Torn between Skinners & Judd

[doodles]

I have a son at Skinners' going through the uni process at the moment and the staff are bending over backwards to help, they couldn't do more.

[11_plus]

Hi 11_plus,
Seems like you are in a same situation as us. My son passed Olave's stage1 and has quite high score (418) for Kent and we are torn between Olaves or Judd or Skinners as the first choice. I wish we knew about Olave's scores which would've helped a bit.

Agreed! sometimes less options are better... Pls go though my post on St olaves.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 51&t=48673" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm researching on all the 3 schools. Went to open morning Skinners today. Probably we'll be in a situation to make a decision by the end of this week. Fingers crossed & Good luck!

[11_plus]

Thanks Panicmode & Doodles! That was really helpful.

[11_plus]

Hello All,
After visiting all the schools, we've made a consensus decision. I wud urge all the parents who're in the same boat as me to consider following criteria:

1. Commute- Its very important how much time a child is spending on commuting to & fro. There will be several clubs after school & on saturdays. Bear in mind!

2. Funding- As most of the parents must be aware of cuts in Education. IFS forecasts fall in spending of 7% per pupil in England by 2020. This was a major factor in our decision. Try to research the school about its funding status & future developments plans.

3. Facilities- Mostly all the schools are good but I go for the one which has good facilities. Anybody visiting the school can sense the facilities.

4.Gut Feel - Pls pls don't go by the league tables because A levels doesn't always reflect the true picture. A school may be better fit for one child but not for other. Go by ur gut instinct & listen to ur child. At the end of the day, he/she shd be happy.

5. Pastoral care- Last but not the least Pastoral care. A child is going to spend good 7 years of his/her life, research about the pastoral care of the school well. Very significant factor according to me.

Thanks everyone for their feedback on the schools. Helped me a lot!! Hope this helps some of the parents

[LocalTWmum1]

So what was your final decision? We are also in the same boat and deliberating between Skinners and Judd so I'd be interested to hear

If I were to follow your logic for DS it would be:

Commute: Skinners
Funding: Judd
Facilities: Judd
Gut Feel: Skinners
Pastoral Care: Both

Hmmm - doesn't help much actually!!!!

[strawberryjam]

Same dilemma here. Over the last few years I've favoured Judd for it's academic reputation and facilities but having talked to lots of people, looked around several times, and now seen the schools during a normal day we have decided that Skinners is a better fit for DS and he is adamant that it is what he wants even if his friends go elsewhere.

So, for us:
Commute: Skinners
Funding: Judd (although I believe that Skinners will benefit from a change to Academy status is a year or two - can anyone confirm?)
Facilities: Judd (but DS isn't keen on Rugby and is keen on the Skinners' climbing wall and gym facilities)
Gut Feel: Skinners
Pastoral Care: Skinners

A very difficult decision but I feel a relief at having made it - if I tell myself we are choosing Judd I feel a little uneasy so I think that Skinners is the right choice for us.

In particular I'm not happy at the lack of music facilities and general funding (can anyone tell me why Judd appears to have so much more?) but there are schools other than these two with much more money and far better facilities that I'm not keen on at all so we can't have it all!

SJ

[11_plus]

I would suggest go with your gut feel. Good luck

[11_plus]

In particular I'm not happy at the lack of music facilities and general funding (can anyone tell me why Judd appears to have so much more?) but there are schools other than these two with much more money and far better facilities that I'm not keen on at all so we can't have it all!

SJ

Spoke to the Judd HT yesterday & he mentioned 50% or more funding are from the parents. Take a look at the development section on their website.

[PanicMode]

although I believe that Skinners will benefit from a change to Academy status is a year or two - can anyone confirm?

Umm, fairly sure Skinners is already an academy.....

[strawberryjam]

Yes, sorry meant to say that I'm hoping that when the financing models for schools changes in the next few years then they should benefit if/when that happens.

SJ