How would you rank High View, Alderbrook, Wix (English str) Post Reply

[aliyeo]

Hello Petal,

This is just a worrying time as we all wan to get the right school for our little one. I have sympathy as I remember our anxiety after receiving the news that our son would not go the school we presumed he would. We were certain my son would be offered Honeywell infant school as we live 245m from school and he attended Honeywell nursery. However he was offered Alderbrook.

May I take this opportunity to blow the schools trumpet. Here are some fantastic things about Alderbrook.

1. The Early Years unit is self contained and brand spanking new, built to spec. It has its own small dining room/assembly hall with a fabulous garden of easigrass with vehicle track, a playhouse, sand pit etc. This eases the children into long school days without needing to fight their way through a heaving playground. They do go to the 'big' school for certain activities and assemblies.

2. The Headmistress Miss Henry and EY Mrs Hatcher are supportive, involved, aware, encouraging and AVAILABLE to discuss any concerns.

3. My son since september has learnt to read, write, count backwards from 20, count to 100, swim (they have a pool) and ride a bicycle. He is thriving. He loves school. All the parents are saying the same. We feel lucky.

4. The Government league tables just produced reflect the schools efforts and they have jumped from below national average to well above in KS2 in 2012. This is without a culture of tutoring them from age 7 after school. In progress terms, they are bang on with 100% in both writing and maths.

5. There is a small but dynamic PTA who do sterling work. They are keen to get more parents involved. As the demographic of the school is changing it is likely that more parents will be able to offer to help out and increase revenue to buy more for the children.

The downside:
The dreaded journey from between the commons is 10-15 minutes walking, 5 if driving and currently parking is easy as it is one hour zone. It gives the children a blast of air and exercise before sitting down to work. So really jus like walking to thew tube or train station. I do it with a toddler in tow too.

I urge you to go and look around. I am sure they will make an individual appointment if you cannot make the open days. There are a few in early January. I think you will be very pleasantly surprised to discover yet another great local school.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Kind regards,
Ali

[lemonzest]

I can't speak for the Reception class upwards, but my 3 year-old is at High View in the nursery class, and I am delighted with it. The teacher and assistants are caring, energetic and well-organised. They appear to love their work and know the individual children extremely well. The other parents are friendly and welcoming. The Nursery (and I think Reception) class has its own playground, although from what I hear they make occasional, exciting trips to the 'big playground', too!

My child was writing their name within a week or two of the start of the school year, enjoys recognising letters, counting and teaching me "mummy, do you know what hibernation means..." For the record, this is certainly not down to their previous nursery/home learning. They come home with new songs, enjoy diverse activities at school and love playing with their friends. I'm pleased they're learning alongside kids from a diversity of cultural backgrounds. My only gripe is that communication with the parents from the office can occasionally be a bit lacking!

[FraggleRocks]

Would be hard for anyone to rank these schools as they are quite spread out and it is unlikely anyone will have personal experience of all three. If you want to 'compare' the schools perhaps have a look at some of the results/league table info. Will only give you one angle though (it won't tell you how your child will do at the school).

We like High View a lot. Good head - ambitious for the kids - results are also well above national ave at KS2. We were able to meet with the head before we did our forms which helped our decision. School is involved in various schemes offering the children interesting opportunities to broaden horizons - like the Mosaic mentoring programme which amongst other things took a group on a university visit earlier in the year. More importantly my child loves it, has lots of great friends and is learning loads. I've been especially impressed with the quality of the learning records. Yes nursery and reception each have their own playground. Y1-3 in another and Ys4-6 in a fourth. They also use the Battersea Sports Centre on Hope Street (3 minute walk away) for sports and they swim at Latchmere. Dedicated Mandarin teacher and a resident artist. Worthy of a place in your final 6 in my opinion.

Didn't know Alderbrook had a pool - how fantastic!

[StinkyMummy]

I agree with everything Ali has said. I have two boys at Alderbrook and they are happy and thriving there. Definitely go and see the school and have a look round x

[crazyliz72]

Honestly, High View has gone downhill in the last few years - teaching staff are leaving mid year, the new headteacher is cold at best, a bully at worst. I loved this school when my ds started, but am now regretting my choice. Ms Ridge was involved with the parents, Ms Hussain is not! There is a major issue with bullying in the school, the pta has been effectively closed and any parent who wants to discuss child development is ignored. Falconbrook has improved massively, I for one am considering moving my child there, and I know I am not the only parent considering this Unless the next Ofstead report shows something positive, I will be complaining to Wandsworth Council about this school!

[kiwimummy]

Wix English stream has very favourable reviews from those parents I know in the first few years - only because those are the years I know people. It was very oversubscribed for 2013/14 year.