Cranbrook school: pipe dream, nightmare or worth a go?

[goddessofplenty]

Does anyone have any recent experience of getting their DC into Cranbrook/what it’s like there? Including boarding. About five years ago I found a thread on how it had hit the skids a bit but I can’t see if that’s changed. I know there’s a new Head who has just come in but that’s it and if I’m going to make my DD do loads of extra work to try and get in I’d like to know if it’s going to be worth it!!

Also @Rachelthieves I'm going to PM you if that's ok

Yes Sure Frostywhite:

All were tested but they were boarders.

Hi everyone - no idea how to reply to posts, possibly because I’m not in the app/in an old browser/on my phone. Must sort self out. My DD did go, so wanted to add a few more experiences based on latest comments - exam results this year were up 15% from prior which is reassuring in head’s first year I think. I know of a few boarding kids who failed the entry test at year 9 at last intake so the undersubscription isn’t because of lack of applicants. In the end I just went with the choice DD wanted and she’s v happy there. All I can do is hope things continue to improve. Also, I think this VAT thing may impact boarding demand for Cranbrook - it’s not subject to the increase because it’s a state school. As they average out the marks for minimum entry each year it’s a moveable feast whether your child will pass depending on average standard. More applicants will, I imagine, drive up that standard.

Glad she's enjoying it too - it's a good school! What gets on my nerves are the parents who complain it isn't as academic as other selective schools (but of course it isn't when the criteria isn't that they've passed 11+ or necessarily any test - they don't have published policies for entry after Y9 starts but there seems to have been many who do join (my friend's daughter is in Year 10 and there are about 10 new starters, some who seem to be very weak).
As people say, the requirements for boarding are lower and that's inevitable as they need them in to make money but then parents need to be realistic. I see them on the WhatsApp groups expecting the Earth in terms of support when they aren't paying for the education! It is frustrating to see...

That's the problem though - the policies clearly suggest that they will basically take the best of what they get. If all they get are pretty weak boarders, it will drag the school down.

What drags the school down is low aspirations and a somewhat lackadaisical attitude. My young relatives are all superbright and came from relatively academic schools. They thought, as did my sibling (their parent), that the lack of pressure would be good. But they just got really bored.

The education is nothing like it was at their previous schools.

And that's why it's an absolute shame that they have to take students who definitely wouldn't pass for day entry or have passed 11+. It's a bit of a cycle really - if you get weaker children joining, then the more academic ones will get frustrated and leave etc etc.
At least from the sounds of it, they all got (or are on track to get?) all 8s/9s and/or As/A*s as they should.

I think it coasts along on the back of its brighter students without really stretching them. It reminds me of a sleepy private school.

I’m not anti non selection - but schools need to ensure they cater thoroughly for all achievement levels and not simply teach to the mean, otherwise the outliers get insufficient support for their particular needs.

My relatives did fine (one is still there), but thanks to a lot of self study. No bad thing in the long run but less than optimal in terms of educational experience,

A selective State Boarding School is a bit of niche, currently there are two 'selective' Co Ed State Boarding Schools to choose from Cranbrook and Ripon Grammar. Sir Roger Manwood's closed their boarding house post Covid as did the wrongly titled Skegness Grammar, whose academic standards must be among the lowest 'Selective Schools' with only 66% @Gcse grade 5 English/Maths.

Hence, the average academic attainment of pupils in State Boarding Schools deeming themselves Selective is likely to be lower. I have 40 years of experience of Kent Grammar Schools though myself, sister children and cousins etc In what must be quite rare there have been 15 passes and 0 failures.

Therefore, I can comment on all the Grammar Schools in West Kent, and Canterbury with some knowledge. MY first daughter is currently in her third year at York University she went to Weald which during her years 12 and 13 had become a bit of a Shit Show with a joke of a Head and SLT making the Covid situation even worse.

I found it very sad as an ex Weald Girl myself which prided itself in offering a great education. This historically educating girls who were a grade or two below the more academic Tonbridge Grammar. DS is year 12 at Judd having doing 4 A levels attained 9 Grade 9's and 1 Grade 8 . I think on balance he personally did not want to change school though I pushed initially Ripon Grammar two years ago to both Son and Daughter no 2 . Neither child wanted to move from Kent to North Yorkshire. Daughter 2 moved from Tonbridge Grammar to Cranbrook, she would have moved in year 12 because she wants to do A Levels rather than than the International Baccalaureate . So that would have left Weald ! Judd if bright enough or Tunbridge Girls as choices for Sixth Form entry.

Regarding academic quality, well it is baffling how some boys passed the 11+ at Tunbridge Boys. I think the actual range of pupils academic ability there is far below the top 25% !

In what must be a lucky sequence of events all 15 family members passed the 11!

Daughter 2 moved from Tonbridge Grammar to Cranbrook, she would have moved in year 12 because she wants to do A Levels rather than than the International Baccalaureate . So that would have left Weald ! Judd if bright enough or Tunbridge Girls as choices for Sixth Form entry.

So what year is she now?

Would you remark if 15 family members had all passed entrance exams to private school?

Daughter 2 is Boarding in year 9 at Cranbrook.

The only reason I commented on the 11+ because we all know it is a 50/50 fail or pass and in Kent this is quite a contentious issue (expect people to call me out for something I said here)

I was not intentionally boasting but suggesting that I have been personally fortunate, especially being academically average...

I don't disagree - certainly mine have always been challenged and have been pushed to get the best grades. However, it does go back to some parents do expect the school can do more than it can (going back to the point about parents saving money and expecting private school support on a state school budget. I recently saw one parent complain that they only had drop in support for one subject, rather than individual extra revision classes after school. Crazy!)

Yes - I know of number of children of friends who moved from TOGS for the same reason. I don't really know why they do the IB. It seems they lose half of their Y11s to A Levels!

I don’t think it’s got anything to do with parents expecting the school to do more that it can. Look at what the top grammars can achieve on a state budget. Important to have schools with less academic pressure, but that doesn’t have to mean dialling down on aspirations and good teaching.

Top grammars don't have the same range of pupils though...

Same social range, narrower academic range. There’s no reason why you can’t be very good at catering for a range of ability levels, which is where I think it falls down.

Considerably narrower range post year 8... Cranbrook is probably equivalent to the average grammar school in years 7 and 8 in terms of intake. Personally, I don't really care about the extracurricular activity lessons they have and would probably go for more academic lessons but it is nice in other ways.
What is it in your opinion that the school fails to do? Certainly I've had experience of them being challenged and they've done very well. Your comment was that your family members were super bright and yet didn't do as well but that doesn't mean that's the case for all obviously. At the bottom end (e.g. some of the boarders who have come in very weak), the teachers seemed to work hard to get them 4s and 5s. Yes those are not grades some would be proud of from a selective school but then that's what they get for taking some students who wouldn't actually get to other grammar schools.

I didn’t say they didn’t do well, if you read my posts. They did very well, but found the teaching lacklustre and under-stimulating. They stimulated themselves by reading round their subjects and asking for extra work. But you’d expect something that calls itself a grammar to be more switched on to the academic students in the cohort.

Well I'm glad that hasn't been my experience!

On a side note - what actually is the definition of a grammar school? Is it simply a state school that selects on entry? Are there any other qualifiers?

Cranbrook has always been interesting as a bit of an outlier in this area. Co-ed (definitely in the minority on this in Kent), boarding, used to be 13+ entry only. I've always found it stands in a bit of a party of one compared to the other grammars in Kent. People seem a lot more willing to accept lower academic standards and attainment for a pure factor of it being 'Cranbrook'. I guess that feeling will run out eventually, but currently estate agents still plaster CSCA or Cranbrook School Catchment Area on every property listing within 5 miles of the school, and supposedly there's a 20% premium on property inside the catchment. It's interesting how its reputation and its actual stats are really quite out of line with each other now.

(I'm aware of the irony that I'm looking at buying into this myself! I just like the feel of the school.)

I think it's technically any selective school - that's where it gets complicated comparing school (as you say, they're one of very few state schools with boarding and also an element of selection.
The thing is I genuinely don't believe for the most part the lower standards are due to the school but due to those they get - some parents definitely choose Cranbrook because they still have a Games afternoon (like secondaries 30 years ago or like a lot of independent schools now) and they want that general ethos of a private school by without paying. That obviously has an impact because you won't get the same students applying as go other fully selective schools, especially the super selective ones. However, some parents definitely talk about it as if they've passed the world's hardest test (as some have said, it's about as hard as 11+ but they're taking it in year 8, not primary school!)