Open days...
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
Re: Open days...
I have a son is at Chis and Sid too and it is a great school. Very good school trips for all year groups but they are not compulsory and depends on affordability . Class sizes get smaller in year 10 once they have picked their options . The communication between the teachers and parents is equally good . I do not have the need to email regularly but when I do, I can expect a response the same day. I just hope the younger one will join him there in a few years time !
Re: Open days...
Interesting to read the comments here...my DS and I were both impressed by Beths last year (when my son was in yr5 - and it was the first school we saw incidentally), but this year not quite so much, and while BGS left me cold last year, and bowled me over this time around. The main difference, I think, is that i tried to look beyond the building, fluorescent lights, and HT presentation (yes heard it before but still think he does 'Come to Edge' well 
), chatted more with the teachers & HT, and pupils, and made a point of visiting both in the morning while school was in progress, and for the evening 'show'. Perhaps I was just better informed and asked more pertinent questions. I liked the rounded IB approach to teaching, including creative subjects, and by comparison found Beths a little dry -- i suppose it's about figuring out what suits your own DC's needs. I understand that the teaching is what matters, but C&S haven't much improved their open day since last year and you don't have much else to go on -- especially if you're rushed through one classroom to get to another, and teachers are too inundated by parents to properly talk. And by the 3rd or 4th open day it is sometimes just a blur 
But i think if the school was memorable because something about it felt right for your child, then you would feel good about it. And of course there's this fantastic forum with very helpful parents to help fill in those annoying gaps in our knowledge!
), chatted more with the teachers & HT, and pupils, and made a point of visiting both in the morning while school was in progress, and for the evening 'show'. Perhaps I was just better informed and asked more pertinent questions. I liked the rounded IB approach to teaching, including creative subjects, and by comparison found Beths a little dry -- i suppose it's about figuring out what suits your own DC's needs. I understand that the teaching is what matters, but C&S haven't much improved their open day since last year and you don't have much else to go on -- especially if you're rushed through one classroom to get to another, and teachers are too inundated by parents to properly talk. And by the 3rd or 4th open day it is sometimes just a blur But i think if the school was memorable because something about it felt right for your child, then you would feel good about it. And of course there's this fantastic forum with very helpful parents to help fill in those annoying gaps in our knowledge!