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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

St Philomena, The Ursuline, Virgo Fidelis - your views?

46 replies

BarkisIsWilling · 29/11/2009 18:02

Hi all,

I'm looking at the above schools for 2011 entry, and would like to know more about them beyond their website info.

Any views welcome. Thanks in advance

OP posts:

CardyMow · 02/12/2009 11:56

Is the Ursuline the one in Bentwood? If so, my mum wanted me to go there when I was that age. I refused...do they still have the disgusting deckchair stripe uniform??!!

CardyMow · 02/12/2009 11:56

oops meant Brentwood

Lilymaid · 02/12/2009 12:00

Or the one in Wimbledon .... aargh!
I went there so long ago that the school can't possibly be anything like it was then!

serenity · 02/12/2009 12:22

Don't know anything about Ursuline, but quite a lot of girls from our primary go to Virgo. Everyone seems to be pretty happy with it, haven't heard anything bad. I live 5 minutes away and go past it all the time, and they all seem really polite and well turned out.

St Phil's has a good reputation too. I know someone who's applied, and she was pretty impressed when she went for a look around. I think it's quite hard to get into though - very oversubscribed.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 02/12/2009 18:47

Thanks people!

Yep, I meant the Ursuline school in SW19.

Virgo seems to be the least rated (by others) of the three, but it's the nearest to me.

OP posts:

Secondaryglazedover · 02/12/2009 19:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 02/12/2009 20:19

2ndaryglazedover, your last couple of sentences chime with what someone said to me about the Ursuline girls probably having more fun than the ones at St Phil's.

OP posts:

MsDav · 03/12/2009 15:40

Plus the St Phil's uniform is vile :D

Secondaryglazedover · 03/12/2009 19:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 09/01/2010 17:03

I think I'm more inclined to either VF or St Philomena's having investigated a bit more. The Ursuline school is a bit harder to get to for us.

OP posts:

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 01:19

Just found this and am tired so cut to the quick. Thought VF not well resourced, didn't really like the atmosphere, I didn't look at St Philomena's as too far away but I hear it is wonderful academically. Have you looked at Coloma Convent? Depends what your dd wants or you want.

Best of luck.

Mamazon · 10/01/2010 01:39

i went to Ricards lodge and so knew a lot of teh Ursuline girls as we would fight with them regularly.
one of their lot stabbed a security guard at Centre courts and one of ours got the blame.

My friends DD currently goes to St Phils and loves it. from what i can tell its a lot more religious than Ursuline but not in a preachy over the top way iyswim. its more like a formal guidance of how they should behave wheras ursuline just teach the curriculum with an extra RE lesson here and there.

I would say that St Phil's would be my choice if it were my daughter.

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 01:41

Me too.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 10/01/2010 13:15

Thanks Monty27 & Mamazon.

Coloma is too far. Don't want dd to "travel" as opposed to "go" to school.

Should I also consider La Retraite?

eeek!!! decisions! decisions!

OP posts:

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 14:03

Bark - I know what you mean about travelling to school! Coloma is really easily accessible from East Croydon which seems to have great train connections depends where you are obv. I can't say I know La Retraite although I have heard of it. If dd was here she could help but she'll be back later.

It has been three years since I did this for ds (dd is 16) and I don't know if the process is the same but the only piece of advice is to fill in all the boxes, do not leave any empty boxes because that gives the LEA the opp to make a decision for you if you aren't successful with your choices iyswim? (I gave this advice to someone, they ignored it and left gaps, but were unsuccessful with the choices they put on the form so the LEA gave him a place at their nearest most awful secondary school).

It's a tough one and I really don't envy you. I wish you luck with it.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 10/01/2010 14:20

Monty, thanks ever so much for your response and advice. I'll fill in all the boxes. My nearest school is St Martin's (so wouldn't be the worst thing to happen -lol)

The other consideration I have is that 2 years later ds will follow dd into sec. sch.

We want them to be close together, if not in the same school and I thought "VF is paired with St Joseph's, so job done!"

And then you posted. Now I've got my nails bitten to the quick pondering my choice of an under-resourced school.

Need to ask: what does an under resourced school mean, to you?

OP posts:

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 15:33

Bark - No problem.

Have a look at VF, it is several years since I looked at it, by under resourced I meant well, it had a lot of temp teachers and I'd heard at the time there was a high turnover of staff.

DS goes to St J's by the way and moans about it, a lot of bullying etc. However, I would say St J's is a good school as long as the child is academic with a bit of a thick skin and good family support. It's a bit tough imo. I can't see that I've witnessed any great attachment between VF and St J's apart from the fact they are quite near each other.Our first choice for ds was J Fisher but we didn't get in (app because I am divorced ) so it might just be that he is still miffed iyswim.

If St Martin's is a good school then put it on the form even if it is your final choice, there's a lot to be said for going to school instead of travelling to school as you said before.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 10/01/2010 17:08

Did you not consider BTG then? That would be my first choice, but dd says she wants to go to a girls' school.

I may have to override her.

OP posts:

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 17:17

BTG??

Dd wanted a girls' school too so that's what I did, deciding I'd cross prob with ds when I got to it sort of thing. (She went to CC).

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 10/01/2010 17:34

Bishop Thomas Grant, Head is Mr Desa.

OP posts:

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 17:45

Oh, I've heard of that, is that Wimbledon? I think that was too far for me I'm SE London.

Original poster

BarkisIsWilling · 10/01/2010 18:07

No, it's in Streatham on the 417 route. Walkable from Crown Point.

I like CC but as dd was baptised at 12 months plus, it's not very likely we'd be considered. Plus the distance factor.

OP posts:

Caoimhe · 10/01/2010 19:01

Monty27 - I wouldn't woory too much about your ds not getting J Fisher - I know several boys there and there is definitely a bullying problem at the school.

serenity · 10/01/2010 19:11

I wasn't that impressed with Saint Jo's tbh. It appears to have gone downhill a fair amount, and I wasn't impressed with the tome of it when I was looking for DS1. It didn't feel very... nurturing. BTG on the other hand felt far more of a community feel, although it wasn't for us (too much of an emphasis on the religious side for me, plus it reminded me of my secondary too much!) The majority of children from our primary go to BTG, and all the parents from this years Yr7 intake seem very happy (FWIW DS1 started at Dunraven, and I am unbelievably happy with it and his progress, but I wanted a secular state school)

Monty100 · 10/01/2010 21:16

Caoimhe - (love the name) thanks for the reassurance, I have thought that it would be much the same anywhere else albeit there are prob some exceptions to this.

Serenity - I really wanted a RC school for ds and that's the best we were offered, I wasn't familiar with BTG at the time though. I must say that the head's speech at the opening night we attended at St J's was rather curt, if not hilarious. It didn't scare me off lol, and ds really liked it, but I think that was because of the swimming pool.

Bark - I wish I'd looked at BTG now. Oh and dd is home but doesn't know anyone that went to La Retrait, sorry!

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