Forum Topic

Marbrough primary School

Can anyone tell me What this school is like please?My 5yr Old Son Might go there But I want to know What the Education is like there etc etc?

Simon Anderson ● 6860d21 Comments

Second half will be on next week, some of those parents scared the s*** out of me, God alone knows what it did to their poor kids.I think it was more about making Mum and Dad look good and a more than a dash of snobbery behind a lot of it, nowhere did they even say whether or not these parents had even looked at the local state schools, it all seemed to be founded on rumour and perception rather than fact. What sort of adults will this produce?

Vanessa Smith ● 6854d

vanessa - there was another 2 hour part to it about admission of primary school. Belmont played a big part of it - my friend was filmed from jan applying for belmont when she was in catchment then moving to hounslow so then got the dreaded not accepted letter from Belmont. they filmed everything - it would have been great viewing. channel 4 however thought otherwise and only bought 2 hours of it so the rest ended up in the bin. its such a shame as she put loads of hours of work into it as i am sure did lots of other mums.

M Dowling ● 6855d

Had a chat with Jack in Tesco today – he is looking very well and enjoying the beginning of his retirement.

Sarah Felstead ● 6855d

Who watched "Admission Impossible" on CH.4 last night? - Scary!

Vanessa Smith ● 6855d

Both Ivybridge and Marlborough are excellent schools. We are actually very lucky in this area to have lots of great schools particularly as our teachers don't get the full London weighting.

Nicola Brown ● 6857d

Thanks Claire Much Appreciated

Simon Anderson ● 6857d

Simon the best way to find out the feel to a school is to see it in action. Make an appt in sept with the head and have a tour, are the children engaged in the lesson are they behaving do they look happy. tables and ofsted reports are great but you need to add faces and feeling to those.Most schools will have open days in the run up to addmissons have a look at all schools you are intrested in pro and con list for all, you will soon see which school stands out for you.

Claire Diaper ● 6857d

Vanessa, I did try to make sure that I never gave the impression that the tables were anything more than one piece of the jigsaw. Obviously the first hand experience of parents and a visit to the school would also help provide a fuller picture.

Dan Evans ● 6858d

Hi Dan And VanessaThank You for ALL your advice on this I have far much now to be working on.I FULLY appreciated both of your help on thisMany ThanksSimon Anderson

Simon Anderson ● 6858d

Dan, It does worry me when parents take more notice of league tables etc. rather than look at the bigger picture, that education should be a completely rounded experience that extends far beyond exam results. Hopefully it turns out well adjusted, sensible people educated to a degreee where they can earn a living. Let's be honest very few of us are geniuses and practical skills are just as important as academic achievement and can earn you a bloody good living. If you are interested and I would think you would be, there is a programme on Wednesday Channel 4 called Admission Impossible about parents desperate to get their child into the school they see as the best. Having read some reviews it's the kids I feel sorry for, but I will reserve judgement until afterwards - should make for an interesting discussion?

Vanessa Smith ● 6858d

I had a quick look at the figures on the Government site and Marlborough is slightly better but it's marginal. These differences boil down to the relative performance of one or two kids so in isolation the numbers don't give a clear steer.The two points I'd make is that there may be a term or two of adjustment for your boy. When one of mine moved they had a sticky term first up going into a group where friendships are already formed. Secondly wives (and presumably ex-wives) will want to make these decisions so you probably have to do what you are told whatever. It may not be the right call she is making but it doesn't seem like a bad one.

Dan Evans ● 6858d

My two both started at Worple and because I couldn't move them both to another school together because of the disparity in their ages and availability of places at the time - once the oldest left Worple to go onto secondary the other one went to Ivybridge and did better there. At that time I really liked it but this is a long time ago remember, why not go and visit both and have a chat with the staff and a look round? At least that will give you a feel for the place.

Vanessa Smith ● 6858d

Hi DanHope your well....Thanks for that info mate much appreciated.My son is at the School on Ivybridge at the Moment but the x wife wants to send him to Marlborough and I wanted to find out if this Sch is better for Education then Ivybridge Primary as I want my son to be at the Sch he will receive the BEST Education.Vanessa- Did you attd this school or your Children?

Simon Anderson ● 6858d

Simon - you can get the school exam performance on www.dfes.gov.uk. Last year's results were pretty good. Especially in Science where 60% got level 5 at Key Stage 2. That's the level above the target for that age group. The only area they did worse than the national average was English and this may be because there are children with English as a second language - not presumably an issue for your boy! This tables aren't a definitive guide to the quality of education but they seems to point to it being a very good school.

Dan Evans ● 6858d

I didn't know that - what a shame - a lovely man who I am sure will be greatly missed, I hope he enjoys his well deserved retirement.

Vanessa Smith ● 6858d

Thanks Sarah..Hope your Well and enjoyed your weekend

Simon Anderson ● 6859d

Unfortunately - Jack has retired - but he will have left a good team behind him to work with the new Head teacher.

Sarah Felstead ● 6859d

Thank U Vanessa Much appreciated

Simon Anderson ● 6859d

The Head, Jack Ingram is one of the best primary headteachers you could wish for.

Vanessa Smith ● 6859d

Thank u Magarete much appreciated

Simon Anderson ● 6860d

Try looking up their most recent OFSTED report. It might give you an idea.www.ofsted.gov.uk

Margaret Wittich ● 6860d