SE London: Thomas Tallis versus St Ursula's Convent School Greenwich

[Happyassalarry]

Hello SE London parents,
if you have a choice between these two schools for your daughter, which one would you choose and why?
We have chosen St Ursula's initially, but they had a bad OFSTED report in January this year, and many current parents are unhappy with the strikes and the management team.
Thomas Tallis seems to be very big, there is good and bad feedback from current parents.
Thanks in advance for your opinion!

A lot of children enjoy being in Tallis because they have so much power over the teachers. I gave a year 7 child a detention for kicking another child once, and a meeting was called, and I was told, in front of said child, that I was not allowed to be negative to them, it was discouraging, and no detention I issued would be upheld.

I met the same child again a couple of years later, in year 10, in a normal school, and disciplined him normally - and mentioned to him I was so happy to see him in a school where I felt he would be given decent appropriate guidance about his behaviour - he said he was hugely relieved too.

Exactly our experience too. The kids run the show and bullying is rife.

this clearly never happened.... what kid would ever be glad to receive a detention?????

Most kids do like to have clear boundaries- and it doesn’t say a detention was given. My children were very relieved to leave Tallis and attend a school where poor behaviour was dealt with, bullying was treated seriously, kids were expected to do their homework (and it was marked), uniform was expected to be worn, and that they’d leave school with some good grades.

Hello
My daughter is currently at st ursula and doing well and is happy in year 10. The strikes are over now which is a relief. The school had such an out of date ofsted before, it didn't suddenly become not outstanding this year. But despite it not being an outstanding school (in reality) for many years, it still achieves the best gcse results in the borough (top, or top 3 for progress8) so despite the recent ofsted i'd say there's still a lot right about the school. They desperately need to find a decent senco but that's a very specific issue (and one that is really important if you child needs senco support).
I have older children too and from seeing all their friends over time go to all he schools mentioned on this thread I can say whether a school is right for your child depends entirely on that child and whether they make good friends in the year 7. The kids I knew at primary who were really clever all went to decent unis either via TT, STU or JR so I beleive if a smart kid is well supported at home they can do well in all of these schools. LABs gcse results last year were really disappointing (compare progress 8 with STU nearly a whole GCSE grade!) and that's with outstanding ofsted which really confuses the picture when picking a school!
Good luck with your choice.

I don't know the schools, but I do know the Thomas Tallis headmistress, and yes, she is retiring at the end of this school year.

I think she retired from any actual head mistressing many a year since! She mostly just writes about headmistressing.

Had to pop on here as feeling a bit bemused about comments re: police vans outside Tallis as I've never seen any, maybe I've been parking in the wrong streets if I've picked up my kids 😃

As far as Roan/Tallis comparison goes, I'd say they are incredibly similar which is why I had a hard choice when I had a double offer, just depends on which inspires you more and best suits your child. I don't regret my choice at all, but it was a very close call between the two.

I should also say that GSCE Astronomy also offered at Tallis as it's all done outside school hours courtesy of Royal Museums Greenwich for schools throughout the area and selected children 😉

It's definitely not my experience with Tallis that the kids rule the school but maybe my two have got lucky with their year groups in that regard?! Guess this is always going to be like TripAdvisor, someone's luxury hotel is another's dodgy youth hostel!

Go and see them all and go with your gut, not Ofsted's or anyone else's and you'll make the right choice.

There seems to be a lot of scaremongering going on regarding Thomas Tallis, from police vans outside the school to manage the caos (never seen one and never seen any caos outside the school) from poor results, which is not what I’ve heard from parents or seen on their website. Of course it’s a big school and there must an element of disruptive children, but I can’t imagine a class where all kids can’t stay still? Unless any mum here having kids in Tallis right now can vouch for that? Dismissing the school by suggesting to save money to send private is encouraging a further class division and one would hope that we are beyond that type of system. @Shondaland totally agree with your comment.

I would be very appreciative of feedback from parents who have considered/are about to consider grammar or private routes but have instead decided for a comprehensive school choosing Thomas Tallis - are you happy with the choice? Thanks in advance!

The reason there have been police vans outside Tallis recently is because sadly, there has been a spate of muggings of pupils on their way home. (It's not just Tallis students who are being targeted, other local schools are too.)

The police are working with the school and parents to try and come up with solutions to how to keep the students safe. It was decided to bring in a visible police presence after school to try to deter the muggers.

I have been in education 40 years. Tallis is the worst school I have ever experienced. Until I went to Tallis, I genuinely believed that any student in any state school had an opportunity to learn if they chose to. Tallis changed my mind about that.

Tallis sixth form is very highly selective - they rely on their sixth form results to sell the school, but they allow very few of their own year 11s in.

I’d have a good look at the results for high attaining children.
https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/100190/thomas-tallis-school/secondary/results-by-pupil-characteristics?accordionstate=1

Tallis has the worst progress for these children with a -0.45 progress. Compared to Eltham Hill, a high attaining child gets a whole grade lower in every subject at Tallis. Yes, there are a few people who buck the trend ( and it’s these results they put on the website).

We started at Tallis but quickly left.

@Toomanyminifigs many thanks for that insight, that’s really helpful. I didn’t appreciate other posters insinuating that I was making things up about police vans.

@Shondaland what was confirmed was with regards crime in the area, nothing to do with the school or its students which is what you seemed to be insinuating.

Unfortunately muggings are happening everywhere and school children are targeted, it's not a reflection on any school and not relevant here.

As a parent of 2 x children at Tallis, nothing you say resonates with me at all but this will be the case with parents in any school

I wasn’t insinuating anything I was thanking the poster for educating me about why the vans are there. I am completely clear that muggings aren’t a reflection on the school, it’s a reflection that we live in a rough part of London with high crime. I’m the same LSOA code as Tallis and my house and car insurance premiums are a testament to the crime rate.

This is what you said i.e. chaos and police vans....the latter dealing with the local crime nothing to do with the school itself.

As for the chaos, I see nothing different to any other school at the end of day.

Experiences are all subjective and results/results tables in inclusive schools all dependant on cohorts in any given year

Yes, as I said I have now been educated about the reason for the police vans. my specific objection was to the poster who said there were no police vans (ie I was lying about their presence). There were police vans but I was wrong about the reason for their deployment.

My son is currently in year 7 at Thomas tallis secondary school. However, there has been so many detentions, some of the teachers are not supportive and seem to have favourites...my son has complained to me that there are always class disruptions,disruptive behaviour etc. Has anyone come across this or have any feedback or review about TT? In-between I'm thinking of changing my Son's school. Thanks in advance