Ackroyd Children's Centre and Stillness School

[justathought]

Hello! We are planning on moving to Honor Oak in the next few months. We have been offered a place at Ackroyd Children's Centre but being new to the area, I have no idea what it's really like! Does anyone out there have any information, have your children gone there and enjoyed it? Word of mouth is so useful so I'd be really grateful for your thoughts. Also, if anyone has any thoughts on Stillness School that would be great. We are hoping to buy in the catchment area but again, are going on Ofsted reports and not much else at the moment. Thanks so much, and sorry if these topics have been covered elsewhere, I have tried searching but nothing came up.

[chantelle]

hi, I'm in pretty much the same situation as you, aiming to move to the area, likely for Stillness and using the community centre. There is a se23.com forum that has some people familiar with both.

[justathought]

Hi Chantelle, thanks so much, I'll look there!

[Bishberro]

Hi - Just a Thought. I live in Honor Oak and as far as I know, the Ackroyd Children's Centre has a great reputation and it's v small so you're very lucky to have got in. I know people whose children have been there since the baby unit and they're very happy with it. With regards to Stillness, I've been round it recently and know several people whose kids go there and they're very happy with it. It's a large school (3 class intake) and the current head is quite a character (you'll see what I mean if you meet her) but it's rumoured that she's retiring soon anyway.

I would call them up and go for a tour round. I got a nice feeling about it, the pupils all seemed happy, the facilities were good and I would be more than happy if my son got in there. SE23 is great for primary schools - Stillness and Dalmain are both good and of course Fairlawn but you have to live practically next door to get into it. I would def call both schools up and go for a look round. You could always talk to a few parents on the way in/out.

[millie42]

ACF is great - both of my children have been there since the Baby Unit and my younger son is still in the nursery. I have also heard very good things about Stillness. I understand that there tend to have a large sibling intake most years so would suggest you check with Lewisham to see distances or the last child accepted to be on the safe side as I know several families very close to the school failed to get places this year. Good luck! HOP is great place for families.

[justathought]

Thanks for the replies. Millie42, do you happen to know where those kids got a place if it wasn't Stillness? Where we live at the moment, the situation is quite dire in that if you don't get a place at your nearest school you may get sent to the next borough! We are hoping to buy on the doorstep of the school if we can but obviously that might not be possible. Thanks again.

[chantelle]

i posted the 2011 distances to stillness, dalmain, fairlawn and horniman on another thread about primary school applications here. Stillness has a three intakes so the catchment is still somewhat reasonable.

[BB100]

Hi Chantelle, I looked at the distance for Stillness you posted but the 2011/12 prospectus says it was 645metres. However I know someone who got her daughter into Stillness last year with no problem and she lives 850 metres away, which sort of makes the figures worthless.

I don't think the catchment is as small for Stillness as they would like people to think. It used to be really difficult to get into Stillness because it was the only good school around but now it has more competition with Fairlawn, Dalmain, Kilmorie and Turnham becoming desirable schools and so have less first-choice applications from around those school areas than they did previously.

[jeh]

My little boy is at the Ackroyd baby unit and I think its lovely, couldn't be happier with it!

[chantelle]

the numbers i got for 2012/13 are pre-shakedown. Keep in mind that in any given year, there will be children from much further away who are siblings from when the catchment might have been larger. The distance to school figures also don't include special needs children.

I don't see how it is in anyone's interest to give out the wrong figures, though I pesonally will err on the side of caution and try to live as near a desired school as possible.

[BB100]

No, she wasn't a sibling or special needs. The first round of offers are rarely a good indicator of distance. I think 800 metres away from Stillness is more than enough to get in since there are plenty of Stillness children already on that road and the 90 children intake leaves plenty of room for drop out - it's much cheaper as well, as houses next to Stillness are going for 1/2 million at the moment, so getting as close as possible is not really that worth it.

[chantelle]

so I am to disregard the published 2010/11 figure of 645m? That is the published admissions figure for last year. The lower figure I got was for 2011/12 based on first round offers. Why do they bother if the numbers aren't accurate? I don't fancy my chances though ending up with some crap school.

[BB100]

The figures are a guide but not very helpful when it doesn't reflect reality and you're house hunting. All the schools in the Crofton Park area/Forest Hill area are very good though, not just Stillness. Also Gordonbrock has a new Head and will soon have a new building so even more pressure off Stillness in the next few years.

Also, it might be useful to know that the Fairlawn Head has taken over Haseltine.

[chantelle]

i don't fancy Brockley Primary, for example.

[BB100]

erm, yes but that is in Brockley though. The early years bit is ok though if you get really stuck and have to wait for a place elsewhere. A lot of the children at Brockley Primary arrive with very good skill levels because they have been to Chelwood.