Advice on WINCHESTER Secondary School Catchments

[Coffeeiloveyoualways]

Hi everyone, calling all Winchester parents for any advice about the catchments for secondary schools- my DH and I have a lot of questions!

We are really excited to be moving from Herts to Winchester in September. My children will hopefully start at a primary school which is a feeder school for Westgate Secondary (not the lower school) in Year 2 and Reception from September- not confirmed but have been told there are likely spaces. We will rent initially then look to buy relatively centrally (3 mile radius from centre). Catchments for Secondary will be a big factor in buying a house so we would love to try and understand them better as it is such a different system in Herts.

Questions...
Are the catchments areas really fixed or do Year 6 Children tend to have the choice about which 3 secondaries they attend? Is it essential where you buy your house?

If my kids are at a Westgate feeder school but we buy in a catchment for Kings, will they end up not going with any of their peers?

What is Henry Beaufort like? I have heard lots about Kings and Westgate but not so much about the this school. We would love to be in a position where we would be really happy with any of the three and just go for a house we like.

Do catchment areas change year to year?

Thank you in advance for any wisdom 😊

If they get into Westgate at primary and are still there in year 6, they can stay for secondary even if you move. It is automatic. No separate admissions process. That’s why it’s so popular!

See here

Ignore me! Sorry. I misread and thought they were going to Westgate primary 😳🙈

You need to look at data:

documents.hants.gov.uk/education/Year-7-Offer-Day-Data-2022.pdf

Plus previous years: www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/admissions/data

Honestly all 3 schools seem to be very good. At the current ages of your children you can't possibly know which school will suit them best for secondary anyway. I know parents/kids who were at both Westgate & HenryB and they were all happy with their choice. (I did know parents of kids at Kings too who were also happy but they moved area.)

Not sure whether this is still true but impression I got:
Kings - pushy and more formal
Westgate - Good all round
HenryB - more relaxed but still gets good results

And the great thing is wherever you live they can go to Peter Symonds for 6th form, though if they don't fancy it they can easily get to at least Barton Peveril, Eastleigh or Sparsholt.

All the secondary schools seem good although different. There is a little choice over secondary although Westgate secondary is hardest to get in because it is smaller than Kings. It varies on which primary school you end up with but in my view the children seem the happiest going to the secondary which is in catchment purely because the majority of their friends end up there. Those who struggle tend to be ones who are trying to break into groups of friends who've gone to school together for years. So from that point of view it is important to choose which primary based on this.

Both Kings & HenryB offered out of catchment for 2022 entry.

I'm surprised by what stripey says. Normally kids are very much mixed around in secondary schools, with primary friendships changing a lot too as kids meet new friends. My DDs were at Romsey School down the road which takes children from 35-40 primary schools.
I wonder whether Winchester schools draw from a smaller pool of primary schools and thus there is less mixing, or whether stripey's experience is unusual.

Thank you so much everyone for this information- really invaluable.

Looking at the data it seems Westgate don't seem to offer out of catchment but the others do. I wonder if this is due to the 60 intake at primary school AND existing siblings from the original secondary school if that makes sense? Perhaps it will become a little less difficult in a few years.

Interesting as feeder schools don't seem to have much of an impact in the data either!

I think my DH is worried that if our kids go to one primary school now and we buy in catchment of a different secondary if they will end up not going with many friends.

Am really starting to overthink all of this which is never a good thing🙈

Henry Beaufort is close to the big new housing development at Barton Farm which is likely to have an impact on places. Think there are plans to increase the intake as a result. Know people with kids at both Westgate and Henry Beaufort and would echo what TeenplusCat says. Also depends on your child‘s interests and abilities as they offer different options at Key stage 4.

Where we live most of the children go to St Bede primary and then the lion’s share go on to Westgate. There’s always enough kids who end up at Kings to make it a small group. a few go private. During primary some families move out of catchment but still get into Westgate and Kings.

Fulflood has Western Primary which is very close to Westgate so the majority go on there but again there will be a number who go to Kings. Not many from either primary go to Henry Beaufort, which is more comprised of Kings Worthy, Weeke and Harestock primaries, plus Kings Barton once they get to that age as they’re a new school.

All three secondaries are good schools, if you’re renting first and then looking to buy you’ll get a better feel of it all before committing to a move. I think Henry b is considered the least academic but a child would still do very well there, it’s not struggling in any way and is a better fit for some kids.

kings has a relatively new head who I have heard isn’t great. Things change though and it’s a while until your kids would go.

I think St Faiths, Olivers Battery, Stanmore and St Peter’s are feeder schools for Kings and then All Saints and Winnall are other Westgate feeder schools. There are also many kids from surrounding villages like Twyford and Colden Common who will end up in Winchester Secondaries.

are you able to say which primary you are hoping for?

@WinchesterCityFC goodness that is so useful to have that insight- thank you! So, it seems feeder schools do generally have kids going to the same school.

The schools that have places in year 1 (Year 2 for Sept) are Western and St Bede, both of which I have applied for and have been told that there maybe spaces for Reception 2022 entry but we wouldn't know this until September/possibly late June due to my older child becoming a sibling for my younger child by accepting the in year place. There are also possible places at Barton Farm which I love the look of but wanted to know more about which secondary the kids tend to go to. It is all a bit complicated! But we have decided that should places come up in any of those schools for my children we will go for it before our current house sale has completed and rent as school places are such a priority for us.

Thank you all for such useful info - you can't beat mumsnet!

One more question @WinchesterCityFC @TeenPlusCat and wise parents who may know- do you think the catchment for Westgate Secondary will continue to shrink over the next few years and therefore more Winchester children will end up at King's and Henry Beaufort? Just trying to predict if by the time my eldest is in Y6 the children may well be more likely to be going to a mix of all three schools from some of the Westgate feeder primaries.
It would be such a shame to limit a househunt to one catchment area only but that may well be the reality!
Thanks in advance everyone 😊

All 3 schools are very good and get good results. I know children in all 3 schools who are happy and on track for top results. Kings has a reputation for being the strictest that dates back to it being originally the secondary modern for what was ( perhaps still is) the slightly rough council estate. Henry B is the newest ( 50 years) and has a specialist deaf unit and reputation for better pastoral care. Westgate covers some of the most expensive area of the city thus high flying parents. But you will find the children of local hospital consultants in all 3 schools!
Honestly all 3 are fine and children go to all 3 for different reasons from across the area.

@catbirddogchild that is really helpful, thank you!il I am pretty certain we would be happy with all 3 schools - only slight dilemma is that I think our children will start (in year places) at a westgste feeder school in September whilst we are renting - I think we are wondering if we are then needing to buy only within Westgate secondary catchment so the children can go up to high school with their peers.

Goodness we have to think of everything so early these days! 😅

So if they go to Western for example, and stay until end of year 6 but during that time you move to, say, Teg Down, the worry is you are then in catchment for Henry B instead I think. We certainly know children who have got into Westgate upper who live out of catchment in areas like Teg Down or Sleepers Hill but I do also know others who didn’t get a place initially and went on a waiting list, but did get in before term began. It’s a risk I guess. I’m sure once your children are in school you will meet plenty of people who can help advise on areas to look to buy.

@WinchesterCityFC I thought so - thank you for confirming! I don't think they publish figures of children who get in on CI lists following allocation day. Interesting that children have gotten in out of catchment on appeal.

Yes we will get a much better feel when rhe children start school..thank you again for all your advice 😊

Also have a look at Alresford as the primary and secondary schools are great. Lots of lovely village primaries nearby too

@PurpleandPlatinum ah thank you! We visited Arlesford and it looks gorgeous. We would need London fairly regularly though so am aiming for Winchester as a long term move. But definitely planning on visiting and going to the gorgeous pubs and restaurants in Arlesford - We went to a gorgeous pub near the river (The Bush Inn) last week when we visited- bliss!

I wouldn’t base your house hunting on catchment areas… all three schools are good and in Y7 there will be a big mix of kids from all
different primaries and new friendships will be forged. We moved to Winchester from abroad this year and our two eldest have gone to HB (Y8 & Y10) and have made really nice friends very quickly. The heads of year are very involved and caring. Our son just got offered a place at Westgate and we are keeping him at HB as it’s been really impressive so far. I don’t think you can really go wrong!!

@Headinghome22 that is so good to know, thank you! Brilliant that your older 2 have settled :)

We moved over the summer and our 2 eldest are at primary- feel very happy with everything so far and such a peace of mind that you can't go wrong with secondaries or Peter Symonds.

I hope you are all settling and enjoying your move 🥰

The progress 8 score for Kings' is 0.28, for Henry Beauford it's 0.31 and for Westgate it is 0.59. Kings'. Unfortunately, parents don't know how to find the data that shows that Kings' is the worst performing secondary school out of the 3 in Winchester. Plus, it hasn't had an Ofsted Inspection for 9 years.

https://www.find-school-performance-data.service.gov.uk/

Hi All,

Thank goodness for mumsnet!

I need some advice from you as I feel lost in the stats, catchments, and in year applications for Yr 2 and Yr 6! As well as relocating to Winchester!

I wanted to know if anyone had any experience or know of South Wonston and it's primary? They feed into Henry B's so based on the above I am not overly concerned! However when I look at the reports and performance data it isn't great.

Thanks 🙏🏻