Chesterfield secondary school help

[grace1976]

We are looking between st Mary's ,netherthorpe or springwell do they have lots of homework everyday and do you have to be really academic to go through st mary..my hubby doesnt like like outwood hasland to wanting the best grades for them.he has austic traits but manage through school.also will they thrive if they don't go up with friend and don't have many.

St Mary's has a huge focus on academics and a lot of pressure to do well alongside homework etc.

Which area of Chesterfield are you going to be living as ahasland is quite a way from Netherthorpe and Springwell

We live calow

I would start by checking out the previous years admissions data because calow is not necessarily in the catchment for Netherthorpe or Springwell.

St Mary's is also selective so unless you are Catholic or regular church goers you may struggle. They have a separate admissions form and I believe they require evidence and a letter from your church etc.

Can you just have.baptism form

No i dont think so

He was baptism and goes to a cofe primeary

We sent the (non-catholic) baptism certificate which I understand is all that's needed. We did send a supporting letter from church as I thought it would do no harm.

https://stmarysschool.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/document/Admission-Policy-2026-27.pdf?t=1761679686?ts=1761679686

Admissions policy here.

It does suggest baptism certificate is accepted as proof they are Catholic, but having had several friends who have applied it is not always that straight forward.

Did you get in

Did they get in

Yes, they did. I guess your difficulty is deciding which schools to put 2nd and 3rd really, as you'll have to put St Mary's first to have any chance. I don't know about Netherthorpe or Springwell as it's not our part of town. So much is what you think will suit your child best and that's often just instinct. And the practicalities of getting there.

Where do you live if you don't minf

Do they have to be academic to go

Do some kids find it really hard

I live in Brampton. So Brookfield and Parkside were our other choices. Re academics, there is a lot of encouragement to do above and beyond the minimum homework but I wouldn't say pressure. My DC is quite academic but not massively motivated so tends to do the minimum required. I don't know how the homework compares to other schools. People kept telling me St Mary's gives a lot of homework but we've generally not found it too much (though only in Yr 8). But my DC isn't bothered about doing a good job of it so doesn't feel pressured!

Just to say, if a certain school is your top preference, such as st Mary’s in this case, then you should list it first; but listing it second won’t harm your chances of getting in, as this post implies. Schools cannot prioritise first choice listings.

No, but if OP puts Netherthorpe first and their DC qualifies for a place then that is the school they will be offered. They will not be offered at place at both and allowed to choose. The school can't prioritise first place choices but the LA system does when deciding which school place to offer.

Yes absolutely. They will indeed be offered a place at the school they qualify for, that they have ranked the highest. Apologies. Your post implied (to me anyway) that not putting St Mary's first would jeopardise the OP's chances of getting a place if, for example, they put some very long-shot school in first pref.

What did letter say