School recommendations -St Albans

[Schoolhell26]

Hi all

I have 2 girls growing up in St Albans. We’re looking at secondary schools as we’ve outgrown our current house and so schools are a factor. We could go to Loreto but I went there and it had great points but also weaknesses that I can’t quite move past. I don’t know sandringham and Beaumont beyond mixed and great reps and Stags was respected and always beat us at hockey. I’ve seen the latest ofsted reports. We’re lucky enough to have the time and cash needed to move into catchment.

Where would you choose for schools that help pupils achieve academically so they can also have a life and grow as a person? A value add that will nurture rather than hamper or hothouse bright pupils. Sport matters. I’m expecting A grades. I commuted to school so keen for them not to have to if possible.

My DD went to Stags and I'd have no hesitation in recommending it to others. She was well supported to achieve academically and she left five years ago with excellent A-level results and a bunch of good friends she still sees regularly. The pastoral care was also really good. I can't really comment on sport as DD wasn't particularly sporty at the time but they did have a good range of sports available.

I knew people whose children went to Sandringham and they got on well - that was on the list for DD but we were outside of the catchment area. I've heard good things about Beaumont too. tbh the only one I'd caution strongly against is Marlborough. Unless that's massively improved over the last 5-10 years it was really not good; one of my friends had to move her son from that school after a number of incidents of violent bullying.

Sandringham's catchment area is pretty small as is Beaumont's so if you're interested in those then you'll need to be very careful about where you move to.

I would echo the above - STAGS, Beaumont and Sandringham are all very well-regarded. If looking purely at exam results I think Sandringham has been doing the best, though I’ve also heard its discipline system is relatively strict (though not Michaela-strict). They hand out negative points and make a huge deal of children who go through the year without getting any. But if you get one early on the year (could be for something fairly minor) then it’s 1 strike and out effectively, which for many is very demoralising.

I’ve heard some negative things about Beaumont making little effort to stretch the brightest children, and that it’s actually their policy not to do so. Also that tutoring is rife in 6th form in particular, so the good results may not all be down to the school. But generally people are very happy with it and I really liked it when I went on an open evening.

Marlborough may have improved a bit (it did get an Ofsted outstanding fairly recently), but I hear pretty mixed things and wouldn’t target it.

As you may be aware there are plans to build a lot of new houses in St A (and no new secondaries!!) which means catchment areas will shift and shrink. Plus schools can improve or deteriorate over time, so if you have the choice I wouldn’t move until 2-3 years before you’ll need to apply. If you do want to move sooner than as above get very close to your target school - I’d say 500m max to be sure of getting a place.