Advice on school choices please...

[Barbara]

Welcome to Marple - it is a great place to live, and we have been here since 1974.  Can't imagine moving anywhere else now.   

[Simston]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and advice. We have some tough decisions to make in the next few days! Moving in mid February!

[Duke Fame]

Aren't schools really much of a muchness? Kids tend to turn out as a reflection of their parents.

[JMC]

I have 2 children at MH currently. I have not heard they are having a sixth form.

Overall am very happy with it. My kids have done well and they are good for the gifted and talented (early GCSEs and AS Maths being examples) and have lots of clubs and sports opportunities. We luckily haven't had bullying issues but minor issues were sorted pretty quickly. The house system is pretty good. I plan to send my younger 3 there also. I know a few people who have recently left MH/Marple College and got places at Oxbridge.

There are definitely niggles surrounding the 'NUHOPE' punishment regime with many parents feeling their kids are being punished for minor things such as forgetting a book rather than concentrating on other more serious behaviour problems. The aim is to minimize low level disruption which was an Ofsted theme. NUHOPE doesn't happen yet in my children's years so I can't personally comment.

They are pretty strict on uniform etc which isn't a bad thing. I find pastoral and first aid excellent. Academically it is very good but my two are in the top sets so don't know if that makes a difference?

I can obviously only comment then on my children's experience but overall would recommend MH.

My younger ones don't attend RH and I wouldn't consider it now as see it as too big. Having boistrous boys I also worry over the steps and balconies. My friend went for a tour of RH and the headteacher sent someone else to show them round which put them off! It wasn't teaching staff. Mine attend a small school and it is hard enough for bullying etc to be taken care of without 3 times the number of kids! However I have friends there who are happy with it overall. It has to be said though that the traffic is horrendous and dangerous. Years ago it was bad enough when there were much less pupils. Cars zooming up the kerbs etc. And it is a long walk from Hawk Green. For me though small schools are perfect for primary age children. Could you keep trying AS for your younger child? Go on waiting list etc? After all places come up, people move away etc. There are also a few other primaries you could try although I don't know if they are full.

[simonesaffron]

Travelling from Marple to Bramhall to accommodate morning school hours would be a complete non-starter in my view so I think that you are stuck with Rosehill.

Rosehill is a very large Primary School that came about due to the amalgam of Rosehill and two other schools that closed down over a three year period. The school building is new (opened earlier this year) so facilities should be spot on even though in my personal opinion the architecture is hideous. The school can accommodate 525 children. Currently/latest figures 453. However with new housing in Marple, vacant places will surely fill.

Whilst the new school was being built the old school building was still being used and sometimes the whole place resembled a building site wherein Teachers and pupils had to operate. This probably had a negative effect on both staff and pupils and probably contributed to some negative Ofsted reporting with the School being placed in the .."requires improvement" category in October this year. Although it has to be said again Ofsted has its own agenda and their reports are sometimes written around this and are not always a true refection.

In my view Rosehill needs to be given a chance to settle after 2 years upheaval caused by the new build transition.

Marple Hall, two of my kids went there and they've both got University Degrees. However that was some time ago so I'm probably a little out of date. I understand that in the last 2/3 years there has been a new leadership regime. Apparently there has been some discipline problems and this year the Headteacher has implemented a points system whereby if you, say, forget your homework book you get detention that day. Some parents have complained about this but who is to say that the Headteacher is wrong ? I heard about one pupil who received 49 separate detentions last term. According to GCSE results Marple Hall is up with the best in Stockport.

I also understand that Marple Hall is planning to have a 6th form from September, 2013.       

   

[Dave]

Can't comment on Rose Hill, but we had three children at Marple Hall between about 1993 and 2006.  So like Admin, we're a bit out of date, but not much! 

As at any school, you get the luck of the draw with teaching - there are (or were) many really good teachers, and also a few others who seemed less effective (or putting it more kindly - whose teaching styles did not suit our offspring!).  But our three did well, got good GCSEs and went on to do A levels and to get good degrees: two 1sts and one 2(i).  More important (IMO), they were happy there, and came out well-rounded and well-socialised.   

I think you are right to look ahead to secondary education, as if your children go to Rose Hill they will almost certainly want to stay with their mates when they go on to secondary school.

Ofsted reports can be useful, but personally I would not place too much confidence in them.  Ofsted has its own agenda and its own priorities, and these may not be the same as yours! 

[admin]

We've had some discussion on this before, so these links may help:

http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?topic=4172.0
http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?topic=4198.0

Unfortunately, as with most threads, they tend to wander off topic the longer they go on but you can hopefully pick out the useful stuff.

Our own experiences with Marple Hall are a long time ago, but we were pretty happy with our two sons' progress. We have a grandson who have just left this year to go on to college, he did well there.

We have two grandchildren at the new Rose Hill School (started in September). Kids and parents seem happy how things are going.

I would envisage that living in Marple and schooling in Bramhall would be a travel nightmare!

[Simston]

Hi,

After 20 years out of Marple, my family and I are coming back to Marple. We have been over the hill in glossop. One of the prime motives for moving was proximity to work and better schooling. We have been offered places for both our boys (year 5/reception) at Rose Hill. We would expect them to go to Marple hall after RH. I have had a tour with the head at RH... Great facilities... Lots of kids!

it has to be said our first choice school was All Saints ( my old school!) however they are over subscribed and we only managed to get our year 5 boy in. We will be moving to Hawk Green in January.

Some of the parent views on OFSTED are less than favourable for both RH And MH....however, I believe that sometimes people only leave feedback if it is negative!

So, what I would like please is, any feedback positive or negative for Marple Hall and/or Rose Hill.... We do have out of area alternatives for both in Bramhall of required .


It's so difficult to make these decisions and I have to let the LEA know by next week!

Many thanks in anticipation!