Views/opinions on Heber, Goodrich, Harris and Bessemer Grange schools

[[email protected]]

HELP! We've started the difficult process of choosing schools for our twins who will start reception next year. It's such a huge decision I would be so grateful for any and all feedback on the following schools from existing parents.

Having now seen most schools I've got a good feel for them but still have some questions. If anyone is able to address any of my queries or is willing to give general feedback (good and the not so good) that would be greatly appreciated. Happy for you to private message me.

1. Heber Primary school: I really like the feel of the school but found the format of the open day not very useful for hearing from the acting head and teachers so have a number of questions:

- the previous headmaster left at the end of July and the current head is still listed as 'acting head' When will this position be finalised?

- any views on how the school is currently performing and where it might be heading?

- would really appreciate any views on the school itself and the leadership team. The open day involves a tour of the school by the kids which was great to see the kids enthusiasm but not so great to get full clear information!

2. Harris Primary East Dulwich

- managed to cover most things in the tour but grateful for general views from existing parents especially on the early years provision in reception and year 1.

3. Goodrich

- most things covered in tour but would love feedback from existing parents

4. Bessemer

- booked on tour in a few weeks time - would love to hear feedback from existing parents

5. Are there any other schools I should be considering (live on Heber Road) We dont regularly attend church but would be open to faith schools but it looks pretty tough to get in on non faith grounds.

[redjam]

Re. Heber - the situation is that the headmaster retired last year and the deputy head Ms Rosenberg (who has been there for years and was co-head last year) is now acting head, with other senior teachers supporting her. She is very good and well-liked but she has a young family so didn't want to take on the full job herself. As I understand it the governors advertised the post last year but didn't find anyone quite right, and as they have the luxury of a strong 'acting' team in place they decided to re-advertise it again this year (obviously you only get one shot a year at advertising for headteachers). So although no one can say how long the process will take to find a new head, it feels like there's a secure set-up in the meantime. The senior leadership team of Ms Rosenberg, Ms Kyprios and Ms Jefford are all very popular with the parents and have lots of energy and enthusiasm, and they've appointed a new business manager to help with the admin side.

Re. results - there's lots of info on the school website, link to the Ofsted etc. All seems good to me and going in the right direction (I've got two kids who've been through the whole school - youngest currently in Year 6).

As I understand it you can book a tour of Heber with one of the teachers who can answer any more questions. Certainly as a parent I'm a big fan of the school and my kids have thrived there. It's always seemed like a very happy place to me.

Good luck with your decision!

[KestonKid]

As you live on Heber Road it seems a no brainer to me! My grandson did all his primary schooling there and I spent many hours at Heber gete and on school outings in the early years. A really happy experience for all the family. To this day my daughter has a circle of good friends among the Mums from Heber.

[kristymac1]

I have two children at Heber (yr 6 and yr 1) and am very happy with the school, the senior leadership team are very visible and approachable and I'm sure if you have any outstanding questions from the tour they'd be very happy to meet you to chat things through. We've found the standard of teaching to be very good across the years, but have been particularly impressed with the way in which my youngest has settled and blossomed - in no small part because of the excellent foundation years teaching. My eldest is embarking on secondary school next year and whilst she'll be sad to leave Heber, the last 6 years at the school have provided everything she needs to enter secondary school confident with her learning and self-esteem.

Good luck with your choice!

[edanna]

I'd recommend Bessemer without hesitation - it's a lovely school. If you search on here you will find earlier threads with more detail. But as KestonKid says, does it make sense to choose another school if you have a school you like on your doorstep? We live a good 20-25 minutes' walk from Bessemer and have committed to travel there for 10 years during both our kids' primary years. It's worth it for us but some days I do wish it were closer!

[Monkey]

Choose a school close to you. We live opposite Goodrich. Drop off takes 5 minutes tops. Wouldn't change it for the world!

[scareyt]

Bessemer is great - loads of outside space, great leadership team, lovely nature garden and its not near any main roads so the air quality is good (for Southwark!). But I agree distance is the most important thing. When we leave for school in the morning there are 5 or 6 other families from the same road heading to the same school at the same time which is really nice. We're a 10 minute walk or three minute cycle from Bessemer and I wouldn't swap that for anything else either.

[DuncanW]

I can echo the positive comments on Bessemer. We have two there and are very happy.

In my opinion, distance is not THE most important thing, not by a long stretch. But if you live in Heber Road, that's a fair old trek there and back twice a day. And with a school with a good reputation on your doorstep...

Also would you get Bessemer from Heber Road? The catchment radius has retraced steadily over recent years I think.

[poch]

The Bessemer catchment's bigger than you'd expect because of the nearby playing fields. We bike there from the Peckham Rye side of ED!!

[[email protected]]

Thanks all, this is really useful. Does anybody have any views on Goodrich?

[kristymac1]

By the way the Heber Christmas fair is on December 9th 2-5pm, and many of the other primary schools have their fairs around this time to - its a good way to get a different aspect of the school and there are always plenty of parents running stalls that would be happy to chat about their views on the school.

[DaveR]

Had two kids at Goodrich - younger now in year 6, older now year 9 so a 'Goodrich parent' for the last ten years or so. I like the school a lot, particularly the head teacher - very passionate about standards but not narrowly focused on academic results. I like the fact that they have specialist teachers in particular areas e.g. music and PE which means there's a lot of opportunities, and they also have lots of trips of all types, including . It also always seems like generally a nice, happy place - lots of noise from the playground - and my kids have been very happy, always felt safe etc.

I should add that I have lots of local friends who have/had kids at Heber and they've always been pretty positive about their experience. I don't know much about Bessemer or Harris but absolutely no reason to doubt that they are very good - the consensus seems to be that we're pretty lucky with primary schools in the neighbourhood, the problem is lack of capacity.

[scareyt]

The Bessemer fair is Saturday 9th from 12-3. Going to the fairs is a good way to get a feel for a school.

[northpole]

I've got a child in Reception at Heber so I'm probably not best placed to answer questions about senior leadership etc, having only been there a few months. But, we've been totally delighted with it so far. The school feels like a very established community into which we've been welcomed, with lots of school social events and friendly teachers, PTA etc. Our child has loved it, and has already developed a really lovely network of very local friends. The quality of the teaching and TAs is impressive, and we had a parents evening, plus we get a weekly Reception update, so I feel very involved. The communication from the Head and her team has been great with weekly emails. There's a decent sized playground (3 in fact) so loads of space for them to all run around safely, and it's away from the main road with a lollipop lady so fewer worries about road safety and pollution. And it's on your doorstep! If you live on Heber, I'd say it's a no-brainer!

[wouldloveasnooze]

Hi, I just posted on another thread about Goose Green - our children are there and we think it's a great school with a fantastic new head, it's also just partnered with John Donne school, who are outstanding. I won't bore everyone by posting again, but I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it! There's an open day on the 5th Dec, pop in and have a chat to the PTA (FOGGS) to see if its for you! Totally agree with 'scareyt' that attending a school fair/event is a great way to get a real feel for a school, and they're fun too, so it's a double win! (We were put off a local school - I won't say which one as it was a long time ago - by attending their Christmas fair, mainly - but not purely - based on the dreadful manners and behavior of a large group of the older children).

[tomskip]

I can't imagine why you would walk past a very good primary school to go to another one further afield. Make your life easier if you can! It only gets more difficult and more complicated as your children get older.

[bonaome]

tomskip Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I can't imagine why you would walk past a very

> good primary school to go to another one further

> afield. Make your life easier if you can! It only

> gets more difficult and more complicated as your

> children get older.

This.

Our daughter has just left Heber after 7 great years there. She thoroughly loved it, and so did we, we found it, overall, to be an excellent school. If I were in your position I would embrace the convenience and relax in the knowledge it's a super school with a really strong and stable senior leadership team and a great set of governors. The fact that they are being so careful in their approach to replacing David says it all.

[Monkey]

We're very happpy with Goodrich. We like its ethos and the fact that they educate the whole child as opposed to being focused purely on exams. We have specialist teachers for music and sports for example, which is invaluable.

All the staff are nice and professional and don't appear to be overly stressed (hubby did teacher training and witnessed first hand the stress headteachers can put on staff and the negative effect it has on children. So for us, a relaxed school is absolutely key.)

I thought the recent Ofsted report was absolutely spot on in its findings. If you read it, you'll get a good picture of what the school is like.

[redjam]

Just an update on the headteacher situation on Heber, for anyone interested ... It was just announced yesterday that Ms Rosenberg - who is the current acting head, was the previous co-head with Mr Block and has been at the school for thirteen years - has now agreed to take on the permanent headteacher role.

This is really excellent news for the school - I think that's the outcome everyone wanted!

[Duc748]

Stay away from Harris. The classes are too small, they have the newest facilities, and they're the only local school with Ofsted Outstanding. My childs class has less than 20 kids in it and I want it to stay that way. Best on trying Goodrich or Heber with the rest of ED.