St.Bernard's school vs Cardinal Wiseman - any comparisons?

[computer123]

Considering these 2 schools, in terms of academic, sport etc?
Please help

[mad?]

Cardinal Wiseman - usually very over subscribed despite its restricted admissions criteria. Often considered a back up to the Vaughan or Sacred Heart.
Not familiar with St Bernards but as these schools are not close to each other I can't imagine you would find someone who has considered both.
Have you checked the admissions criteria for Cardinal Wiseman (below)? Are you sure you have a chance of DC getting in?

https://www.wiseman.ealing.sch.uk/attac ... 8&type=pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[scary mum]

Is this for 2020 entry? Where do you actually live (roughly!). Are you Catholic? St Bernard's has quite strict criteria.
I think you were asking about the Bucks 11 plus yesterday? You need to be quite close to most of the Bucks schools to get in these days.

[Tinkers]

Info on historic data for St Bernard’s admissions can be found here, if that helps.

https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... =10&t=9313" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[hel_tcw]

I don't know about Cardinal Wiseman but do about St Bernard's, though I had a quick look at the link provided above.

Based on the PAN CW is twice the size of St B (310 vs 150) which means more people trying to get the teachers attention.
Dunno about the academic side of CW but St Bernard's are doing really well. But then it is a grammar school so starts at a higher baseline.

I like it because it is relatively small which means the teaching staff know who I am as well as who the kids are. And the small size helps my kids to not get "lost amongst the crowd" as both are ASD and as such do get help.

I would suggest looking at both schools when they have their open days/ tours, plus consider how they are likely to get to and from the school for 7 years - the school day funs from 830am to 330pm, a lot of the sports activities etc happen during the lunch break although football/netball etc matches are after school.

Year 7 study 4 foreign languages, including French and do a day trip to France that means having the kids at school by 7am (though am sure it was earlier than that for my daughter) and getting back around 11pm (so a long day, especially if there is lots of extra commuting). Also both of my kids have been on after school trips, arriving back at school around 1130pm.

Good luck
Good luck.

[hel_tcw]

Just had a bit more of a look at CW's website - another difference: St Bernard's have recently moved to a 2 year ks3 and a 3 year ks4 (my dd is going into year 10 and has done a mix of ks3 and ks4 subjects in year 9, whereas her brother (going into yr8) has 1 more year of ks3 and will then start all his gcse studies from yr 9).

At gcse they do RE, Eng Lit, Eng Lang, Maths (depending on which set they are in they might also take Statistics or Advanced Maths), triple science and then have to choose 4 subjects, one of which has to be a language that they studied in yr 8 ( year 7 they do French, Spanish, Latin and Japanese and in year 8 they do 2 out of the 4).

[ToadMum]

Twice the PAN is not 'twice as many trying to get the teacher's attention'...

Unless CW literally has 56 / 60 / 64 in a class (okay, perhaps it does, ought to have checked first, I suppose), the number trying to get teacher's attention at any one time in any particular class will be more or less the same in any state secondary school.

More people to trip over at the movement bell, longer queues in the canteen, perhaps even then, if a school was designed in the first place, or in subsequent building phases, to accommodate a large PAN, this may not be such a major issue in reality). But a pupil's 'unit' is his/her tutor group or subject class, not the whole year group or school.