Richmond-upon-Thames: great primaries, shite secondaries. Discuss

[willow]

R-u-T crows on about its excellent primary schools, but it largely fails kids beyond year six. Everyone seems to be either busting a gut and going private, moving kids now to linked schools elsewhere or finding God in an attempt to get into Christ's... which is hardly top notch but better than Shite International.

Discuss.

AnnyBee - I totally disagree with you.
I went to look around Shene School just before Easter and it confirmed everything i'd feared and worse.

The school has no discipline (one child walking around in no uniform), the head commented that although an A Class student, they couldn't get him to wear a uniform .... what's that all about ?

There were about a dozen year 11 students walking into the assembly 20 mins after it had started and weren't pulled up.

My son and I hated it, he wouldn't even enter the classrooms he felt so intimated by the other children.

The corridors were littered with crisp packets and uneaten sweets.

Also the school is having major building works from 2011, which means the school will be a building site for 2/3 years.

Unfortunately only 20% of the school is local borough children, the other 80% is out of borough.

Sadly the school needs to close the admissions for one year an re-open it. Making it an academy isn't going to make any difference, just look at Whitton and HCC.

Mona, I have met you and applaud the hard work that you and many others are undoubtedly putting in to try to turn Shene around - but you are not there yet, and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous. As for labelling me ill-informed and out of touch? I don't think so: many, many parents, myself included, have filled in surveys, attended meetings etc etc in an attempt to get across the key issues that we feel are fundamental if Shene is to stand a chance of becoming a local school once again. (Obviously, it would help if we felt the LEA was actually listening, but that's not your fault.) The academy status will hopefully help bring about big changes in time - but, sadly, not soon enough for many families. Even the CEO, David Triggs, said prospective parents should give it the best part of ten months to a year from this September before visiting to see how the new regime is faring. I don't have that long to make up my mind about my child's education - I wish I did.

Willow, totally agree with you, Sheen will eventually turn around, but sadly it will take time and not soon enough for us. I currently have a child in Christ's who leaves this September which means I didn't qualify for the sibling policy for my other child. Luckily I put Grey Court as my 2nd choice and got in last week (having been 30th on waiting list the week before). I went to look around Grey Court today and I was completely bowled over. The only advice I can give to any parent, is to make sure you look around a school during school hours, not on an open evening when they wheel in the brightest, plumiest year 7 children. Sadly Christ's school now seems to be dominated by the foundation places, so unless you want to start going to church for a year prior to admission, you don't stand a hell in chance of getting in. I know where i'll be sending my child this year and it definitely won't be Sheen

Grey Court are planning to offer Latin as an extra curricular subject for GCSE if that helps anyone. I don't know if many comprehensives do this as well but I'm really pleased its going to be an option.

And how nice to see that the borough's one and only sixth form option - Richmond College - is in meltdown, too. (and they wonder why we want a sixth form in our state secondaries?)

Will definitely check out Grey Court, btw.

Willow - As you say Richmond college is in meltdown and now Esher College are prioritising Elmbridge applicants over Richmond applicants. The Tory councillors' say that any Richmond school can have a sixth form, if they get in. Don't think a Tory council is very likely, though.

Well I was wrong - Richmond do now have a Tory council!!

And they have stated they would:

"Work to bring 6th forms into local schools, by setting up, at once, an 11-18 Forum, involving key local bodies."

www.richmondboroughconservatives.com/index.php?sectionid=100&pagenumber=439