any advice about local schools appreciated

[kindaha]

we have just moved into the area and our daughter is due to go to reception next september and would like to know people's opinions about local schools. we are closest to Heber, does anyone have kids there or know about it?

many thanks

[kindaha]

-- moved topic --

[Fuschia]

Heber is lovely. With pressure on places locally, you only really have a chance of getting into your closest community school, so Heber will need to be your first choice (then probably Goodrich, depending on where you live exactly)

How close are you to Heber? You need to be within a few 100 metres...

[DonGee]

My niece goes to Heber and she loves it, her mother has no complaints with it either.

[oilworker]

Given that you are using this forum you are almost certainly middle class. So be reassured this is a much more determinative factor in the success of your child's education than the school she goes to. Our children went to Dulwich Village Infants and Dulwich Hamlet - both these schools are quite ordinary where the quality of teaching is concerned but are massively over-subscribed because of the nature of their middle class catchment. Presumably Heber's like this??

btw what the fuschia is a "community school"??

[vicki08]

i didnt know you had to be middle class to use this forum

[Fuschia]

oilworker Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Given that you are using this forum you are almost

> certainly middle class. So be reassured this is a

> much more determinative factor in the success of

> your child's education than the school she goes

> to. Our children went to Dulwich Village Infants

> and Dulwich Hamlet - both these schools are quite

> ordinary where the quality of teaching is

> concerned but are massively over-subscribed

> because of the nature of their middle class

> catchment. Presumably Heber's like this??

>

> btw what the fuschia is a "community school"??

it's what southwark's admission code refers to - a non church school, basically.

[womanofdulwich]

dont have to be middle class- but if you are on here and start a thread about schools you are VERY likely to be;-)

[vicki08]

why! dont working class worry about the school their child is going to attend.

[oilworker]

Not as much as the middle classes do - it's their defining characteristic..

[Dorothy]

(Oh yuk at the smuggery on this thread)

From what I have heard, Heber is agreat school op. My children don't go there but I have several MIDDLE CLASS friends whose children attend and are very happy there, so do rest assured.

[vicki08]

well if your comment define middle class may i offer my deepest sympathy as your world died a century ago

[Curmudgeon]

I think you'll find it's involved parents that make a difference and not the class of parents

[Saila]

Curmudgeon Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think you'll find it's involved parents that

> make a difference and not the class of parents

spot on

i read somewhere that success at school was linked to how 'involved' the father was/is....

[jadal]

Any normal parent,middle class or other should be interested in the school they hope to send their child to as the child will be spending several years there...

Anyway,opinions about local schools is one thing but I also feel you really need to try and visit the school or go to one of their open mornings as you may find a school has a good reputation but you personally don't feel the atmosphere would be suitable for your child. Also I would be prepared to visit a few choices and be realistic about your options. You may want certain schools but what you actually get may be a different story!

Good luck with it xx

[kindaha]

Thank you all for messages, I really didn't realise it was going to start a big discussion about the middle classes!! I am not British and as such not quite up to scratch on the who's who in the classes. However I do care, as I think most parents of all classes, about my daughter going to a good school. we are very close to Heber and I have heard vague comments about it being good, I did do a tour and thought it looked ok but it's hard to judge what a place is like from a short tour so just wanted to know from people who have kids there or who have lived in the area long enough to know. Anyway many thanks again

[civilservant]

You would do well to put Heber as your first choice - it is a good and improving school, as we know because Junior civilservant goes there. One thing that Heber certainly doesn't lack is parental involvement! Upper/middle/working class, whatever - the Parents and Friends are a very active bunch, and have done wonders to raise funds for the school.

I'm also curious to know why "Dulwich Village Infants and Dulwich Hamlet are massively over-subscribed because of the nature of their middle class catchment." Is it because the nature of the middle classes in their catchment is to breed like rabbits? Only asking...

[kindaha]

ok many thanks, I appreciate junior civilservant's input given he is an 'inmate' of the school. did he/she go to the nursery too? if so how did junior find it?

[civilservant]

junior civilservant went straight into Reception, so I can't speak about the nursery from my own experience

she settled in well, no doubt helped by being a girl, and not summer-born (both characteristics that work to children's advantage in the early years) but the Reception staff did a lot to help the children's transition into school as well

the school usually has two reception classes, but this year had to put on a third to accommodate unprecedentedly high local demand for school places. This is the controversial bulge class that you might have heard about on other threads. Next year, it will be back to a two-class intake, which is why I advised putting Heber top of your list if that's where you want your child to go

[Fuschia]

Little F went to Heber nursery, it's lovely

[oilworker]

""I'm also curious to know why "Dulwich Village Infants and Dulwich Hamlet are massively over-subscribed because of the nature of their middle class catchment." Is it because the nature of the middle classes in their catchment is to breed like rabbits? Only asking..""

No it's simply a fact of their geographical position - their being in the middle of an area with a very low density of social housing (for inner London). Consequently many local parents are happy to use them as a free prep-school (with top-up private tuition of course) until their children move in to the private schol sector at seconadary level(or grammar for the clever ones). Given that we are talking more than GBP 40k saving per child using this approach it's not surprising these schools are heavily over-subscribed. It's also not surprising that house prices in the catchment of these schools are inflated because of this.

Kindaha - I find it difficult to believe you seemingly don't know which class you belong to given you have used the classic middle class tactic of buying a (presumably quite expensive) property within the catchment of some good schools. The fact of the matter is that the middle classes monopolise all "good" schools (= schools with low numbers of disruptive children and high numbers of invloved supportive parents) and universities because of their buying power and knowledge of the system. I know all this because I was brought up in a council house and went to a school where only two children in the whole year went on to go to University. (Obviously I was one of them)

[Fliss]

Obviously?

[oilworker]

yes obviously - otherwise I'd be too busy grinding away in KwikFit or somewhere to have the time or inclination to contribute to this forum...

[redjam]

Blimey, poor Kindaha - s/he comes on here asking a simple question about a local school, and gets treated to a long discourse on the British class system's role in education.

Anyway, in answer to your question, Kindaha, Heber is a lovely school - my daughter goes there and both she and I are very happy with it, and my younger one will, with luck, start next September. It is a lively, friendly place and my daughter is thriving there. I don't have any direct experience of the nursery as my daughter didn't go there, but I have a vague impression from friends that it's not QUITE as good as the school itself, though I should stress that is total hearsay and it's by no means bad, just maybe not as excellent as the rest of the school (if anyone has kids there now I'm happy to be corrected on this!). However, I've also heard it's improving, so may be irrelevant for your child anyway.

If I were you I would look round other schools so you've got something to compare it to, but realistically you are unlikely to get in anywhere else (and in fact you are lucky, as Heber is heavily oversubscribed so if it's your nearest school you have a strong chance of getting in).

[Fuschia]

RJ: we found the nursery was lovely, but not long after he'd left it, the most recent OFSTED identified weaknesses across early years (nursery AND reception) I think it was over assessment... there was an HMI follow up that rated it good, later on. I think I've remembered it properly.

In terms of the happiness and progress of the children in the foundation stage, i don't think there has ever been any doubt.