St Olaves School, Bromley

[ronkevso]

St Olaves School in Bromley. Is this a good school?

I know that St Olaves has an excellent reputation for academic achievement however I have heard rumours of a new head, bullying and racism in the lower years.

My son is in year 4 and at present he is a 4b in reading, writing and science. He is a 5c in Maths. I am thinking of trying for St Olaves but concerned about the rumours I have heard.

We are of African decent and need to know if racism is a problem. I would love to hear from parents of boys who attend St Olaves or anyone who knows anything about the school.

I plan to attend the open day in June. If I did want my son to attend the school, how could I prepare him as I cannot afford a 'St Olaves specialist tutor'?

I would be grateful for any comments/ help. Many thanks in advance.

[Filitosa96]

If you are anywhere near Dartford Grammar I can guarantee you that racism is not a problem there (my son is in Y10). Lots of boys from different backgrounds and a sizeable number of students of African heritage in ds' year. It is an excellent school, ds is very happy there, and its diversity was a plus for us.

I can't comment on St Olaves, it does have a very good reputation I know, and we did consider it for ds, who didn't care for it at the open day , so we did not pursue his application any further.

Hopefully some St O's parents can come along and reassure you about your concerns!

[2childmum]

Again I can't comment about St Olave's, but my son is in year 11 at Beths. I have never been aware of racism there and it is very culturally mixed - even more so in the younger year groups.

[theonly1]

Hi, I cannot verify the racism claim at St Olaves but have heard rumours that not much is done about it. My boy attends DGS and loves it there. The environment is welcoming and a very good parent community and interaction. My boy is definitely developing in all areas.

[robofish]

Hi, St Olaves has (for Bromley) a real multicultural mix. I have not heard of racist bullying in the school at all, what happens outside could be a different story of course.

We are about to send our son there. We had heard similar accusations, but after talking to parents, meeting the head and seeing the school many times, we got the impression that it is a fantastic environment for our son to develop in. The head is probably strict, he definitely has high standards. Personally I don't think these attributes are incompatible with his job, but others may think differently. One read of the (very recent) ofsted report should allay some of your concerns.

As for grades, really your son should be expecting to hit a 6 in maths and a high 5 or a 6 in English by the start of year 6.

[Fingerscrossedmum]

One of my son's friends is in Year 7 at Olaves and has been the victim of bullying and his parents are not at all happy with the way the school has dealt with it. Apparently, bullying is quite common (he is white so don't know about any racism) but the school don't seem to think its a problem.

Might be worth asking the school how many pupils leave at the end of Years 7 and 8.

[ronkevso]

Thank you to everyone that sent me private/ public messages. I will go along to St Olave's open day to get a feel for the school. I will also ask questions on pastoral care as advised by some parents.

I'm thinking that it might be more sensible to try and prepare him for the 11+ tests to give him a range of options rather than paying for a St Olave's tutor. The advice i'm getting suggests that it would very hard for him to to pass the St Olave's test without a specialist tutor. He attends The Extra Tuition centre and I do work with him at home using CGP/Bond books but including St Olave's specialist tuition may be too much.

We visited DGS last year and my son loved it. We may also visit Beths this year.

To the parents with children attending a grammar school- what do you think helped your child pass the 11+?

Many thanks again to everyone for their advice.

[parent2013]

I know couple of children/parents who are in Olave's. I've spoken to them personally and they seem to be very happy (not single one of them has seen any incidents about bullying). They all praised headteacher that he is quite focussed on grades etc and the school is very academic. However, I always suggest to parents that go to school and feel yourself rather than forming any views based on some anonymous forum members (who may or may not know the inside story or even could be annoyed with Olave's as his/her ds failed the test ).

I don't know much about Extra Tuition centre but I guess they would cost the same as Olave's specialist. Please don't mind but doing CGP/Bond as prep for St. Olave's is like strolling in the park for few mins in lunch time as a prep for London Marathon. All you need is a right strategy and correct tools (which your existing tuition centre should provide). FYI - Judd & DGS are also not easy to get into (unless you are in the catchment).

[confusedmum.com]

Just an update for Judd - there is no catchment area and it is very popular. As Parent 2013 says it is hard to get into as admission is based purely by score making it super-selective.

When there is no catchment area, consideration should be made for getting to and from school so a kid can attend after school clubs and any saturday fixtures, which can be very much part of life for boys. Judd can be considered quite a sporty school but this does not mean than non-sporty boys feel excluded - there are sooooo many clubs for all types of boys.

[parent2013]

The after school club is a very good point.

To get into Judd, one has to get nearly a top score in the Kent exam especially for OOC. If the scores tie, then whosoever lives near will get the seat. I am not sure what was the lowest score it went to but top of the head it was 416 this year and 419 last year.