Bullers Wood

[Sunflowers189]

Can anyone share their recent experiences with Bullers wood please?
thank-you!

The girls' or the boys' school? DD2 goes to BWG - so far so good. But I think, as with any senior school whether private/state/selective/non-selective, much depends on the friendship group.

The girls school, thank you .

I am also really keen to get honest opinions about this school ahead of making school choices for my Y6 daughter. My son is at the boys school and is very happy there. Although it performs well academically, the girls school feels quite run down and claustrophobic and we didn't get a positive impression at all from the recent open evening, which was badly run and quite chaotic. I don't want to rule it out on the basis of one open evening and have asked the school if we could come and have another look, perhaps during the day, to see what it is really like. But if anyone with children at the school has any views - positive or negative - to share, I would really like to hear them!

Hello, so I have a daughter in year 7 and can now answer my own question that I began with!
I agree the Bullers opening events seem very hectic and disorganised. I do think now it might be due to the popularity of the school.

I was sceptical at first as I was also put off by the open evening, however since my daughter started she has been given several opportunities not just focused on academics but for personal development.

I was also surprised how well they knew my daughter in such a short amount of time.

I think they undersell themselves and after receiving recent newsletters and activities of what they get up to, I think they use their time in other ways.

Also impressed on the amount of hands on experiences they have had and the level of differentiation within lessons based on ability.
I asked my daughter how she feels walking around the school and her words were, it’s very big and friendly. So far so good.

Hope this helps.

My daughter is there, She seems mostly happy to go to school.

I think behaviour is in general good at the school. I believe she is making progress but can’t really comment much as DD doesn’t tell me much and I don’t find the reports helpful; but maybe that’s just me. Perhaps i should be looking more at her school work but has gone s bit hand off since she started secondary school,

She doesn’t seem overloaded with homework which works well for her.

She does complain they don’t do enough fun stuff, eg trips. Seems happy with most of the teachers.

The buildings are a bit tired but that’s the case for many schools and universities in England, The sports field is now at the boys school. You can’t really compare it with a new bulging

My DD is also in y7 at Bullers Wood. From her accounts I've had an excellent impression of it so far. She much prefers it to primary and everything seems very well run. She told me the teachers are nice and the other girls are friendly.

She has received lots of house points which she responds well to.

She's been doing home ec, drama, music and art every week, which pleasantly surprised me (range of creative and practical subjects). She also likes her PE lessons- an amazing feat given she didn't like it at primary.

There's a reading culture there too, the girls are encouraged to visit the library regularly and also to read during form time.

I totally agree about the badly organised open evening and tired buildings. I went there myself last week and was underwhelmed but I don't think they were doing themselves justice...that said I loved looking around the art, drama and music rooms. The art was absolutely amazing. The pupils in the drama room were very impressive also.

I looked around a lot of schools last year and saw many impressive open days. But the open days are only a small part of the picture... schools can select certain pupils to be guides and put on a show... but the show can be misleading. I know at Bullers they basically just ask all of the y8s to come and be guides.

I'm so glad my daughter got a place at Bullers. I was really anxious about sending her to secondary school, but so far, it really suits her.

btw re it feeling claustrophobic... I asked my daughter about it and she said it never feels overcrowded... she said everyone is spread out over different buildings.

My DD is at BW and has thrived there. I wouldn't have described her as especially academic in primary, and she is now really conscientious and interested in the subjects she has chosen for GCSE.

Sport is a big thing there - the football team shines in competitions and I understand that netball is good too. They even had skateboarding lessons available as an extra curricular club recently.

I would say that trips have been an issue recently. Towards the end of year 8, DD's year had five days' in either Paris or a town in Germany depending which language they chose, which was a brilliant trip for them, but I am not sure that happened last year. Skiing was also talked about but seemed to fade away.

I hear the trips may be coming back but this would definitely be worth following up on if you are considering the school.

They offer DofE which is great, but perhaps all schools do that.

Overall, we are really happy with the school, and it is great to have such a good one locally. DDs friends all live nearby which has enabled her to have a lot of independence early on in visiting and going out with them, which might not have been the case if she was at a grammar in Kent or Bexley and had friends living much further afield.

Agree reg the extra curricular and sports; they have a good variety.

DD likes it better than primary too; she says she feels more respected by the teachers and listened to; her opinions matter a bit more.

Being a big school give you more friendship selection too; as friendships move around throughout the school years.

I've got two daughters at the school, both doing really well. Mine are in Y11 and Y8 now. I agree the open events tend to be a bit underwhelming, partly I think because the school is so sprawling and hard to cover efficiently when there are hundreds of visitors all at once. And yes, they just get all the Y8s in to 'guide' without a lot of prep!

DD1 hasn't had many trips - it seemed that it all disappeared with Covid and is only really just coming back properly. No language trip offered for her year. She did do a couple of nights' camping run by the PE department, and her DofE bronze expedition (again, mostly organised and supported by the PE teachers - they are very committed and active). She's off to Iceland in a few weeks for a Geography trip, which makes up for it a bit. DD2 is going to Barcelona next summer (they were given the option of that or Paris).

Teaching has generally been good, staffing seems fairly stable. DD1 has had excellent Maths teachers, and has gone from being fairly middling in primary to very confident now, on track hopefully for an 8 or better at GCSE. Science has been somewhat variable (again I think very Covid-hit in her first couple of years, not much opportunity for practicals etc), but she seems to be enjoying it more now.

DD2 is enjoying the extra-curricular activities - last year she did LAMDA Grade 4 via the drama club, and also debating, tennis, and trampolining. This year so far she's signed up for the school musical production and netball club.

They both have nice groups of friends, go every day without (much!) complaint, and seem happy there.

Thanks everyone for all your detailed and helpful comments - I really appreciate it.

For parents with girls at Bullers. Can you please let me know if you find the school report helpful? Do you receive the same as us:

A percentage of her end of year assessment; and a average percentage of the class per subject. Plus a comment per subject. Plus attitude to learning, independent study and class work as; excellent, good or inconsistent.

Do you find this helpful? Am I missing something?

How do I know my daughter’s average is good or bad? The class comparison may not be good if she is in a bottom set?; however schools said they don’t have sets but my daughter doesn’t agree with this.

Maybe we should have the average for the whole year? And the school expected/target average? for comparison

I am not an expert so would be grateful for advice.

Thank you

Another positive comment about the school.

They have the same former tutor and Head of year throughout the school years which means they really get to know the girls.

Also they have some long standing staff and teachers which always speak well about a school and the working environment.

In general we are happy with our choice.

We didn’t choose it for the building but for the friendly and happy atmosphere, plus I knew my daughter will be offered the best support she can get from a state school with all their limitations and challenges state schools have these days.

I get the impression from other posts about reports on here that this is fairly standard for state school reports. There is definitely some element of setting by ability for maths and English at least but I've never quite figured it out entirely!

Just looking back at DD1's reports over the years, we started getting some more useful data in the spring term of Y9, when they started adding 'potential' GCSE grades, and whether she was on track for these or working above/below. I believe these potential grades are generated from the CAT tests they did on entry, plus other data (DD's year didn’t have SATs results).

Then in Y10 we got predicted grades in the spring and summer reports which are reflective of the teacher's assessment of how they are actually performing. These get adjusted as time goes on based on their mocks etc.

Thank you. It makes sense. Hopefully we get more predicted data half way through year 9