11 Plus Exams Forum

Did anyone else fall in love with CRGS today?

Not tonight but we (including DS) had the same reaction 3 years ago . It's a fabulous school and our son loves it.

DD and I had a similar feeling about ColCHS on Monday.

Found the HM at CRGS a little dry..anyone with real experience of him have any comments?

toolate wrote:Found the HM at CRGS a little dry..anyone with real experience of him have any comments?

I've always found him to be warm. He really cares about the boys as individuals - not just as contributors to league table success. He must have been having an off day!

toolate wrote:Found the HM at CRGS a little dry..anyone with real experience of him have any comments?

I have always found Mr Jenkinson to be a very pleasant man. He always takes the time to speak to me and only yesterday when I collected my son from school, he asked how my daughter was getting on after her GCSE exams. He had previously interviewed her for Sixth Form and, although she didn't get a place, he was still interested in how she was getting on.

I feel that he really does make the effort to speak with parents and, as First-timer said, he sees the boys as individuals.

I have a lot of respect for him and hope he stays, at least for the next five years anyway!

CRGS is a wonderful school and I am very grateful that my son is part of it.

Took my son to CRGS and we loved it, very different from ColCHS (which we also love) yet both have such a nice feel. The HT did not say much at the main speech I felt, but then the school spoke for him, all the boys and girls we spoke to were a credit to themselves and the school. As we were going round the HT did speak to us as my son and I was talking about all we had seen.

djy76 wrote:Took my son to CRGS and we loved it, very different from ColCHS (which we also love) yet both have such a nice feel. The HT did not say much at the main speech I felt, but then the school spoke for him, all the boys and girls we spoke to were a credit to themselves and the school. As we were going round the HT did speak to us as my son and I was talking about all we had seen.

I agree that the school definitely did the speaking. I stopped to speak to few kids (randomly) and was impressed with how confident they were in thier responses and how much they genuinely love their school. For me, it was a complete contrast to the session I had earlier at Kegs!

Serious Mum,


Could you elaborate on how it contrasted to Kegs please.

My son is just finishing year 7 at CRGS and it has been wonderful. Last year I posted the following after the new year 7 parents' evening:

"I felt I had to write something about the wonderful new parents' evening at CRGS on Wednesday. One of the things we really liked about the school when we attended the open day was the Headmaster and his talk on Wednesday night almost made me cry. It is very very frightening to think of your small DS going off to secondary school and on a bus by themselves:shock: but after this week I feel so much more comfortable about it.

The whole evening was "well done" in a terribly old english way but for me the most wonderful thing was the handful of year 7 boys who entertained us. The music was great (I loved the American Pie boy) but best of all was the way they talked to new parents and the easy, friendly but open way they interacted with the staff who were there; there is obviously a very good bond between boys and teachers. The boys I talked to were all polite and quietly confident. I cannot imagine my DS being able to conduct himself so well, in what must be a daunting social setting with adults, in just a year's time.

It has been a long journey getting here, we visited many schools and it was tough deciding which one to put first but after Wednesday any lingering doubts have been put to bed and I am so so thrilled that my son is going to be part of something so special and I cannot wait to go back for more of the many social activities they seem to have to bring the parents into the school.

If you are a parent of one of this year's year 7 you must be sooooo proud, it is a shame you couldn't see how well they did."

We have not regretted our decision to put CRGS first for one moment. Picking up on other comments here it might be worth recounting our experiences at the way the two boys' grammar schools "sell" themselves to prospective parents. We live in between Chelmsford and Colchester and started off following the crowd at the playground gate where KEGS is king. On visiting the schools though we just didn't get a good feeling at KEGS. The boys who took us around on the open day were great but the playground had litter in it and the sixth form all looked scruffy, particularly the girls, it just didn't feel good. The headmaster didn't make any kind of appearance and it was just uninspiring. The deputy head was great, everything was fine but most of the comps we visited did better and quite frankly we live near two not very good academies which both sold themselves better than KEGS did. So I think "sell" might be the key. They don't have to. They give you the opportunity to see it as it is which is very fair and probably more honest but it just doesn't leave you feeling wowed.

CRGS put on a brilliant show. The head is anything but dry. He often makes me want to cry (in a sentimental way) and frequently makes me laugh. His little speech after last week's summer concert about departing music staff was both touching and funny. This school sells itself well but then delivers. I cannot tell you how brilliant it is. I have no doubt KEGS is just as good but we fell in love with CRGS one warm september night nearly two years ago and feel truly blessed that our much loved boy is so happy and fulfilled there.

Good luck to you all both in deciding which schools to go to and then the challenge of the test I hope everyone finds a school as well suited to their child as we have.