Croydon school cultures

[seventy2soul]

Hello community! We are looking to move DS to school to Croydon in 2026 September. We are getting some very nice things heard about Royal Russell. One thing we would really be grateful for is any news about safety. Are there any bullying and what happens if yes? Are the children safe or are there fights ever? Thank you and sorry for mistakes. Our DS is 12 years old and so we are looking at Senior School.

RR is marmite. Will your son be boarding?

Hello and thank you so very much! I had to learn what marmite is. He will be a day pupil as we are going to live close by if we go according to plan. If I understand marmite correctly it is both very good and very bad at the same time?

My friends mum used to work there (she retired c. 10 years ago). Put it like this: she sent her child there because she got a discount, if she could have afforded the other private schools in the area she would never have sent her child to RR.

Personally, I'd send my son to Trinity or Whitgift. My nephew is at Whitgift and v. happy and absolutely thriving. I don't think they are anymore expensive. Caterham is also an option (it used to be okay, not sure if it is now?) although appreciate that's slightly further away.

Marmite means people either love it or hate it.

Does your child struggle with academics? RR tends to take a lot of children who haven’t managed to get in elsewhere.
if your child is academic then, as a pp said, Whitgift or Trinity are typically the schools of choice. Great sport at Whitgift too.

Thank you everybody. He is middle of the track academically and enjoys history a great deal. He is “bright” enough but shows less enthusiasm for maths and science and usually scores about 70% on his tests. So I think we will look more closely to try to understand better the situation. I am still curious as to the general safety at the school. Thank you for your replies in good time.

I'm late to this so you may have already decided, but we chose RR for our sporty but academic daughter because she loved it and we are very happy with our choice. She got scholarships to what are perceived to be more 'academic' schools in the area but we feel RR suits her personality: she gets anxious when pressure is piled on and we felt she needed a looser regime than at some other schools so she understood how to set her own boundaries.
She has not encountered any bullying but the few incidents I have heard about were dealt with immediately and effectively. She feels very safe at school and is always keen for the holidays to end so she can return – not something I ever thought I'd see!
She has grown massively in confidence since she started at the school (also as a non-boarder) and is part of a High Achievers Programme which, we think, develops the whole child rather than just cramming for exams. Many of the opinions on RR are from people without children at the school and based on decades-old opinions so I wanted to add a contemporary view.

Hi
I have children at trinity, which I love, but many trinity parents have children at RR as well and I have only ever heard praise for it (RR).
I also know parents who just have children at RR and they are also very very positive about the school, more importantly their kids are thriving there. so as my little one who may not make the cut for Trinity, I would definitely look at it.