OLA School Abingdon

[Hello5645]

Hello- are there any parents on here who currently have their children at OLA school in Abingdon? It looks like all the teaching staff have been replaced with new teachers, is this a good thing or not? I'm so unsure if this is a good school as it seems to be in constant turmoil. Many thanks.

Friends have their DC there and are very happy with it. Seems like a nice nurturing environment.

@Hello5645
Did you find out anything about this. Our DC is attending a taster day. It seems lovely but we have concerns about all these reports of staff leaving. The head also didn’t come across well.

Teachers are pretty good and care about the pupils. Always impressed with their dedication. How long they stay is the problem. Since new head arrived virtually all the staff have changed. Some still remain. Some new teachers didn’t even last an academic year. Teachers are overstretched and treated badly. Head is awful - if your first impression was poor then it won’t get any better. Lots of good PR but that’s all.

the good reviews are from when the old headmaster was there. It was a lovely nurturing school then and kids did really well. It has gone down hill so much since then it’s unbelievable. 2/3 of staff have left including deputy head and both assistant heads. New head of science left in two terms. Discipline is terrible and the head is ineffective and unpleasant. The A level results last year were so bad they can’t publish them. Don’t waste your time.

Gosh this is worrying. I think we may have to have another think. Any recommendations for schools in the area suitable for a child with ASD? We don't want anywhere too sporty or too academically pressured. DC hates sport, they are bright but do not cope well under pressure.
We have looked at d'overbroecks but were ideally looking for somewhere which takes from primary to avoid another school change.

@veryfondoftea I know it's not primary, but Wychwood is very good.

Thank you. It does look like the sort of school that would suit us but we're not keen on a single sex. I understand they've recently introduced boys so perhaps it's worth looking around. Presumably it is still primarily girls though?

Are they allowed to not publish their A level results- this is pretty shocking?

Just look at how the A levels results were described last year (2023). Vague numbers but no % for different grade bands. Not surprised as that year group massively messed up by staff turnover.

@veryfondoftea have you looked at the Unicorn School? There’s also Chandlings but I don’t know anything about the school.

Most of the independent schools in Abingdon are competing with the ones in Oxford and locally (Abingdon and Radley for boys especially) so they do tend to be very demanding in academics and there does seem to be a lot of pressure on sports and other extracurricular activities.

Also most are single sex, I am not sure from your posts if that’s something you would want or not.

Since 2022 the % of pupils who achieved 3 A levels at AAB or higher has gone from 43% to 8%.

You can obtain this info via Our Lady's Abingdon catchment area and reviews | School Guide- you have to pay a small fee to join.

the only school that goes from primary to Vi and is co Ed is Cokethorpe. Incidentally some very good OLA staff went there in the mass exodus. If not try a good prep school and move at y7 or Y9. Ola doesn’t start at reception anyway as they don’t have enough kids. And there’s only 40 in the whole JS. This is NOT a good thing.

We're looking for junior school entry so not needed from reception. I wasn't keen on Cokethorpe but I agree that it may be one of our only options. Perhaps it's best to give up on the idea of an all the way through school. d'overbroecks ticked a lot of boxes if we focus on just a senior school.
I don't think DC would be a good fit for the unicorn school as fairly academic.
It's a shame as OLA seemed great when we looked around but it is starting to feel too risky.

The A level results are not surprising. The head of Vi form went on long term leave and was not replaced for a year. The kids were left with no guidance or help as the school did not get supply cover. Other staff were asked to “keep an eye on them”. Behaviour became an issue and this was when the kids were applying for uni etc. loads missed their places and had to go to clearing so the advertising using the words “80% got their choices” is misleading. Only true if you count a clearing place as a choice. if you have six English teachers in two years that will affect your score? Or a revolving door of maths and science teachers. Pastoral care is non existent.

Only for one more term thankfully. Going elsewhere next year. It has been an absolute shambles. As others have said, constantly changing teachers, no consistency. There are a lot of disgruntled parents. Something is clearly not right there at the moment. There are much better and safer options.

@BernieV
Where are you moving your kids to if you don't mind me asking?

I'm not sure where you're located but have you looked at Cranford. Seems to fit the bill as an alternative

Anyone reading this should take some of the comments with a large grain of salt. It’s clear there are some posters here with their own axe to grind, as is so often the case. I’m not personally familiar with the school but the reputation of any school can be badly damaged on the words of anonymous posters on an anonymous website. I have seen it before. For what it’s worth, I do have uni friends with children there and they are thriving.

We looked round recently and were surprised by the amount of empty space. Many empty classrooms, we asked if there was a school trip today and there wasn't. Where are all the pupils? It felt very empty, bland wall displays as you go round, no big shows of work completed. Some class rooms had just a couple of children (textiles, cookery) compared to a crammed full class for English, quite a small room too.

OLA should be cleaning up but it seems noone is going there.

The post above mine is an odd one for a random passer by from Winbledon to make, so strongly.

Cranford House on the other hand was small but thriving. Busy, happy pupils, nice small site, good curriculum and class sizes. We got a great feeling

I hadn't really considered cranford house as it's a little far but I think we will go and look at it after the recommendation on here. Thank you

We’ve looked at d'overbroecks and were far more impressed by that.

We found d'overbroecks very impressive too but travel inti oxford not viable for us unfortunately

D'Overbroecks definitely seemed very suitable for my DC. Although I was actually more impressed by the SEN team at OLA. I liked their focus on ELSA and the fact they have a designated room for this. The head of SEN at D'Overbroecks was new when we went and didn't seem at all confident in what he was talking about.

My children are at OLA and we are happy with it. Classes are small, teachers are mostly excellent and most importantly they are very happy and doing well. As I understand it numbers are up from a few years ago (in the Senior School) so no issues with falling numbers. Head isn't great and there have been lots of staff changes but some good appointments to replace them.