Trafford grammar schools va Cheadle hulme high

[LadyS12]

Hello, we are planning a house move and can’t decide between trafford and Cheadle hulme.
We are looking at Trafford for the grammar schools and Cheadle hulme for Cheadle hulme high which is an excellent comprehensive school. It’s currently the best in the north west apparently. The kids are still preschool and primary school age so we have time but would like to get settled into a new area sooner than later.
We have found some lovely homes in Cheadle Hulme but are struggling to get a pretty house for our budget.
What would you do?
Trafford to try get into the grammar schools or Cheadle hulme for Cheadle hulme high?

Well presumably if you are in the catchment for Cheadle Hulme high you will get a place. For all Trafford grammar schools you have to take entrance exams and this might not suit your children. I guess it’s hard to assess their academic ability at their age. Grammar schools can be tough & dont suit everyone. What would your thoughts be on your child going to a non grammar Trafford school? Can you take Trafford entrance exams from out of area but I’m not 100% sure on that but it’s worth looking in to.

Will your children be able to pass 11+? It's quite hard. Both mine did it. We tutored for 1 year. Out of loads of children in this now y6 many took the exam, 2-3 passed (ds2 was one of them!) but a couple more got places on appeal.

In ds1 year there were about 4 dc of 45 went to the grammars (including ds1!).

Where in Trafford would you live? That's not cheaper than Cheadle.

Have you looked at Gatley? Quite a nice area, more affordable than Cheadle with a good high school.

If my 2 dc hadn't passed for grammar (&if they hadnt been Catholic) then they had the choice of 2 failing schools (it's better if you are a girl in my area because the all girls is OK). We'd have been OK because I can afford to pay, plus we probably would have got the large Catholic comp in Altrincham as they still let us in as we are a feeder school.

Which Trafford grammar are you thinking? Altrincham is really competitive but they are all hard to get into.

Yes we have found some houses in the catchment area for Cheadle hulme high School. I think it also scores better than the non grammar schools in Trafford. However, yes you are right, grammar doesn’t suit anyone and there is no guarantee they would get in.
My issue with Sale is that a lot of the areas don’t look pretty whereas Cheadle hulme is visually very pleasing.

Now them passing the 11+ is another thing. We don’t know their academic abilities yet because they are so young but would like to give them the opportunity to go to grammar school if they do turn out to be very bright.
Yes both Cheadle hulme and trafford are expensive areas, I wasn’t able to edit the post again sorry. I do think Cheadle hulme looks better than Sale for instance, it’s prettier if you get what I mean.
Or we could buy in the catchment for Cheadle hulme high which is an excellent school which they do not need to sit an exam for.

We’re in Trafford. I have one in private secondary, one going to grammar in Sept and two still in primary. The thing is, despite being in catchment, we wouldn’t have been offered places in the better local comps in the past couple of years - the acceptance area just keeps on shrinking and shrinking. This now means there’s a lot of pressure for our youngest two to pass for grammar. It’s a pretty brutal process anyway and obviously this just compounds it. Parents are obsessive in this area, often unhealthily so. I would seriously consider moving to Cheadle if you like the area, especially if your kids are boys as AGSB is easier to get into from a distance and you could always apply from Cheadle if you find that academically they’re good enough.

@Moglet4youre 100% right it is brutal. Our eldest didn’t get into our local school which is 0.84 miles from our house. The catchment is 0.82 miles. Fortunately we got a good second choice & she’s doing well & her sister is pretty much guaranteed to get in to the same school due to the sibling rule & the catchment is 3 miles! It’s insane how 2 schools so close together can have such different catchment ranges. It does make me think there’s absolutely no point paying to live in Trafford.

Be mindful that not all catchment DC get in CHHS. Look up this years stats. 95 didn’t get in. Some will have got into the sister school. So if there, choose close. Trafford is a whole minefield.

I was you 10 years ago and ended up in Trafford... I constantly wish I had chosen another area of Manchester to live in! Currently on my second run of 11+ preparation and it's tough. As others have said, the competition to get into the grammars is huge - we tutor for one hour a week but there are others in my son's class who are tutoring 8+ hours per week with various tutors PLUS doing homework in between (as well as school of course!). Makes me think what's the point (even though my son is naturally very bright) but you find yourself dragged into the system as almost everyone seems to prepare for it in some way and have a go and you feel bad if you don't give your child that chance.

My advice: choose Cheadle!

Gosh that’s really honest @IsThatYouPam and one of the reasons that Trafford primaries do well in SATs etc; there is a massive point of tutoring and it’s not cheap. Defo bring in ‘catchment’ does not mean a place in non selective either LA unless you are very close

I'd choose cheadle. I have one in grammar and one not in grammar, and while I'm very pleased with both schools my younger child took a huge knock to her confidence and I'm still worried that she'll just not try as hard as 'there's no point I'm not clever' whereas I think she really is as capable as her sister.

Although sale is a great place to live!

8 hours??!!

I used to teach at CHHS and it really deserves the hype. The staff really care about the students, such importance is placed on staff knowledge and passion for learning. It’s honestly a really inspiring place where all students can do really well so for that reason I would say Cheadle Hulme

The Trafford grammars are incredibly tough to get into. Recently, two of my friends kids took the test, and despite being bright and tutored they didn't get in.
Both of my teens are at one of the Trafford grammars and sometimes I wish they'd gone to a good comprehensive. They passed with just tutoring by me in year 5 and are bright but everybody else in the school are so high achieving that they are average there and sometimes feel like they are not doing so well. They are not very studious though, and we don't have tutors and I suspect quite a lot of the other students have tutors to keep up, especially in Year 10 and 11(mine are in these years).
My reason for helping them pass the 11+ was because our catchment comp is dire, both behaviourally and academically. DD and DS went to a similar primary and I didn't want the same for them in secondary. But if we had a decent secondary I would have been happy for them to go there.

We live in Trafford, son starts at one of the grammars this September. We assessed the situation in Year 3 and decided to stay / try for grammar, which thankfully worked out. Agree with other comments that it's becoming much harder to pass. We have one classmate who is bright / tutored / mock exams in advance, and just had a bad day and didn't pass. We have had 5 out of 30 pass this year (an unusual year but cohort specific), its usually between 1 - 3.

We're in a part of Trafford where the non grammar school options (for boys) are both Requires Improvement and would not be my choice at all.

I have a friend who moved to Cheadle Hulme for CHH, but I would cautious that Laurus Trust schools are very marmite. A different friend went to a Laurus secondary open evening and hated its very business like and lack of pastoral care feel. I also think Cheadle Hulme is a bit of a meh area personally. I agree Sale isn't the prettiest, but I don't think Cheadle Hulme is much better.

If I was you, I'd be looking at other well regarded local high schools e.g. Lymn High, Knutsford, maybe Wilmslow too. Otherwise, if you are thinking of jumping into Trafford, I'd be looking more at the Sale/Altrincham end, unless you only have girls, then look at Urmston/Flixton. You need to feel confident that you have a good back up non selective option, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Also, look at living well within catchment. Your children are so young, you should plan for that furthest distance to strink over time.

Good luck!

Thanks guys, I completely forgot about this thread as I wasn’t getting any notifications!! We still haven’t decided yet but are swaying more towards cheadle hulme because we haven’t found a house we like in Sale yet. And because we are a family of 6/7 we need a lot of space! Both areas aren’t cheap but I think you do get slightly more for your money in Cheadle hulme. We are still going for viewings in both though.

Is it easier to get into AGSB from a distance? That’s interesting, where can I find information on this please? I do have a son yes and although still young he does seem quite bright.

I have heard about the catchment areas shrinking hence I’m aiming to be within 0.6 miles of any good school regardless of the area. It’s making house hunting quite challenging to say the least.

Thank you for that! that’s quite reassuring. Any gut feeling is to go for CHHS as I feel like the trafford system is such a minefield. What was pastoral care like there? How about student behaviours and bullying?

You don’t like cheadle hulme? I think it’s quite pretty lol.
And did your friend’s child have negative experiences at CHHS? What were some of the issues? Is it mainly lack of pastoral care?

I agree knutsford and Wilmslow are nice but a bit too far from my family support.

What are some of the good non selective back up options in Sale? Academically they score quite average don’t they?

Yes from Cheadle you would be category 5. This year scores were above 377 for this category. Basically, AGSB offers places to those who pass within its priority area and any leftover places are allocated by score, regardless of distance. In effect, this means that quite a few kids do actually come in from quite a distance away.

Ah I see, interesting. I’m assuming a score of 377 is quite high. I still have a few years to go as my kids are still quite young. I think I’ll have to go for the area which offers the best house. If we end up in Cheadle hulme then I may have to pay for extra tutoring in high school to get top grades to go to a good uni. Because after uni it won’t matter what kind of high school you went to.

What about applying for the sixth form of the grammar schools? Do you know if it’s easier to get in that way?

@LadyS12i don’t envy your house search. I’m in Trafford and my friends are moving literally half a mile down the road to be sure to get the school they want. Of course the houses in the catchment are at a premium and just get snapped up. Its been pretty stressful for them.

With CHHS you would not need to think about taking the Trafford Grammar School entrance exams. The Sixth form (highly competitive to get into) is academically excellent and more than good enough to give your child a fighting chance of any Oxbridge or Russell Group university if that is important to you. Locally it is considered as getting a private school education for free. I looked at the Grammars and didn't think they offered any advantage over CHHS.

What is your budget?

@LadyS12 the pastoral care is excellent though they are very strict and come down hard on bad behaviour, This is a good thing as it means the students are actually in an environment where they can learn. There were of course instances of bullying but the school are absolutely unwilling to accept it and work with parents and students really closely to resolve any issues.
The students were a joy to teach and what I think is really interesting about the school is that all students are encouraged to be passionate about their education regardless of the set they are in, there isn’t that attitude which is prevalent in so many schools where sets four and below just see students and teachers who have given up.

CHHS operates with a private school mindset, they are unashamedly and unapologetically academic, especially at Sixth Form. That why it is marmite for some parents.