Hi

Any thoughts on how this school is. My daughter has got the ranking for the school and looking at the past results, very likely she will get in. She is very pleased and I know that is all that should matter. However, any views , experience (good/bad) on this school is appreciated.

Some of her friends are selecting Balcarass / Stroud high school over this school + I also heard that the school has deteriorated in the past 2 years + head teacher is retiring.

Any thoughts ?

My questions are not to hurt/offend anyone- so please do not take it otherwise and apologies if it feels that way.

Thanks as always for reading/responding and supporting

I am the very last person to suggest ever choosing a school on its league table performances, but you might want to look at some comparison data (exam results; the Progress 8 measures which were released yesterday) between Ribston and some local non-selective schools if your choice of grammar school is based on a perceived academic advantage.
Let us say that there is no clear reason you would choose it over many others if this is your top criterion.

If you are choosing Ribston for other reasons, for example because it is very close to where you live, or because it offers things which your daughter especially loves, or you just like the place and it feels right when you go in, then that is another matter.

I've done a progress8 comparison for you on the three schools you mention plus two others - hope the link works.

https://www.compare-school-performance. ... =secondary

Thanks Amber

My DD2 is at Ribston and has thrived there. She is very passionate about Dance and it is really well taught there. She's doing well academically though. My DD1 chose not to go to a selective school and her GCSE predictions are looking great too. Go with what feels best for your daughter and you, whatever anyone else is going.

Yes the headmistress is due to leave at Easter, but I can't see a bad head being appointed.

Good luck with your decision. I've got sixth form decisions coming up for DD1 so back to attending lots of open evenings.

Thanks Iona

I loved Ribston - being an ex-Ribstonian myself, I had a huge sense of nostalgia when looking around. In fact, even though we've pretty much narrowed our favourites down to HSFG and Pates, I'm still taking her back to the Open Morning on Wednesday JUST to be sure she suddenly doesn't prefer it.

Secretly, I was kind of hoping she would only rank for Ribston and have to go there by default (I knew it wasn't her favourite) but she ended up ranking Top 150 for Ribston/HSFG and SHS and just outside for Pates so I knew she probably wouldn't want to go there.

In terms of results, they are quite a bit behind some of the other grammars, and they always end up taking the lowest ranked student out of the other grammars (indicating they are bottom choice and having to look further down their list I suppose), and with the Head retiring soon its unsure how that will affect things, BUT - we still would have chosen Ribston over SHS (possibly down to distance - I did say we would only ever pick SHS if it really blew us off our feet and it didn't, we saw it as on par with Ribston and HSFG so wouldn't bother making the commute unless it ended up being our only option). By only option, I mean we would have rather travelled to SHS than picked a Gloucester comp - we just couldn't find one that stood out as being a decent next best thing unfortunately.

If it helps - we most likely won't be taking our slot so theres one step closer for you!!

But for what its worth - I'd definitely have picked Ribston over a comp without a second thought. Apart from the gross green uniform I really enjoyed my time there!!

Good luck.

My daughter went to Ribston. Had I the choice to send her to Balcarras for instance, I would choose that over Ribston in a heartbeat. I actually don't see it as a negative that they are getting a new head.

Thanks @Stressed?Moi? and @smileandsparkle

Regarding - Apart from the gross green uniform ... , I echo your feelings

My DD is in Y8 so I have no comparison to previous years. Whilst all opinions are valid and everyone has different perspectives saying it has deteriorated without factual evidence is not helpful. I would say that I have felt the teaching standards in the school are good or high and that all the girls are pushed to achieve their potential. We are very pleased that we chose Ribston over HSFG (we had a choice) as we felt the head and ethos at Ribston was far more about developing the whole child. We are kept upto date with homework assignments via an app and regularly receive progress reports on the online system. Overall the school has a lovely welcoming feeling and our daughter is thriving.

Thanks @mcfly