Secondary schools in York

[Igglepigglesgrubbyblanket]

We are looking at a house in Poppleton and wondering about the local schools, Manor, York High and Vale of York academy are the closest.
We are not religious.
DS is going into year 8. He's dyspraxic, clever, and in to science and technology
DD is going in to year 6. She's in to drama dance etc... does well at school.
I want them to be happy and get decent GCSEs. Any thoughts?
I can see the admissions for Manor is weighted towards children of religious parents and that YHS is in special measures but seemed big on pride which I liked. Anyone got any local insights?
We'd also spend on private if there was a good one which would have us!

You won't be short of good private schools in York, and the pandemic means they may have vacancies as parents struggle to pay fees.

Stay away from Ethelburga's. There are historic threads if you want to know why. Posters are wary about saying too much for fear of being threatened with litigation.

Manor is C of E, but lots of children go there that aren't of a religious persuasion. Being relatively close by, you may be eligible for a 'community' place (rather than one where your dc is coming in on the basis of faith). My ds goes to another C of E school in the city: it's a very 'loose' form of faith and is geared more towards honesty, kindness and respect to others. Not bad values IMO, and many kids go there that aren't from religious families.

Lots of children from that side of York also go to Millthorpe closer to the centre of town. Well, it used to be the case - certainly worth checking but obviously things can change.

Vale of York is on the up by what I've heard and I know kids that are very happy there. York High is not the most sought after school in York bit it will have plus points, I'm sure.

The private schools Bootham and St Peters are easy to get to from Poppleton. Both have very good reps.

Manor, out of those, if you can get a place. Or Millthorpe.

Also, from what I can see, the 3 mentioned do not have sixth forms if you have aspirations for that and would prefer to stay at the same school.

I thought most of the secondary schools in York were 11-16 & kids then went to York College or Aslam Bryan. Fulford has a sixth form, but the OP is way out of their catchment area.

Askam! Autocorrect.

I’ve worked in both.

Manor is amazing. Don’t touch YHS with a barge pole.

@LunaNorth

I’ve worked in both.

Manor is amazing. Don’t touch YHS with a barge pole.

Agreed. (I was being polite in my pp!).

A lot of A level students go to York College for their studies after GCSEs. I know Manor pupils who did just that. The college atmosphere is very different to school and they absolutely thrived, setting them up well for uni afterwards.

OP, does it have to be Poppleton?
Is that for commuting to Harrogate or Leeds? Or just because it looks like a nice village?

Looks like it’s the three mentioned plus Millthorpe which don’t have sixth forms

Thanks so much for all of this advice, I really appreciate it!
I will check out Milthorpe.
I'm not too worried about 6th form, as I think going to college if it's a good one can be quite a nice stage to go through before university.
@stubiff it doesn't have to be Poppleton, but that's where we've seen stuff we like so far. Seems like it would be a nice safe village to grow up in and easy to get to both York and Leeds. I would be commuting down to London once a week, but could eventually end up with work in any university city so I thought it was a good location for that reason.
Regarding YHS, is it basically the education that's really bad or are there further issues? Our local no go school in London has a problem with gangs and knife crime as well as poor results etc...
Just wondering in case there were no places anywhere else and we had to send DS while waiting for something else. (Sorry, I am a massive worrier about these things!)

I’ve sent you a PM, @Igglepigglesgrubbyblanket

@Igglepigglesgrubbyblanket
Tricky one trying to balance schools (poss only for a few years), commuting and longer term family needs.

Poppleton would be a nice place to live. The north ring road can be a pain (in York terms) though.
I think in your position (best school in that area may have admissions restrictions) I would look at Fulford and Archbishop Holgate schools (the 'best' in York purely based on 'progress').
There are some nice places just inside/outside the A64.
Uni is on that side as well. Easy access to A64 for Leeds.
PM me if you'd like to know about areas as York is a mixed bag.

Of the three you mention, Manor would be the one most highly thought of. I always thought Poppleton students would be considered catchment despite the Cof E status . Worth checking.
Although the other two do have as good a reputation, it's nothing like the London school you describe.
It might be worth checking whether King James's in Knaresborough is still an option (train journey), although with Manor up the road the only downside I'd see was the lack of 6th form.
Privately, both Bootham and St Peter’s would be very easily accessible from Poppleton.