St Olaves vs Wilson's

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Kcp
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:20 pm

St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Kcp »

DS got likely in Olaves. Awaiting result for Wilson's now. Can someone please advise pros and cons of each school as it will help me to make the right decision.
Dboo65
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 11:11 pm

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Dboo65 »

DS in Wilson's. Outstanding school. Cannot recommend it too highly. DS loves it, even after more than a month still looks forward to going everyday. Quite an underrated school. DS fell in love on the day he went for the exams. After that, not interested in Olaves.
Kcp
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:20 pm

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Kcp »

Dboo65 wrote:DS in Wilson's. Outstanding school. Cannot recommend it too highly. DS loves it, even after more than a month still looks forward to going everyday. Quite an underrated school. DS fell in love on the day he went for the exams. After that, not interested in Olaves.

Thankyou for the feedback. My DS likes St olaves. But I personally like Wilson as we live in Croydon and commuting will be easy. I am not sure if commuting would become issue of I select St olaves. I don't see much difference with regards to academic results. My DS likes cricket. Does Wilson give importance to cricket? DS not keen for Rugby.
parent2013
Posts: 452
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:13 am

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by parent2013 »

Olave's anyday - I think it is personal choice. They do cricket, chess and tons of other activities.
Dboo65
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 11:11 pm

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Dboo65 »

They do cricket, rugby, football, basketball etc. Part of the reason we chose Wilson's was that my DS H/T mentioned that Olave's had asked 4 boys to leave in year 4 due to concern about their impact on GSCEs i.e. they didn't think they would do well and did not want them dragging down their results. We didn't want that kind of unnecessary pressure with kids scared about being asked to leave.
ToadMum
Posts: 11944
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by ToadMum »

Dboo65 wrote:They do cricket, rugby, football, basketball etc. Part of the reason we chose Wilson's was that my DS H/T mentioned that Olave's had asked 4 boys to leave in year 4 due to concern about their impact on GSCEs i.e. they didn't think they would do well and did not want them dragging down their results. We didn't want that kind of unnecessary pressure with kids scared about being asked to leave.
'Asked to leave' as in 'permanently excluded'? Or did they think of some way of making the parents 'decide' to apply for in-year places somewhere else?

Has the school had an OFSTED inspection since this event? If the former scenario, the inspectors would have been very interested...
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Dboo65
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 11:11 pm

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Dboo65 »

I believe convinced them their future lies elsewhere. PS: I am simply quoting what a HT said. She should know as her child also attended the school.
Fingerscrossedmum
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:39 am

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Fingerscrossedmum »

I know of a similar situation where a boy was struggling academically (due to personal family issues) and the school were so unhelpful that the parents moved him.

I think with Olaves, if a boy is doing well it is a very good school and he will do very well academically but if a boy struggles in any way, the school doesn't seem to support them and as no parent wants their child to be unhappy,they often move them,thereby, in the schools eyes, getting rid of the 'problem'.

There have been too many people over the last few years talking about bullying not being dealt with or instances as described above. I know someone on here says its jealousy or sour grapes but there are a number of very good schools out there that don't have such negativity attached to them.

To the OP, you know your son best, visit both schools and ask as many questions as possible including how many boys leave before the end of Year 11
Sun&Sky88
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 1:00 pm

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Sun&Sky88 »

I will not go down the route of pros and cons. There has been much debate over which school is better. Both schools are excellent. If you are looking at just grades alone they are quite on par with one another, give or take. Not all parents feel that grades alone is what makes for a great school.

For your situation I would seriously think long and hard at the commute side of things. I would suggest you try doing the commute this half term perhaps to see if Olaves is do-able. Please bear in mind that as it is half term, the crowd will be a lot less. In addition, to consider that this will be on a longterm basis for 7 years to come (and much of it will be in the dark). If it is taking more than 1 hour that's 2 hours everyday that is quite a lot of time taken up by travelling.

Consider them as jobs, is it worth traveling that extra half hour one way? One may make you slightly happier but the trade off is the long commute for the very long term. Please do not forget to bear in mind that sometimes your DS will have huge amount of things to carry eg. musical instruments, sports kits, text books and the like all on the same day. There will be cricket/football/rugby matches at the school etc too where your DS will need to go to and again this will involve a long commute unless you drive him there during weekends.

In addition, there are parents evenings to consider, plays and events to attend in support of your DS... the list goes on.
What about re-locating nearer to Olaves? If its a possibility then it is not an obstacle for your DS.
Hope this helps.
Kcp
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:20 pm

Re: St Olaves vs Wilson's

Post by Kcp »

Sun&Sky88 wrote:I will not go down the route of pros and cons. There has been much debate over which school is better. Both schools are excellent. If you are looking at just grades alone they are quite on par with one another, give or take. Not all parents feel that grades alone is what makes for a great school.

For your situation I would seriously think long and hard at the commute side of things. I would suggest you try doing the commute this half term perhaps to see if Olaves is do-able. Please bear in mind that as it is half term, the crowd will be a lot less. In addition, to consider that this will be on a longterm basis for 7 years to come (and much of it will be in the dark). If it is taking more than 1 hour that's 2 hours everyday that is quite a lot of time taken up by travelling.

Consider them as jobs, is it worth traveling that extra half hour one way? One may make you slightly happier but the trade off is the long commute for the very long term. Please do not forget to bear in mind that sometimes your DS will have huge amount of things to carry eg. musical instruments, sports kits, text books and the like all on the same day. There will be cricket/football/rugby matches at the school etc too where your DS will need to go to and again this will involve a long commute unless you drive him there during weekends.

In addition, there are parents evenings to consider, plays and events to attend in support of your DS... the list goes on.
What about re-locating nearer to Olaves? If its a possibility then it is not an obstacle for your DS.
Hope this helps.

THankyou for the advise. I agree commuting will be hard for the DS. I will wait for Wilson's result to come and then decide. If necessary I will surely move to Orpington.
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