Trinity boys

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by mystery »

Maybe if you have signed up for this school you are now entitled to see the class address list and see if you can rent / purchase somewhere where your son can hook up with someone else also walking in to school? Or you can walk part way with him then disappear?

I really wouldn't worry. Maybe you should go for a bit further than a mile. It's not a big distance for a fit child, and he might concentrate better if he arrives having stretched his legs properly? Once he's got into walking fast ...... oh maybe that very slow teenage swagger develops young these days and my theories are wrong ........ he'll have done a mile in 10 mins.

I used to walk a mile to school in an inner-city area; I can't understand people from small towns who get worried about it. The proportion of people who are truly nutters and out to get you is probably similar right across the country - and extremely low. At least in a busy city there are more ports of call if something does start to go wrong.

My dream is living in Croydon. Enjoy it !! I like extremes - total countryside or a decent sized city. Might join you there soon. How did you get DH to agree to live in Croydon? I think I'd have to shoot mine first. Or have I got something badly wrong?
SSM
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Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:09 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by SSM »

I'm sure they'd be a lot of people living in Shirley, where Trinity is, that'll be totally schocked with it being classified as 'inner city'. :shock:
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by mystery »

Ah! Nevertheless, I don't think one can assume that any area is "less safe" than any other when it comes to a child walking to school, and in lots of ways the busier and more built up the better ... unless of course we are talking about some notorious gangland area ---- is that Shirley? At least WFG's on will not be recruited by a Croydon girl gang.
LazyDaisy
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 5:40 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by LazyDaisy »

<< faints at Shirley being described as the "inner city" >> :o :shock:

Within a mile of Trinity you have all kinds of houses from terraces to the multimillion pound houses on Bishops Walk plus everything in-between. It is so not the inner-city!!!! :lol:

A number of boys do walk but they tend to live on the Addiscombe Road side of the school - you don't tend to see many boys walking down Shirley Road. A large number of boys travel by bus (as well as the ones taken by car) - it is perfectly safe on the bus, honestly! :D I usually see kids from anything up to 8 or more different schools on the buses and there is never any trouble. Parents absolutely do not walk the boys to school - the boys would die of embarrassment!! :lol: Don't forget the school runs its own bus services as well.

RE class sizes - 22 seems to work well - not too big, not too small, enough boys to form reasonable groups for work. They can get split up for certain subjects (at least they did for D.T. this year) so they mix with other boys.

Mr Bishop is a huge asset to the school - he has a clear vision of where he wants the ship to go and steers it accordingly. All of the staff are approachable - they are all contactable by email and are quick to respond. The boys usually use the school email system to discuss projects etc and to communicate with some teachers from home (naturally not all are equally comfortable with "ye modern ways"). :)

So far I have found the parents to be great - everyone mixes together however grand or lowly - and the boys are equally at ease. The one big thing I have noticed about ds this year is the difference in the way he speaks - he uses a much more confident, articulate style than he did before - and he carries himself differently. It is really hard to describe but he has grown so much over the year - when he talks about what he has done or said at school I always think "I wouldn't have had that confidence at his age". I do put that down to the school - I see his old schoolfriends often and none of them have "it" (whatever "it" is)!!!

I'll stop wittering on now!!!! :oops:
Waiting_For_Godot
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Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:57 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by Waiting_For_Godot »

I haven't talked OH into living in Croydon! :lol:

Now I'm worried about the entrance test. There has been no tutoring and the holidays are booked out with clubs, camps, choir recordings, family visits etc.
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by mystery »

WFG, everything being said about Trinity sounds great; I am sure you have absolutely no need to worry about entrance tests as your son sounds very able and it sounds like the sort of school to make a sensible decision even if there was a fluff-up on an entrance test. I know I can only read between the lines as I do not know your son but I think you might have found the school and place to live that will grab his interest and they will know how to cope with him; he sounds very interesting, and perfect little prep schools (if you know what I mean) may not have been his cup of tea, nor he their's.

Don't know what your arrangement with DH is, but it sounds good that you will be so close to his place of work. And of course being on the edge of London will be fantastic for a musical person like your son.

I mean it when I say I would love to live in Croydon. Maybe I should just take a leaf out of your book and get on with it, and then tell DH? Is there an equivalent kind of school for girls there?

Good luck with it all.

Whether the school ultimately turns out to be perfect or not, I think your son being closer to his Dad will be great for him by the sounds of things. You don't have to tick all the boxes all the time, and an improvement on one front can have an all-round knock-on effect.
Loopyloulou
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Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:20 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by Loopyloulou »

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Last edited by Loopyloulou on Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Loopy
push-pull-mum
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Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by push-pull-mum »

mystery wrote:I mean it when I say I would love to live in Croydon. Maybe I should just take a leaf out of your book and get on with it, and then tell DH? Is there an equivalent kind of school for girls there?
The Whitgift Foundation supports 3 schools in Croydon; two for boys (Whitgift and Trinity) and a girl's school (The Old Palace School of John Whitgift). Old Palace or Croydon High School for Girls are probably the best options for girls in Croydon - but neither of them is a 'Trinity.'

I grew up in and near Croydon - and lived there until 2003 - and I think it's a great place (not at all 'inner city'), with a good variety of people from all backgrounds, and it was great being that near to central London. My first child learned to walk in Tate Modern, my second on an army rifle range - nuff said :( I miss Croydon. :(
LazyDaisy
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 5:40 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by LazyDaisy »

When my husband first suggested moving to Croydon I thought he'd gone mad!!! But that was because I had the stereotypical view of it being an overcrowded, concrete, chavtastic dump. Yet here I am surrounded by woodland, with great neighbours and easy access to central London and Brighton and the airport and just about anywhere else I want to go!!! My husband was right (obviously I don't tell him though!)
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Trinity boys

Post by mystery »

Name me an area to investigate please! Husband likes big garden (yuk!), detached (gasp at prices) and peace and quiet (worse still!) apart from his own noise (worst of all), convenient for railway station for London Bridge too...... walking distance is fine.

I want jolly neighbours, local friends for the children, clear air, good schools and music teachers and a swimming pool close by, and a KFC down the road.

Does this all fit together?
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