A choice I never thought I would have to make

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watdad
Posts: 170
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:13 pm

A choice I never thought I would have to make

Post by watdad »

I had a phone call yesterday evening. DS has been offered a place at Ricky!! ..... Letter is in the post but they wanted to inform us before the weekend.

I am a little surprised I would have thought following appeals we would have effectively slipped down the CI list and 3 or 4 people would have to have left before being offered a place.

Wife and DS wanted to reject it immediately. I am trying to be a bit more pragmatic. I have convinced DS and Wife to arrange a viewing and then let DS decide once he has had the opportunity to think about it.

His initial reaction was Queens, Queens, Queens........

Am I doing the right thing or should I just tell them where to put their place?
Lulu
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:20 pm
Location: essex

Post by Lulu »

Although I have no knowledge of either of the schools in question, my advice would be to definitely revisit Ricky. Going and seeing a school during a working day knowing your son could go there if YOU want him to is a completely different experience from being a prospective pupil on an open day. It really helped us galvanise our thoughts. That said, gut insinct is a very powerful 'tool' and I know from your previous posts that Ricky has not been very helpful in your case.

Good Luck!!

Lulu
tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Post by tense »

I remember reading in your posts (I think!) that you felt Ricky was a school "on the way down...". You didn't seem very happy about it at all.

However.... I wondered whether your views might have been coloured by your disappointment, both with the initial (non) allocation and your unsuccessful appeal? Perhaps you were just hardening your heart against the place, so to speak?

I would urge you to visit it again as soon as possible, perhaps re-read the prospectus & the Ofsted report, and remind yourself why you ranked it in the first place. After all, I am sure you considered your choices carefully when filling in the CAF form.

Now what are you going to do if your Parmiter's appeal is successful too?!! :lol:
watmum
Posts: 192
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:32 am
Location: Herts

Post by watmum »

Well, Well, Well!! LoL!

They are both cracking schools, and I agree you should have a look during a normal school day.

I think if it were me, and I could not decide between the two, I would go for the easiest option with day to day practicalities; getting DS to and from school, proximity to allow him to travel independently, that kind of thing?

Also the choice of subjects at GCSE/A level, I know Ricky offers photography GCSE for example, and at Queens you have to do PE at GCSE level, etc, all schools differ slightly when it comes to GCSE time, perhaps this may sway your decision?
watdad
Posts: 170
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:13 pm

Post by watdad »

I’m not sure about everything that has been posted but I think it was Toony that said Queen’s was on the way up and Ricky on the way down but I do sympathise with that view and if you read the latest OFSTED report it does suggest Ricky has been resting on its laurels!

I am still a little confused as to why they are still offering places of the CI. Perhaps they still need to irrespective of the appeal outcomes?

My concerns are over the way their appeals process was administered and that they blatantly broke all the codes and made us feel extremely uncomfortable. If that is how they behave in that type of environment how do they behave behind closed doors?

From Ricky’s OFSTED report....

“This is a good school which has many outstanding features. Its view of itself is not entirely accurate as it judges itself slightly better than this in some respects.â€
tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Post by tense »

Sorry to have got you & Toony mixed up.

Just wondered if you had any younger children? If so, that might perhaps influence your choice? I know it did for me - as I wanted my kids to go to school together and was looking for somewhere that would suit them all.

Best of luck - it's a good choice!
toony
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:09 pm

Ricky

Post by toony »

I would agree with what others have said - it is an awful long time since the open evenings and I would want to go and look round again if it was me.

Your quote from the OFSTED reports was exactly what led me to the conclusion that Queens is on the up and, as you say, Ricky is 'resting on its laurels'.

However Rickmansworth's GCSE results are around 10% higher when you look at the number of children getting 5 or more A-C.

You also need to bear in mind that Ricky has a 'negative' value added figure of 994.5 (average value added would be 1000) so the children they start with are of a higher standard but they don't improve as much as they should. Truancy is higher at 1%.

Queens' value added is 1007.7 with truancy 0.4%.
Parmiter's value added is 1005.5 with truancy 0.2%
Boys Grammar value added 1004.9, truancy 0.1%.

Whatever you decide I'm sure your son will do well at either school.

Good luck with your decision.
watdad
Posts: 170
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:13 pm

Post by watdad »

Ricky really are making this decision quite easy......

Having not returned my calls all day yesterday I finally got hold of the admissions secretary this morning.

I explained that we had had an unsuccessful appeal and as a consequence had come to terms with going elsewhere (Queens). I said my Son was looking forward to going to his new school and now we were having difficulties in deciding what to do.

We asked if we could make an appointment to come and see the school, we go a straight forward NO! Apparently it is all too logistically difficult for them to do. I explained the last opportunity we had, was in Oct last year and that this was a big decision for us. Their response was it is the same for everybody.

The whole tone of the conversation was unsympathetic and non-understanding But If I could let them know within the next 24 hours it would be really helpful :evil:

Contrast that to Queens when offered a place, remember it was not one of our choices, they couldn’t do enough. “Just pop up any time during a school day, somebody will always be on hand to meet youâ€
lottie
Posts: 96
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:37 am

Post by lottie »

How rude!!!

I expect that they get away with this rudeness because they are usually speaking to desparate parents who have to bite their tounge and remain very polite!

If you do decide not to accept a place at this school, i'd like to think that you will be telling them that their admissions staff and procedure is far from respectful and understanding.

However, I would not tell them yet, take a few days to think. You may need a cooling down period :? This school could well be the best choice, and it would be a shame if the few people you have come into contact with contribute to your child going to a 'lesser' school (if that is the case?).

When our DD got accepted into a KE GS, I asked parents (using this forum) whos child already attends for feedback (I had three parents PM me with very possitive feedback, which was extremely helpful). You could try doing the same, and hope that you get a response giving you an opinion of current pupils and parents (i'd do this for both schools) i.e. Does your child already attend Ricky's - please give feed back.

If they wont let you into see the school :!: , go onto their web site and see if they have any events on that are open to the public i.e our DD school has an arts evening next week. Or you could ask for an appointment with the head of year, and get in this way??


Good luck - at least you have an excellent back up :!: :D :D :D
Sressed but survivor
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:00 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Post by Sressed but survivor »

Watdad -I am waiting to hear that you won your Appeal at Parmiter's - then you would have a choice of three schools which sounds like you have engineered a much better process than the one run by County - have you thought about applying for the job of Head of Education in Hertfordshire?!
Good luck in your decision! :D
Very happy for your successful outcome
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