Balham primary schools Post Reply

[Seville12]

My husband and I are looking at moving to Balham with our baby, and I want to take primary schools into consideration as I know this will come around quickly! I have a few questions and hoping someone might be able to help:

1) St Anselm’s looks amazing and my husband is Catholic. Presumably all the places go to kids who fulfil the faith criteria (mass for three years) in which case, how do they decide between those who qualify?! Is it distance, and if so, how far can you be?

2) Ravenstone is probably our best bet catchment-wise for the property we’re looking at, but results aren’t great. Anyone got any feedback on this school? I know results aren’t everything!

3) Is it really the case with places like Henry Cavendish and Telferscot that you have to live virtually on top of them to get in? How do enough people live within the five or so eligible houses?! I’m exaggerating obviously, but wondering if they are so much better than other schools in the area, and why.

[Petittype]

No direct experience I'm afraid, but I heard really positive feedback on Ravenstone, from friends with children there:
Headteacher is said to be accessible and really cares about his pupils. I'd thought that their results had improved over the years and were now solid?  Good provision and flexibility for children with SEN. Communication in the school is said to be very good.
That's all I heard.

[Seville12]

Thank you - perhaps the results I’ve seen are a bit out of date then! Certainly sounds like it’s on the up from what you say

[JoClaphamMum]

Ravenstone is indeed a very good school. The head is very inspiring and devoted to making the school a great place for the children. The ethos is one of inclusivity and the school has developed school characters that drive the children do be their best. They can be Cally Creative, Dorothy determined, Kendrick kind, Hugo honest.
The PTA is also very engaged and they raise a lot of money for the school which has been invested in infrastructure (great playground!) and extracurricular activities to enrich the curriculum.
They run weekly assemblies that all parents can attend and where children present their work and are awarded for their efforts during the week. It is a pleasure to watch.
Their results are impacted by the fact that in recent years a few children have left in Y5 and Y6 to go to independent schools. Their progression is not reflected on the final results of the school. They also have the Hive which is dedicated for children with SEN and I think that may come into the mix as well.
But would really recommend - it was our favourite state primary and we visited more than 10, including outstanding schools.

[Seville12]

Really helpful to hear this about Ravenstone - the type of info you can’t get from stats alone. Thanks so much!

[HappyWalrus]

Hello, another vote for Ravenstone here. Lovely culture at the school, driven by a genuinely inspiring head who has really focussed on lifting the quality of teaching and results, but managed to avoid taking the joy out of learning in the way that some results-mad schools do. We had several good options but couldn’t be happier that we picked Ravenstone.
(The school has also been great at managing lockdown, btw. Google classroom, video lessons, one-on-one teacher feedback on Zoom. And now managing to get all years back to school at least some of the week. I think the building and grounds make that easier than at, say, Rutherford.)