Secondary school

[Mnaveed]

Hi,
Can any one please give reviews about best free secondary schools in Epsom or surrounding area? I have two boys one in Secondary and other in primary. How about 'the Glyn' School. My elder one is in year 8 and a bright child. We are looking for a Secondary school which could push his abilities and provide discipline too. I have looked at the govt website for comparing schools but I believe sometime parents give better suggestions.

Glyn for boys and Rosebery for girls are the schools that clearly stand out in the Epsom area.
I think you’ll be very lucky if you can get a Y8 place at Glyn.

Very bright children can also try for the Sutton grammars which are commutable from Epsom. The entrance exams happen at the start of Y6.

Many thanks for your reply. Yes, I have checked with the Glyn school there are around 50 children on the waiting list for Year 8. We are happy to move near school even. Do you think this will increase the chance of being lucky. Do moving in September 2021 is the right time when new session starts?
My younger one is preparing for 11 plus so hopefully will appear in grammar schools for Sutton.

Legally, the local authority has to offer you a place when you’ve moved to the area. However, if your preferred school (Glyn) is full, you’d be offered another one. If it’s far away, they’ll cover the cost of commuting to it. I think you’d move up the waiting list if you live next door to Glyn but the admissions criteria prioritise looked after children, children with EHCP, children of staff or those with a sibling at the school so I wouldn’t assume you’ll get a place even if you’re right next to the school.

Thanks once again for your prompt reply.
Apologies if I am asking too many questions but it feels like blessing when you catch someone who has knowledge.
Do you recommend any other free state secondary and primary school in/around Epsom?
Thanks.

You could start a thread with ‘Epsom’ in the title to get parents’ opinions on schools in the area.

Sutton has brilliant schools but places rarely come up for Y8+. You’ll just generally find that parents don’t move areas if they have children in sought after schools at that age unless they really need to. That’s why it’s rare to get a space at a desirable school.

Thanks a lot.

If you're looking for a secondary school that will "push his abilities and provide discipline" then don't apply for Glyn. They talk the talk at open evenings about differentiating between pupils, getting good results and being strong on discipline but in our experience it's not true. We have been shocked by the behaviour (which has included DS being punched, spat at, sworn at, held up against a wall, as well as general swearing/shoving and disrupting classes). He reckons they spend at least half of each class not working because the teacher is trying to get the class to listen/behave. He is a bright boy who in most subjects is not being stretched at all and in Y9 he is getting 1-2 hours of homework a week maximum.

I wish he had been willing to apply for a grammar but he got too stressed at the thought of it and wouldn't, whereas his sister is doing very well at Nonsuch, where there is generally good behaviour (and certainly nothing like at Glyn) and she has been encouraged to work hard and is doing really well.

All the parents I know with children in Blenheim are happy with it. If we had our time again, we'd send DS there. St Andrew's Leatherhead is also supposed to be good but unless you're Catholic you'd be unlikely to get in.

For primary, they are all pretty good - Stamford Green, Cuddington Croft (Cheam) and Wallace Fields are probably the ones that come most recommended from the parents I know.

Thanks Ali for a detailed reply.
That’s the difference between parents experience and schools’ ranking available online.
We have the same experience where we found a good state school in Surrey more effective for our boys than an outstanding state school in London.
I will consider the choices you have mentioned above. Thanks.

I worked in over 100 secondaries across London. If you’re asking which schools aren’t rough, than generally speaking inner city schools are pretty rough. Some really rough and some just a bit rough around the edges. Moving further out, they generally aren’t rough (in most areas). I’ve worked in all the schools in Sutton, for example, and it’s a different world to anywhere in zones 1-3. However, more isolated bullying and other issues do happen everywhere. It’s just what happens in a place with over 1000 hormonal teens - it’s unrealistic to expect that all of them will be 100% civilised 100% of the time. It’s more a case of finding out how particular schools address the issues and if they’re handled effectively.

In terms of stretching children academically, the government stats do tell you what you need to know. A school with high progress scores and high GCSE pass rates is obviously more academic and stretches pupils more than a school that comes up below average on these measures.

Bit of a conundrum here. Wonder if anyone has been in a similar position or can advise?

So, DD in year 6 has written exams for local grammar( Kendrick) and a smaller test for top set/ selective stream at Reading Girls school( state but with 42 seats selective exam for entering into their top set)

She passed both, but Kendrick has told us she passed , her score and the pass mark.

Reading Girls has said she has made the cut but hasn’t told us her score and gone on to say that this does not guarantee her a place in the top set , and we also need to put Reading Girls as option 1 whilst selection schools in the application form.

We have asked RG to confirm if this means that she will definitely not get a place if it’s option 2 and if we can know her score or ranking out of those who have passed?

It almost feels like we are at more of a disadvantage with her having passed the test for 2 schools that she likes 🤨

Why do they have to make the secondary school applications so stressful?!

@MrsDoubtfire2018

Bit of a conundrum here. Wonder if anyone has been in a similar position or can advise?

So, DD in year 6 has written exams for local grammar( Kendrick) and a smaller test for top set/ selective stream at Reading Girls school( state but with 42 seats selective exam for entering into their top set)

She passed both, but Kendrick has told us she passed , her score and the pass mark.

Reading Girls has said she has made the cut but hasn’t told us her score and gone on to say that this does not guarantee her a place in the top set , and we also need to put Reading Girls as option 1 whilst selection schools in the application form.

We have asked RG to confirm if this means that she will definitely not get a place if it’s option 2 and if we can know her score or ranking out of those who have passed?

It almost feels like we are at more of a disadvantage with her having passed the test for 2 schools that she likes 🤨

Why do they have to make the secondary school applications so stressful?!

The schools will not know what order you have put them in, and you will not risk a place at the one you put second by not listing it first. Put them in your genuine order of preference.

There is an equal preference system in England, and each school you list on your form is effectively a separate application. The order only matters if more than one school is able to offer you a place, in which case you will be offered the one that you listed higher (as everyone can only get one offer). By 'you have to put us first' they probably meant that if you put another school that is able to offer you a place above them, you would be offered the other school instead, because by listing it higher you are effectively saying that you would prefer a place there. Schools do not first give places to people who listed them first, then second, etc, and that has not been the case in England for many years now, so ignore anyone who tries to tell you that 'X school fills up with people who put it first/you have no chance if you don't put it first'.

Thanks a lot for your reply, that’s very helpful and reassuring to know that there is such a system in place and we are not disadvantaged by putting our true preferences .

Would you happen to know anything about how waiting lists for secondary work? I assume after the first lot of offers go out to families , then a waiting list for schools also start and then some children get offered places a few months later after the first lot of offers go out?

@MrsDoubtfire2018

Thanks a lot for your reply, that’s very helpful and reassuring to know that there is such a system in place and we are not disadvantaged by putting our true preferences .

Would you happen to know anything about how waiting lists for secondary work? I assume after the first lot of offers go out to families , then a waiting list for schools also start and then some children get offered places a few months later after the first lot of offers go out?

No problem Yes, a waiting list will be kept for schools that is in the order of the admissions criteria, and places will be offered as they come up. The amount of movement of the list will vary for each school each year though, and, as the list is kept in order of admissions criteria rather than length of time you've been on it, you can go down as well as up if someone who meets the admissions criteria better than you joins the list. I think that in some LEAs you are automatically put on the waiting list for all schools you listed higher than the one you were offered, and in others you need to request to be added. I'm prepared to be corrected on that by an admissions expert though.

Thanks again, that makes sense and will double check the specific criteria if we are in that position in the future.

You have been very kind in explaining thoroughly. I must admit, all these school applications and looking around schools, helping DD prepare for tests has been stressful for us, it feels like we have had to condense everything into the last few months so looking forward to finally handing in applications and then forgetting about it for a while 😅

@MrsDoubtfire2018 No problem. Well done to your DD on her test results and the best of luck with your application

@ChildOfFriday thank you!