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Original poster

Ruthin School - Is it Good?

27 replies

confusedstudent020 · 24/01/2020 23:48

Hi!

So I am applying to this school and I am writing the test for it soon; however, on the news I've seen some stuff about the principal sending inappropriate messages to students and that he didn't loose his job for it. Also, that the school has safeguarding issues.

When I went there it seemed really nice... although the students weren't very smiley/talky... in other schools they would come up and talk to me or at least smile and wave... also apparently in the school you get kicked out from boarding if you have any mental health issue (anxiety, depression etc.)

The school seems really good, however I am concerned about the pressure in the school as well as the safeguarding and management of problems in the school - my current school handles things terribly and I don't want that again for 6th form.

does anyone have any experience with Ruthin's school?

OP posts:
justasking111 · 24/01/2020 23:58

How academic is your child what are their projected grades at GCSE?

Cismyfatarse1 · 25/01/2020 00:00

Journalist? Going fishing?

justasking111 · 25/01/2020 00:05

Are you a child yourself. Surely it is for your parents to investigate schools for you

Original poster
confusedstudent020 · 25/01/2020 11:26

@justasking111

I am very academic, although I think I work better without pressure, even though I tend to do things very last minute... my predicted grades are mostly 9s and 8s.

OP posts:
Original poster
confusedstudent020 · 25/01/2020 11:27

@Cismyfatarse

No, I'm not a journalist... I would just like other people's opinions on the school

@justasking111
I guess so but as it is sixth form it is more my responsibility.

OP posts:
justasking111 · 25/01/2020 12:13

You should do ok with those predicted grades at GCSE. What are you studying at A level?

justasking111 · 25/01/2020 12:19

If you google Daily Post Ruthin School, under news there are many articles you can read to glean what you think you will get out of the school.

A friends child is there, she has given up outside activities because the work is hard, they are strict, two thirds of the students are from overseas. It really depends what you want from a school.

Sleepforever · 25/01/2020 12:24

Article in The Times in last couple of days. Head currently "absent".

justasking111 · 25/01/2020 12:33

Heads come and go, it is the ethos of the school which is important. I have seen 4 in 28 years.

Shuagor · 25/01/2020 17:29

I'm a previous student. My advice would be no, dont go there. The teachers are indeed very nice but you can also get some really bad ones. The reason why they have good grades is that they literally give full scholarship to already extremely good Chinese students to make them come to do the course and A-Levels. In other words, the education is not particularly good, it's just that we "hire" very good students. Don't.

Original poster
confusedstudent020 · 25/01/2020 17:37

@justasking111
I'm thinking of doing bio,chem, maths and for the fourth (which most schools seem to want me to do in year 12) either econ or further maths... depending on results day.

When, I went there, the tour guide... the deputy head I believe insinuated that they were big on extra-curriculars that weren't necessarily academic but perhaps that's a facade.

4 in Ruthins? I think the ethos of the school was quite highly academic but also high pressure and international (Which I'm not too keen on), however I don't know if that is what I've read in the news influencing me as there is only so much you can take from a 2 hour visit.

Also, it is a private school and I've got a scholarship for it... If I don't go to Ruthin's I'll be going to a state school... which is also really good, but I don't want to feel like I'm missing opportunities.

Thank you so much!

@Sleepforever
Yes I noticed that, but I also saw somewhere that they said they weren't keen to fire him as he was doing good.

OP posts:
soccerbabe · 25/01/2020 17:43

no personal experience of the school, but I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot bargepole at the moment, if I were looking for a 6th form transfer.

Original poster
confusedstudent020 · 25/01/2020 17:44

@Shuagor

Thank you so much for the reply! I didn't know about the full scholarship thing. I'm slowly getting more and more dissuaded to go Smile...

Just wanted to ask... how was your experience there, other than having some good teachers and some bad ones?

OP posts:
Original poster
confusedstudent020 · 25/01/2020 17:46

@soccerbabe

Oh okay... what's a sixth form transfer? (I'm still in year 11)
Also, why wouldn't you say to go to that school?
Thanks!

OP posts:
justasking111 · 25/01/2020 17:52

Try for a scholarship elsewhere would be my advice. You will do fine in state school with those grades.

Were you thinking of boarding?

Original poster
confusedstudent020 · 25/01/2020 18:10

@justasking111
Oh okay. Yes I have gotten into my local state school... although it is a comp - Gordon's School. When I went there I loved it and would have gone earlier but was out of catchment. Have you heard any good/ bad things about it?

For Ruthins I would've had to be a boarder... I live waaaay to far away

OP posts:
Shuagor · 25/01/2020 21:35

Depends whether you'd like to board there or not. If you do, 10pm curfews (every night, including fridays and weekends), slow internet, no alcohol or smoking or vaping even if of age, extremely minimum privacy as CCTVs link directly to the Principal's iPad, no relationships (you'll literally be reported and be forced to break up), expelled for accidentally oversleeping (this happened but not many people knew), very boring town (there isnt anything in a 20 miles radius). Saturday testings are one of the things that people complain about, but you would be fine if you'd like to work hard. A couple of boarding houses are good, with your own heater, ensuite rooms. However, the others would have shared showers, toilets, a single central heating system which is rarely turned on for a reasonably long enough time, making you really freeze. For kitchens, your stuff always gets stolen (yes, ALWAYS).You would be better off not boarding, of course. However, even if you aren't a boarder, expect people to, as you see, not talk to you. About 60% of the students are (no offence) mainlanders who only talks to other Chinese, and avoid any type of human contacts with all other people. Expect to have a limited number of good friends. There's more, of course. Feel free to ask in more details.

Shuagor · 25/01/2020 21:42

I've just read that you want to do Bio Chem and double maths/ single + econ. Here's the fun bit. All the bio teachers are quite decent. Chemistry you get a Russian Roulette as 3 of the teachers are absolutely fantastic (my favorite teachers are 2 of these chemistry teachers), and the other one is absolutely. horrid. For double maths, we have a ton of maths teachers and about 60% of them are decent (again, a couple of them are absolutely horrid, you'd quite literally know more maths than them right now). For econ, the 2 teachers are.. ok but they are constantly very very busy, they are great people but not necessarily the best teachers, don't expect to get much help. Good luck.

MyDisposableUsername · 25/01/2020 21:49

I know 2 kids (now young adults) that attended Ruthin School and neither reached their potential, in my opinion. One loved it because he was very sporty, but flunked academically and left with virtually no qualifications. The other one was extremely unhappy due to bullying. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

justasking111 · 25/01/2020 22:32

The problems with a hot housing education where someone is always breathing down your neck to keep you working, is that when you get to uni. you are mostly left to your own devices and expected to be self motivated. For some this can be a disaster because they lack detailed instructions, no-one seems to care they feel. We had a school like this near us once and friends children floundered and flunked out of uni.

soccerbabe · 26/01/2020 06:59

by sixth form transfer I just meant moving to different school for 6th form. Why am I recommending against it - it's a time of bad publicity and likely upheaval in school staffing/management - so not likely to be the best atmosphere - staff are likely to be stressed by the situation.

LNHP · 23/02/2020 17:02

Hi sorry this is kind of unrelated but I am also moving to Ruthin next year, my parents already deposited half the termly fees so it was too late for me to back out when the negative news about the school emerged. I am an international student that have never been to the school before, I only been to the UK once when I was 12. I am gonna attend lower sixth at Ruthin after my IGCSEs in June. I tried researching about Ruthin to get an idea of what I should expect before attending, but I couldn’t find anything about what’s it’s like there except all the negative news about the school from the media. I am kind of getting anxious and scared of going there, I couldn’t find any pictures depicting how the entire school actually looked like and most of the reviews on many different sites were mixed either saying Ruthin is great or Ruthin is horrible nothing in between. Many of you here seem to be very familiar with Ruthin, can someone clarify on what I should expect from Ruthin, especially on the attitude of the students there, the school’s facilities, and the general atmosphere of the school. Smile

wxl · 21/12/2023 23:17

LNHP · 23/02/2020 17:02

Hi sorry this is kind of unrelated but I am also moving to Ruthin next year, my parents already deposited half the termly fees so it was too late for me to back out when the negative news about the school emerged. I am an international student that have never been to the school before, I only been to the UK once when I was 12. I am gonna attend lower sixth at Ruthin after my IGCSEs in June. I tried researching about Ruthin to get an idea of what I should expect before attending, but I couldn’t find anything about what’s it’s like there except all the negative news about the school from the media. I am kind of getting anxious and scared of going there, I couldn’t find any pictures depicting how the entire school actually looked like and most of the reviews on many different sites were mixed either saying Ruthin is great or Ruthin is horrible nothing in between. Many of you here seem to be very familiar with Ruthin, can someone clarify on what I should expect from Ruthin, especially on the attitude of the students there, the school’s facilities, and the general atmosphere of the school. Smile

My Dd received offer for sixth form from Ruthin, would like to know your experience of this school.😀

justasking111 · 21/12/2023 23:44

I know the school. The scandal was a long time ago now the head removed. I'd just say that they expect hard work and good results

XLW · 28/12/2023 04:39

Many thanks.