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Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 7:22 pm
by 11_plus
Hello peeps,
My DS has passed St. Olaves stage-1 and I am looking for some guidance from the parents of current students at St Olaves. I recently read online petition & comments from the parents & teachers about the school. We're baffled :? Now my biggest worry is; we shouldn't end up in making a wrong decision for my DS. We live in Kent- Judd & Skinners r at our door steps (DS scored very high, so getting a place should not be a problem!). He has even scored decent marks to get into QE but we're not planning to move that far.

I would appreciate if the parents of current Olavians cud answer my queries:

1. Pastoral care : I've read that the HT is not approachable & the boys don't like him. Apparently, HT is only bothered about the A level results & university destination.

2. Staff turnover ratio: Again due to the HT, I've heard from the parents that the staff turnover ratio is quite high. I was shocked to hear from one of the Newstead mum whose girl has joined Olaves in 6th form that the course in Olaves was not completed even a week before exams, on the contrary the teachers in Newstead finished the course 3 months in advance & they were doing revisions last year.

3. Pressure : Is the pressure on child too much at Olaves? Apparently, many boys were kicked out this year at 6th form & bright girls from Newstead were admitted to raise the bars of A levels & university destination. Heard of high pressure and nervous environment.

I want my child to be happy & thrive at the school. He has done so well in all the tests without any tuitions. I wanted him to get into a school according to his potentials because I've seen many heavily tutored children struggling once they're in the grammar school. Just my humble opinion - no offence meant!

I wud be grateful if parents can give their honest opinion about their Ds experience at the school. Many thanks in advance.

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 11:01 pm
by claire1968
11_plus wrote:Hello peeps,
My DS has passed St. Olaves stage-1 and I am looking for some guidance from the parents of current students at St Olaves. I recently read online petition & comments from the parents & teachers about the school. We're baffled :? Now my biggest worry is; we shouldn't end up in making a wrong decision for my DS. We live in Kent- Judd & Skinners r at our door steps (DS scored very high, so getting a place should not be a problem!). He has even scored decent marks to get into QE but we're not planning to move that far.

I would appreciate if the parents of current Olavians cud answer my queries:

1. Pastoral care : I've read that the HT is not approachable & the boys don't like him. Apparently, HT is only bothered about the A level results & university destination.

2. Staff turnover ratio: Again due to the HT, I've heard from the parents that the staff turnover ratio is quite high. I was shocked to hear from one of the Newstead mum whose girl has joined Olaves in 6th form that the course in Olaves was not completed even a week before exams, on the contrary the teachers in Newstead finished the course 3 months in advance & they were doing revisions last year.

3. Pressure : Is the pressure on child too much at Olaves? Apparently, many boys were kicked out this year at 6th form & bright girls from Newstead were admitted to raise the bars of A levels & university destination. Heard of high pressure and nervous environment.

I want my child to be happy & thrive at the school. He has done so well in all the tests without any tuitions. I wanted him to get into a school according to his potentials because I've seen many heavily tutored children struggling once they're in the grammar school. Just my humble opinion - no offence meant!

I wud be grateful if parents can give their honest opinion about their Ds experience at the school. Many thanks in advance.
So....... your son is obviously bright - i find it hard you are already thinking of 5 years time. Also, is not St Olaves a different form to those of Judd and Skinners - in which case you could have 2 schools to choose from? They have a different exam which you have to pass but the CAF is due prior 31 Oct - do both then you have a choice.....

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 11:07 pm
by scary mum
I'm not sure this is correct. Isn't it one CAF? You can only be offered one school. Personally I would go for the closest one, there is unlikely to be a huge difference in results for anyone child for different schools.

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:33 am
by bnadeem2006
after reading this I am so :? I cant understand how you know the score of S t Olaves First stage , my son as well pass now we waiting for 2nd stage , he also achieve top 180 ranking some other school and now I am worry what you write is :shock:

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:15 am
by ToadMum
scary mum wrote:I'm not sure this is correct. Isn't it one CAF? You can only be offered one school. Personally I would go for the closest one, there is unlikely to be a huge difference in results for anyone child for different schools.
You are right, you only submit one CAF, to your home LA which then liaises with the home LAs of any of the out of area schools you have named. And you only get one school offer on March 1st - if your child could be offered a place at more than one of your preferences, the school you get is the one which was highest up on your ranked list

All this information is stated very clearly in the secondary schools admissions section of everyone's LA's website and in its corresponding hard copy. You will probably have to tick / sign to agree that you have read and understood the information before you submit your CAF, so it really would be a good idea to sit down and 'read, mark and inwardly digest', as they used to say, said information before you even consider 'pressing the big button' or sealing the envelope :) .

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:38 am
by kenyancowgirl
quote 11_plus "He has even scored decent marks to get into QE but we're not planning to move that far."

Well, there is your answer then. If you live on the doorstep of Judd/Skinners, then make a decision on those two, put one of them first on your CAF and the other second. Know that you have great choices for schools (which a lot of people on here don't have), decide which of these two are best fit for you son secure in the knowledge that either will be great. Lots of people on here have far more difficult decisions aout schools to make so we can probably give them far more support than you.

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:29 am
by i-mum
We are in similar situation and was about to post similar questions as 11_plus. Our situation is slightly different as we are not very close to other grammar schools and willing to move to Orpington so the school is walking distance from home. If parents from boys in St Olaves would answer OP's questions, it would help us a lot.

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:26 pm
by 11_plus
kenyancowgirl wrote:quote 11_plus "He has even scored decent marks to get into QE but we're not planning to move that far."

Well, there is your answer then. If you live on the doorstep of Judd/Skinners, then make a decision on those two, put one of them first on your CAF and the other second. Know that you have great choices for schools (which a lot of people on here don't have), decide which of these two are best fit for you son secure in the knowledge that either will be great. Lots of people on here have far more difficult decisions aout schools to make so we can probably give them far more support than you.
Thanks! We don't have to move, if my son gets a place in St Olaves. Its easily commutable from where we live. People on this forum has always been helping & they don't do it out of compulsion.Great that you're helping others in difficult situation. Can someone please whose DS is current Olavians give me a true picture of the school. Its a matter of 7 years, I think everybody should evaluate their options carefully before submitting CAF.

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 4:09 pm
by Fingerscrossedmum
St Olaves is very much a 'Marmite' school, people either feel very positively or negatively towards it. There are lots of posts on here about it if you are able to do a search.

Personally, we decided it wasn't right for Ds1 5 years ago and having visited for DS2 this year, our opinion hasn't changed. I have written here before why so I won't repeat myself, but in a nutshell, our feeling is that if your son fits the school, they are likely to do very well but if they struggle in any way, academically or pastorally the school's priority is always the results rather than the boy.

Re: Calling all St Olaves parents for advise please!!!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 4:34 pm
by hanaF
I went through many online posts but still can't make up my mind. DS loves maths and science, is shy but competitive deep inside. He really likes the school, and from the open day it seems that there were many boys on his wavelength there, so he'd probably fit in. But then I am still slightly worried about the potential pressure and I heard that only the best students are allowed to continue Latin at ks4 (he really wants to do classical language like latin or ancient greek). Anyone has experience on this?

For us, it is the difficult decision between putting DGS (easy train journey) or STOGS (easy but long coach journey) as first choice.