Thomas’s college, Richmond Hill

[Seasaltlady]

Has anyone heard anything about the new Thomas’s college on Richmond Hill? Part of the Thomas’s school group offering a new co-educational secondary school for 11-18 year olds in Richmond from Sept 2025. Only just heard about it and living in Sheen, this could be a great option for DS who is currently in Y5. However I cannot find much information online. Thanks!

@ it's old site of American Institute for foreign study - if you google Frank Knight you can see some photos. The good news is it won't need as much planning permission as Radnor House and the development of Kneller Hall but the bad news is that Richmond planning dept moves at snails pace so goodness only know when it will open if any permissions are needed. But yes there is great demand for a mixed school in sw London within walking distance of a tube station too.

I heard they're doing exams now for entry next year. I saw they advertised for a Head so guess that will be announced soon and then it will ramp up? Think I read somewhere that the building work starts soon? It's a lovely site.

As others have said it’s on the old American University site next to Richmond Gate into the park. Great location. This year for the current Y6 they were saying the children would be at the Putney Vale site for a year and then move to the Richmond site in 2025 but you’d need to check how definite that is to happen - and make sure the commute to the Putney Vale site would work for you if the move is delayed. Could be great though and agree there’s a need for another co-Ed in the area

Will they close Putney Vale after they open Richmond?

Yes, I believe the plan is to close down Putney Vale

Has anyone got any other insights/views on this school? Especially interested if you have children at the primary schools. It will be really interesting to see what the cohort ends up being like, especially with the seemingly huge number of founding scholarships on offer.

DS headed there for 6th form in September. Have been so impressed by the staff we have met and he is really excited about it.

Thanks for responding, the new head seems impressive and it will have a beautiful location from September. I still feel it’s a bit of an unknown quantity and would be really interested to hear from anyone else considering it, including those who are in the other schools in the group.

glad your son seems a bit more forthcoming with information than mine is - I haven’t had any interaction apart from dropping my child off at the gate for assessments!

I have friends doing the 11+ now. I hear it's a real unknown quantity. No clarity on what sports they'll offer or even where they will play. No clarity on curriculum etc. All v vague for y7 compared to other schools. The prep school is well regarded and Richmond really needs a good local co ed after Radnor/Kneller failed to deliver

I expect it won’t be particularly great for competitive sports as it’s quite a small school although they do seem to want to make quite a lot of things available via clubs eg swimming in Richmond / horse riding in Richmond park. I do remember them saying they will have a dedicated sports ground at dukes meadows as well, not sure when it will be ready. There is also a curriculum booklet but it’s quite different to normal so I think it would be hard to fully articulate what they will do exactly (and maybe it’s even still being ironed out!).

Lots have applied as a back up and based on convenient location. It has one of the highest fees and it's a new school, I would expect that they would over offer more vs established schools. Founding scholarships only apply to this year intake too.

Did anyone attend the offer holder day?
I thought the head and teachers were impressive however what is putting me off is the size of the school, only 300 children which is tiny- and if it’s a real mix of different types of children which they say was their aim, I’m worried my DS won’t find enough friends that she would genuinely have lots in common with.

@MariDino its about 600 kids overall

@Vulpina no its definitely 300 whilst they try build up to 600. I did ask at the open morning

Thinking about accepting an offer for year 10. Does anyone have any idea how formal the school is likely to be/currently is? we’re looking for friendly and relatively relaxed rather than anything too stiff.

@Zestmeister I can only go on the impression I got from the open day and offer holders event. I found the staff to be approachable, friendly and they seemed genuinely motivated to create an environment that best serves the students. I just got the sense that they are aiming for a collaborative atmosphere in all respects. Definitely not stiff or strict I would say, but probably quite organised.

@Vulpina thanks - yes that was the impression I got too. It does feel like such a leap of faith though and at a quite a vital stage in our child’s education. I did think the children seemed lovely, which is probably the most important thing.

They do already have an established school at Putney Vale and have had one set of GCSE results so far, which were very good, especially considering that year group was not academically selective and the sixth form destinations the children got to were very good.

Also had a look at their curriculum booklet for year 10/11 with all the GCSE curriculum and looks very organised and I was impressed.

I’m definitely no expert as my child is younger but having spoken to a parent whose had children go all the way through the school at Putney Vale and the general reputation of Thomass through their prep school offering, I feel it’s less of a leap of faith than some might think. Good luck with your choice!

@Nottoolongtogo
thank you - yes I do agree it looks very good in a number of ways. I am pretty confident about it on the academic front, but do you mind me asking - what do the existing Putney vale parents tell you about the feeling of the school? What sort of atmosphere is there, I wonder? Some London schools feel very much like a traditional English public school (ie a bit stiff and formal) while others seem much more relaxed and the teachers less intimidating. The latter is what we’re after! Thanks.

Definitely the latter from the parent I spoke to. They do care about their appearance and will get children to tuck shirts in for example but definitely not too stuffy; reasonable rather than overbearing.

Also sang the praises of the dedication of the teaching staff. And they are all transferring over from Putney Vale.

Also just remembered I spoke to a couple of yesr 10s at the offer holder day and they said the teachers were so nice and sometimes some of them would join in game of football that the children were playing at break time!

@Nottoolongtogo thank you that’s all great to hear. Very kind of you to respond. I’ve spoken to a number of teachers now and I am definitely getting the impression they are a friendly and helpful bunch!
One question - there have been several mentions here of the year 10 pupils at the offer holders’ day - the ones I met there, and who spoke, were all year 9 I thought? It matters to me as I thought they all seemed lovely and I had thought they would be in my child’s year group. Did I get that wrong? (Unless they had different children at different times of the day perhaps.)

Hmm I’m pretty sure the ones at ours were year 10, but I may have misheard. Wouldn’t surprise me if they rotated the children, we did the 12.45pm slot if that’s any help…

we were earlier so probably different children. They were really nice anyway.