Catmose College Oakham

[newbeginningsnewstart]

Hi,

Is there anyone with any experience of Catmose college in Oakham please?

I'm looking to relocate there.

And, do kids from Oakham go over to Bourne Grammar?

Thanks 😊

My DC are at one of the other Rutland state secondaries. We toured Catmose but personally didn't love it. It has good facilities and a decent academic reputation. I like the Wednesday electives programme. But from what I've heard the principal is a pretty unpleasant person and staff turnover is high.

I'm almost certain that you will be too far away in Oakham to have a chance of getting in to Bourne grammar. Stamford has increased in size hugely in terms of population and is closer to Bourne than Oakham is, so the places will go to students there.

Just to add... Oakham itself has sadly gone downhill a lot in the last few years. Ten years or so ago it was a pretty and quite affluent market town. Now it is a bit depressing. Rutland as a whole though is still a fantastic place to live in many respects, although I prefer the (many) villages. Transport is crap though.

If you have the budget I would look at Stamford instead (although technically it's in Lincolnshire, it belongs with Rutland really) where you have Casterton College for state secondary. You'd also be more likely to have Bourne Grammar as an option.

Uppingham is also lovely - here you have Uppingham Community College - although it is a lot smaller and no train station. There is a direct line to London from Corby though, which is only around 15 mins away.

Thanks for this - how are you finding the other school? Would you recommend?

Thanks

I wouldn't specifically recommend our school over the other two - I think they all have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of leadership, ethos, academics, pastoral care, extra curriculars etc. It depends on your child/children, and also where you want live within the county. I will say that all three (Catmose, Casterton, UCC) are good schools and so none would be a bad choice.

If you are seriously about a move I'd suggest touring all three and also spending some time locally.

Something else to consider is that only Catmose has a sixth form on site (Harrington School), and it's quite academic. Students from Uppingham or Stamford either go there, to the college in Stamford (which is broad, not just academics), or travel further afield.

We’ve found Catmose very good. Strong academic results supported by a rich extra-curricular programme. Electives are fantastic on a Wednesday afternoon and give children lots of options, mine have been Skiing and gone to Rutland water. They offer instrumental lessons and drama.They also have a great sixth form on site for A levels. New buildings and really good IT. We’ve been very pleased. Worth going for a tour to see if it will suit but they rarely have places available.

Thank you. Ds is just about to start year 6 so if all goes well we will be living in catchment for the start of year 7

Mine have been through Catmose and we had really good experiences. As a previous poster said, all 3 Rutland secondaries are very good schools and Harington (6th form) is on the same site as Catmose and is very academic. I’d not look to live in Stamford unless you were very keen for Bourne Grammar but as previously mentioned, I couldn’t see you getting into BG if you lived in Oakham. Also, the date for secondary applications is the end of October I think and Catmose is always over subscribed so it might complicate things if you are out of area when you apply (I am a little out of date with the application process though!).

Thank you - the last time we were in this situation, when DS, first started school, a letter from the solicitor confirming the move at the time of application (months before we actually exchanged and moved) was sufficient to secure the place in a very, very over subscribed school. I will contact Rutland admissions to find out, but I'm hopeful the same rules will apply😬