how boys spend the lunch break. Apart from playing/watching table tennis, are they allowed to play other games like football?

Any response would be appreciate it.

What do you mean by really good exam results? It’s on par with good comps in terms of grades 7-9 at GCSE.

Thanks Jojo. I was referring to the indicators published by the DfE, which are well above local authority's and England's average.

It’s an Opus Dei school I believe. Just in case you weren’t aware of this, please do look into this in detail.

There have been various other threads about this school and also The Laurels (run by the same organisation). The threads were most peculiar, to say the least. If you do a search, I’m sure you’ll find them.

Thanks a lot, matcatwoman.
I did read the other threads but did not find the answer to my queries (which relate more to the practicals of school life hence I was hoping to hear from Cedars' parents).

Hi there tabby, I have a son in Year 8 at The Cedars (and two daughters at the Laurels).

I will have to ask him about the football side of things (though he is not the sportiest boy in the world! He enjoys playing table-tennis during breaks, though, which implies that the school is relaxed about games).

It is a mixed-ability school, as you say. There are two forms per year, which may be lightly 'streamed'. The ethos of the school is to help each individual achieve the best that they are personally capable of, whatever that may be: 9xAs for one, 9xCs for another.

"What about discipline? How the school manage behaviour in lessons? Are disciplinary measures proportional, reasonable and consistent? Is school on the relaxed side or strict side? Is good behaviour recognised as well a bad behaviour punished?"

Your last sentence sums it up perfectly. The school is very good at recognising and praising individual achievements, in whatever area (sporting, academic, music, character). The discipline I would describe as rigorous, but coupled with great care and sensitivity. Forming young men of great strength of character is what this school exists to do, primarily, and they believe that great academic results will follow off the back of that.

There's a homework timetable, which is carefully scheduled to avoid excessive amounts falling on one day rather than spread evenly throughout the week.

I've asked my son - if someone brings a ball, they can have a kickabout at lunch/break-time. One term's sport (including fixtures) is football (and one term rugby and another cricket). Sport is taken seriously there! But not in an obsessive/disproportionate way; all boys, regardless of innate sporting prowess, are encouraged to take part.

If you have any other questions, @tabby, just give me a shout. The parent body is very friendly, and hosts several events each year (quiz nights, summer fair etc) which are good ways to get to know other families.

Thanks so much for your reply, user1473343040. It is very helpful.

Hi my son is due to start The cedars school this September coming. Would love to hear parents thoughts on the school. There doesn’t seem to be loads of facilities and clubs for an independent school maybe because of the size. Are the children happy there? Would love a private chat with any parents if I can. Thanks

Hi @Pinkquee, I'm the pp but name changed, so have only just seen your message! PM if you still have questions (I have two boys there).

My son is also starting there in September. I was a bit surprised at the departure of Mr Teague, does anyone know where he is going? I went to the webinar with the new head which I found a bit disorganised but was slightly reassured by his 'business as usual' message. I am nervy about sending him into an environment where there's change at the top though.

I’ll ask my friend who’s son will be starting at the the school in September. She did say that the new headmaster is supposed to be good as he’s coming from a really good catholic school outside of London (I can’t remember which one sorry!). Before I pulled my son out I did go to the headmaster’s talk and I wasn’t happy that they said that Oakwood prep school would be amalgamating with them :-/ I thought this should have really been announced before the parents deadline to accept a place or not.

I did speak to Mr Teague after the parents’ welcome and he said he himself had only been informed two days previously. I understand that only 50 or so children are coming from the prep school. It wouldn’t be an attractive journey for those with kids in the younger years.

Can to say a bit more about your decision to withdraw your son? Was it the movement of the prep into the site? My understanding is that PACT wants to take over the old Virgo Fidelis prep which is currently occupied by the New School.

Sorry to jump on this thread - but I’m interested in The Cedars for my DS and hadn’t heard about the new headmaster or the merger with the prep school. Could someone give some more details on this? Does this mean there will be fewer places for “external” boys at 11+ going forward as some of the places will automatically be allocated to the existing cohort of prep school boys? Any information about the new head would be much appreciated as well. Why did Mr Teague leave? He’s one of the reasons I liked the school.

I don’t think they are merging with the prep school as such, it’s being moved from the Croydon site to the Norwood one so all three PACT schools are in the same place. I don’t know whether it will affect the availability of places as it’s the same situation as when Cedars and Oakwood were both in Croydon. It might easier for the next couple of years as the prep will need building up after the move.

@ghislaine thanks, understood. Do you know why Mr Teague is leaving?

I’ve no idea, I’m afraid. Current parents might know more. The new head is Dominic Rose from St Bede’s, Manchester.

Mr. Teague has said that after starting the school and spending ten years building it up to its present state, he feels he has one more 'big' career move in him. He's moving to head up a big secondary school, I think still in South London, but I've forgotten the name for now.

The new head was Head of Sixth Form at St. Bede's in Manchester. I haven't 'met' him (virtually or otherwise) yet as I missed the recent webinar.

The big idea behind the recent relocation and changes is for PACT to be able to offer 3-18 education for boys and girls all on the same site, which allows for economies of scale and sharing of resources (where that makes sense).

I'm also gutted that Mr. Teague is leaving, he's lovely. There is a very stable core of senior teachers remaining though, so I'm confident that the overall ethos and spirit of the school will remain.

That would be good if Pact took over the New school. It would free up more space and for Oakwood prep to possibly have that building or create more space for lacking facilities. I liked The Cedars actually (I even paid a deposit which I’ve now lost). There were a couple of reasons. We are looking to move to Surrey so I don’t think it was right to put my son in there for 1 or 2 terms as he would then need to start again making new friends:new school, new uniform! I also don’t feel it was right for him as his best friends were girls in primary school so might be too much of a shock to the system. Also as my husband said The cedars looks like a ‘no frills’ private school that doesn’t have much ‘fun’ and limited facilities (could be reflected in the lower end termly fees though). Quite straight laced/regid looking with main focus on academics and catholic ethos. My son will now be going to a mixed holistic all rounder style Surrey independent.

I've posted on another thread and just seen that this one has become reactivated - what are the academic results like at Cedars - what I really mean is what are the university leaving destinations and courses? I cannot find this information on their site. There is a lot of competition from the state grammars and uber privates in this part of town!

I also don't think it's in the good schools guide (not saying as a criticism, just saying it's difficult to find information on outcomes).

To be honest I think it's too new/small for the Good Schools Guide to be interested yet; I've actually been involved in liaising with them (as a parent), and it's entirely up to them which schools they choose to review/include in their guide.

Mr. Doran is the (lovely) Head of Sixth Form there; try emailing him directly for this info:

[email protected]

Thanks for this, happy to remain a 'lurker' at this stage. Does anyone have any knowledge about the academic aspect of this school, subjective or otherwise?

My son is there and is very happy. He passed the Sutton grammars and was offered a place at one but we turned it down to send him to Cedars because we wanted a supportive atmosphere with good pastoral care rather than a school focussed purely on academics. He is doing well academically and even though it has an entrance exam - it is a very mixed cohort in terms of academic ability, but the small classes and the fact all the staff know the kids and the kids all know each other is great and means all the kids seem supported and from what we know there is no trouble at all.

Teague leaving was a shock but it is business as usual as far as we can tell and it may not be as shiny as other private schools in terms of facilities but this is reflected in the fees.