Moving to Swansea

[Trevand123]

Hi, we are looking to move to Swansea and the house we've seen in Tycoch is 5 mins closer walking distance to Bishop Gore than Olchfa. I'm assuming this means that given Olchfa receives much more applications, theres a chance we might be allocated Bishop Gore.

In people's experience, is this likely?

What are people's experiences of Olchfa or Bishop Gore?

Also any experienced of Sketty Primary would be great too.

Thanks so much

They both have good reputations. They were both Estyn excellent, equivalent to ofsted outstanding, but Estyn no longer rate schools in this way.

I am probably biased because of my own experiences…..

Bishop Gore is v strong academically, with some fabulous teachers. Their pastoral care and their support for children with ALN is outstanding. They respond really well to concerns re bullying and mental health. They use a ladder system for tutor groups. So each child is allocated to a tutor group with, say, 4 children from each year group going up through the school, so 4 Y7s, 4 Y8s and so on, which helps to build relationships across age groups. They have a fabulous theatre and performing arts department and stage the most incredible musicals.

There is a very diverse catchment area.

However, the Head is, according to my child anyway, a dragon! They are very particular about uniform, and the school buildings are falling down. The canteen is tiny and there isn’t really long enough to queue for food, so best to take food.

Olchfa is known for being excellent academically. So teaching is supposed to be great, and good results, although I am not sure that they are any better than at BG. The school buildings are much newer, fresher, better equipped etc. Grounds are nicer.

The local concerns about Olchfa stem from pupil welfare in that they are not considered to be so good pastorally with managing bullying or supporting students that are struggling. So a LOT of students have moved from O to BG because they were not coping/ bullying/ MH etc.

I think that Olchfa can be a very successful school for able, hard working students and they will do very well there.

My children both have additional needs and therefore we would not have considered it for them.

However, in the grand scheme of things, they are both excellent and family who live in Bristol think we are unbelievably lucky to have such choices.

i don’t know Sketty Primary but it has a good reputation.

Swansea is a fab place to live.

Incidentally I think that BG had more applicants per place last year than Olchfa. Sure I read an article about it recently in Wales online.

Thank you so much for taking the time to send this, you don't know how much we appreciate it.

The pastoral side is really important to us, and I feel v reassured. It's so nice to hear about personal experiences behind the Estyn reports.

Incidentally we are moving from Bristol, so can totally relate to that comment about schools.

I lived in Swansea for many years before moving to Bristol and loved it. Feel like it would be a lovely place to bring up a family ☺️

I moved here from Briz too, 20 years ago. It is a well trodden path, lots of Briz peeps in Swansea. But obviously you know Swansea well as you’ve already lived here.

i love the independence the kids can have, mine were able to be independent much earlier than their cousins in Briz, and SE England. It is a safe community where we are and normal here for kids to walk to school in Y5 and start calling for friends and going to the park. Mine now walk into the centre alone to mooch around the shops, cinema and so on.

And of course, during the rare heat waves, we can pop for a dip in the sea after school.

I hope your move goes well. 😃

Not sure if you will see this now. BG is a brilliant school - not sure why the other poster thinks the Olchfa grounds are nicer. BG is in Singleton Park, it’s stunningly located with a walled garden.

The HT is a dragon but she’s an outstanding head. I’d disagree about the uniform. My sons are in the upper end of the school and it’s pretty chilled.

Mine went to Parkland Primary which is huge and another excellent school. I’ve only good things to say about it. It has extraordinary facilities and my sons did well there.

Mine went to Bishopston (adults now) my daughter all the way through and my son from age 13.

We are not Welsh.

Posted too soon!

The school was fine, no problems.

You'll probably get into either from Tycoch. I went to Olchfa and DD1 is in bishop gore and DD2 in Sketty. All great schools. On the face of it Olchfa gets better results but that's partly due to a more affluent catchment (tutors) and they won't enter you for exams if you're likely to fail. BG is much better if your child is less academic or really focused on performing arts. Welcome to Swansea!

Thank you for your help, so helpful and has made us feel even more happy with our decision to move.

Our little one will be starting primary school in Sept '25 so we need to register with a primary this Oct / Nov.

How are Sketty or Parklands Primary schools - we perhaps might have preferred a slightly smaller school, but maybe it's okay? Would be happy to travel a little further to Pen y Fro or Cila, but assuming we wouldn't be high on list for these schools as not our closest...? Any experiences would be appreciated.

We are also keen to sign him up to nursery / preschool - so any info about Sketty preschool / Oaktree nursery would be fantastic (might help him become familiar with the larger primarys before he starts?). Or any other options we should consider?

I hope your move to Swansea went smoothly. I came across your thread by accident.

Given that your child is so young, I hope that you will have considered educating him in the Welsh medium sector. Welsh medium schools have excellent ratings and results and a great sense of community. The vast majority of pupils in cities like Swansea come from homes where little or no Welsh is spoken and schools' staff are very geared towards helping all children become bilingual (as a minimum) quickly and materials are provided to make sure that parents can be fully engaged in their children's education. Parents are often from England or even further afield. The benefits of bilingualism are well researched, and being educated in Welsh certainly doesn't hold children and young people back in terms of university and career prospects. Acquiring the language also helps them access Wales's culture more fully.

Croeso i Gymru.