Swan School, Oxford - what's it like?

[7AH3]

I need to sort out secondary school application in the autumn for my daughter and we're in the catchment for the Swan School but as it's a new school there is very little to go on and no idea if open evenings will happen.

Does anyone have a child there and could tell me a bit what it's been like? Thanks for any info!

The teaching staff are all young. And the pupils have to be silent when walking in the corridors.

That's about all I can tell you. I visit the school (professionally) every so often.

It seems well run, and I haven't seen any poor behaviour so far.

I know a couple of people who teach there. GREAT staff. Really ambitious for the school, enthusiastic, full of beans. The vibe is VERY strict. It's setting out to be a school with high academic achievement, and they've decided that strictness is the way to go to make that happen (along with great teaching, of course!).

If you have a child who flourishes in a disciplined environment, then go for it. If you have a child who chafes under authority, I think they would be unhappy.

Lovely brand new school, physically.

Are you in the catchment for the Cherwell? I'd definitely always put that down first, and Swan 2nd. If Cherwell is not available, I would put the Swan 1st.

With any luck they can have proper open days before applications have to go in.

Thanks so much for that. My daughter would probably not thrive where the rules seem for the sake of rules, although her little sister would probably get on fine. Different strokes. We are in the Cherwell catchment but too far south - no one has got in for years from our location and this coming year is a very large intake.

Thinking of moving into Matthew Arnold catchment but wanted to find out more about the Swan before committing to that plan.