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.

On LinkedIn Mr Teague has posted that he is now the interim Head at St John Fisher in Purley.

Many thanks - your reply is fantastic.

But could I ask - were you not concerned by the opaque outcomes for this school versus say Sutton Grammar or Wilson's?

What are the academic standards like as far as you can see?

I can’t say for certain, but when you have very small classes releasing detailed information about their grades and/or destinations can result in a breach of privacy for the individuals concerned.

Do you know what the class sizes are, roughly?

Class sizes vary but are about 20/21 in each smaller for practical subjects (again this is just from our experience) and results for GCSEs are listed by subject on the website same for a levels so it is clear to see but you can’t compare their outcomes to grammars which are highly selective. As I said it’s a very mixed ability cohort and from what I’ve seen the boys achieve at the level they are capable of so if your son is able he’ll get good results the same as he would if he got into a grammar and went to one of those - if he’s not he’ll get what he is capable of- it’s not an academic hot house it is a supportive nurturing school that gets the boys to reach their full potential whatever that level maybe. This is why we chose it instead of the Sutton grammar as our son does best academically when he feels supported and not pushed but each child is different in what they need- overall we’re really happy with it as our son is really happy.

Found this thread online about Cedars School
and would very much like to hear from parents with kids at the school at the moment.
We are not a Catholic family but apart from the Opus Dei bit (which I am a little dubious about) it seems a great school.
anyone here who considered it but decided against it - if so, why?
if you have kids at the school, what is it like?

My son is still there and still very happy. It’s combining with the Laurels (the girls school onsite) from September ‘25 so becoming co-Ed like their prep and sixth form already are, so the ethos will remain the same which is what we wanted. The fact that there is a personal tutor assigned to each boy to have 1-2-1s with and personally monitor and support them and us as parents (we get 1-2-1 meetings with his tutor as well) is something no other school offers locally as far we could tell and it’s this individual attention the boys get through their pastoral care that swung it for us as it is really benefiting our son so he is happy and doing well academically as well.

I’m still very happy we chose the Cedars, it’s been such a good fit for my son. It’s not a flashy glitzy place (although the facilities are barely a couple of years old, bar the gym), nor is it a pressured hothouse. My son’s getting a solid education in a warm and nurturing environment where the teachers truly know him. He’s been able to try out new things in a safe environment and with lots of encouragement.

One feature I really like and which has worked for my son is the focus on positivity and effort - so for example there are house points for a good attitude in class, helping others, asking interesting questions etc, and every term there is an achievement breakfast for boys who’ve shown consistently good effort (not necessarily marks) in class. The constant reinforcement for good behaviours is a great approach.

It’s not a school which wears its Catholicism lightly but I can’t say that I have noticed any particular flavour to it that might be imparted by Opus Dei. The OP aspect comes from the founding parents being members rather than the wider OP movement owning/controlling the school. Actually the OP ethos - to find that of God in everyone/everything - is remarkably similar to Quakerism. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone object to a Quaker school on that basis!

I’m reserving judgement on the move to co-ed but so far, so good.