I know this topic comes up annually but I'd greatly appreciate advice and recommendations on good primary schools in and around Sydenham.
I'd be interested to hear from parents whose children are currently attending schools.
Thanks.
Primary Schools 2009/2010
I have never seen anyone ever give personal feedback on schools in this forum and I wonder if for some it is almost too sensitive a subject to air in public. The school/parent relationship is also an important one and negative comments could impact on that.
Maybe also others want to prevent exacerbating the 'run' on the more popular Primary Schools. I only know people in the process of looking and I feel that everyone's perception is in line with what you will find on the schools' Ofsted reports and league tables. We are also blocked out of our three closest schools due to their religious affiliations which is an absurd situation which I resent as primary schools' availability to their locality should be a priority to make parents' lives easier and minimize the 'school run' impact. As it is I will probably have to use a car. The three remaining choices are Kirkdale, Elliot Bank and Adamsrill (in Lewisham).
Let me know if you have any other feedback.
Maybe also others want to prevent exacerbating the 'run' on the more popular Primary Schools. I only know people in the process of looking and I feel that everyone's perception is in line with what you will find on the schools' Ofsted reports and league tables. We are also blocked out of our three closest schools due to their religious affiliations which is an absurd situation which I resent as primary schools' availability to their locality should be a priority to make parents' lives easier and minimize the 'school run' impact. As it is I will probably have to use a car. The three remaining choices are Kirkdale, Elliot Bank and Adamsrill (in Lewisham).
Let me know if you have any other feedback.
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yummymummy
- Posts: 58
- Joined: 29 Oct 2007 15:55
- Location: Sydenham
My Daughter attends Kelvin Grove Primary school and I am very happy with the school and its approach to all aspects of the childrens learning and well being. In my opinion I do not believe that ofsted reports etc always give a true reflection of a school. I think personal visits to a school to meet the staff and children are the best way to get a real feel and sense of what is really going on.
My sister managed to get into a RC primary school although we are not a Catholic family - reason being it was less than 5 mins walk from our house.adrian wrote:We are also blocked out of our three closest schools due to their religious affiliations which is an absurd situation
Admittedly this was some 15 years ago, and also not in this borough.
I just checked St Barts published admissions criteria. In fact 1/3 (15) places are allocated to non-worshipers and 2/3 (30) to worshipers.
The open places are 6 times over-subscribed and the religious places are undersubscribed (which I suppose allows some more non-worshipers in).
My closest school is St Philip Neri where there is a strict priority list with no non-religious places allocated as a matter of course. But there again if it's a choice between schooling being infused with a specific religious message which is of no interest to me and using up car miles to attend another school I will probably go with the expanded carbon footprint.
I do resent the fact that one of the lost important services we receive in return for a lifetime of taxation should be skewed in this way by specific interest groups. As the published admissions data for St Barts shows this is not even about a religious community needing these schools and how many of the 21 applicants for the 30 available religious places were just doing it to get first dibs on a place?
The open places are 6 times over-subscribed and the religious places are undersubscribed (which I suppose allows some more non-worshipers in).
My closest school is St Philip Neri where there is a strict priority list with no non-religious places allocated as a matter of course. But there again if it's a choice between schooling being infused with a specific religious message which is of no interest to me and using up car miles to attend another school I will probably go with the expanded carbon footprint.
I do resent the fact that one of the lost important services we receive in return for a lifetime of taxation should be skewed in this way by specific interest groups. As the published admissions data for St Barts shows this is not even about a religious community needing these schools and how many of the 21 applicants for the 30 available religious places were just doing it to get first dibs on a place?