Primary Schools - Opinions Please!

[Fionamb]

Hello!

My family and I are moving to the area and currently in a world of confusion over primary schools! We are moving from Australia having been here for ten years so totally out of the loop with UK school system. My 4 year old will start in September. We are looking for a school and somewhere to live, and marrying the two up is proving to be easier said than done! We liked the look of Goodrich School, but seems quite big (maybe this is daunting?!) and it is hard to find a good sized house within our budget so have also started looking further afield. Does anyone have any opinions on Goodrich or Heber School? Also if anyone has any feedback on Ivydale or Dalmain Schools (realise these are technically outside of East Dulwich)I'd love to hear. Basically, any help welcome!

Thank you so much.

[Galileo]

Welcome back to the area Fionamb.

The offers have just gone out for reception places for this September. You?ll need to check in with Southwark and the local schools for which may have space. I would start with and enquiry to Southwark school services explaining your position.

My kids are at Harris Primary on Lordship Lane. They?re really happy there, but I have to say I have rarely heard anyone say anything bad about any of the local primary schools. We?re at the station end of ED and I know people very happy with all the schools at this end: Bessemer Grange, Goose Green, Dog Kennel Hill and into Peckham Rye with the Belham and St John?s and St Clements. There is a Facebook group called East Dulwich Mums that might also help (I think dads are allowed too, perhaps it should be changed to Parents and carers!)

Good luck with the move.

[DVnewbie]

Hello! Just to reiterate, there are loads of good schools round here, particularly at the moment. Southwark has falling role numbers so it is much easier to get a place at the ?good? ones these days - and there are more really good ones about. My children go to/went through Dulwich Village Infants and Dulwich Hamlet and the catchment areas for both have gone out massively recently. (Obviously, I really rate both!) I have heard lovely things re Ivydale too - a colleague?s children go there.

[DVnewbie]

Also - as soon as you have an address/tenancy agreement, email the schools and get on the waiting list. There is still a lot of movement at the moment as people decide whether to accept offers or not. (Some apply for private and state schools and may have accepted a private place before the state offers come out.)

[ARF]

My children are at Goodrich (the oldest in Year 4) and we have been really happy with the school. It is one of the larger schools in the area but it really doesn't feel like that when you're in the school. It's a friendly school with a great community and I think the size also brings lots of opportunities - and sets them up well for moving on to secondary (not that that will be on your mind yet!)

I do agree with the other comments though - there are loads of good schools in the area so I don't think there are any bad options.

[Waseley]

More of a Lounge discussion but by talking about good schools you may also be affecting those not so good by taking away the more able kids who have supportive parents. Generally it's about demographics and as others have pointed out all schools in the area are decent. From personal experience a change in head teacher can take a school two ways. I am also working in schools across SE London at the mo so could tell you what I think but won't as that would be unfair. To quote a radio 4 documentary the middle classes are the ones that worry most about education but have the least to worry about. Looking back at my own education did my parents get it right? Same question could be asked of me as a parent. We will never know! Choice isn't necessarily a good thing.

[ianr]

"Billystok" is one of the several; hundred usernames used for planting web links here for SEO purposes. All 8 of his previous posts have been deleted but the account remains. This post is made preparatory to the later insertion within it of a payload URL. You can see another such preparatory post at https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,2277410,2277827#msg-2277827.

[sweetgirl]

FYI, It seems St Francesca Cabrini is at risk of closing down??

[legalalien]

Indeed, there was an article about it in Southwark News yesterday https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/honor-oaks-st-francesca-cabrini-primary-school-could-close-after-nuns-announce-plans-to-move-to-africa/

Alarmingly it suggests that parents were told that as many as 17 Southwark schools could face closure. There?s some background on the oversupply of primary school places in this earlier thread.

https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,2231610,2251037#msg-2251037. The worst problems of oversupply / risk of closure seem to be in other parts of the borough, but certainly worth keeping an eye on the schools that they are looking to downsize.

sweetgirl Wrote:

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> FYI, It seems St Francesca Cabrini is at risk of

> closing down??

[Whoeveritis]

How very religious of them 😂

[oimissus]

Presumably this will have a knock-on effect on secondary schools a few years down the line.

legalalien Wrote:

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

> Indeed, there was an article about it in Southwark

> News yesterday

> https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/honor-oaks-st

> -francesca-cabrini-primary-school-could-close-afte

> r-nuns-announce-plans-to-move-to-africa/

>

>

>

> Alarmingly it suggests that parents were told that

> as many as 17 Southwark schools could face

> closure. There?s some background on the

> oversupply of primary school places in this

> earlier thread.

>

> https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?

> 5,2231610,2251037#msg-2251037. The worst problems

> of oversupply / risk of closure seem to be in

> other parts of the borough, but certainly worth

> keeping an eye on the schools that they are

> looking to downsize.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> sweetgirl Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > FYI, It seems St Francesca Cabrini is at risk

> of

> > closing down??

[goldilocks]

The distribution of place demand isn't even across southwark though - so the schools most at risk of closure are more in the north. It looks as though there are fewer school age children and the effect of the pandemic will have to be considered but it may mean that the pressure on secondary will start to ease, though would still expect both charters / kingsdale etc to be over subscribed. A niche catholic primary school closing isn't really an indicator of widespread lack of demand.

[Soylent Green]

As you have missed the primary school application and allocation deadline, you will need to look at undersubscribed schools and stay on the waiting list for your preferred schools. You will need to be registered at an address to do either of these. If I were you, I would focus on finding a suitable family home first and then look at local schools once you have found somewhere. Things to bear in mind; parental views and reputation tends to lag behind what is happening in a school at any one time by a number of years, waiting list places do come up and once the schools year starts few change so if you are willing to make changes or wait, you can jump in there; a child does not have to start school until their 5th birthday, so staying on a waiting list is a viable option. Finally, most families come to love their primary school whether they have initial reservations or not. Then they are going to want other like-minded parents to like the school too, so you may think Goodrich is best because, as a big school, there are more Goodrich parents on forums bigging it up than you will for other schools! And by the way, if you are looking at Forest Hill/Honour Oak, Kilmorie is much nicer than Dalmain and St George's is a gorgeous undersubscribed school.

[ryeme]

It's worth checking out the schools on the East Dulwich/ SE23 border too- Fairlawn, Horniman and Elliot Bank are all great and popular schools.