Blueberry Creek Forest School & Nature C

” Poor lack of respect for local residents. They hold events with no warning to the surrounding residents resulting in illegal parking on pavements causing residents to have to go on the road with babys, toddlers and wheelchairs and then get abused by trying to leave our own residency. “

” Even though I do not have children at Forest, I feel compelled to write this review. I am a retired teacher/tutor and have taught several children who progressed to Forest and I hear very good reports of the school, and consequently, I am in a strong position to recommend it. I do have first hand knowledge of their competence. A number of years ago, a parent asked me to tutor her child as she was concerned that the pupil had fallen behind and was not where he/she should be at Y4. The child could not even add basic fractions and this was not due to lack of ability! It was obvious from the start that the child was intelligent and h/she made excellent progress! In addition, the pupil was learning an instrument at the prep school and when I heard him/her play, I saw his/her talent, and immediately advised the parents to purchase a piano and I taught him/her this as well. The pupil has, as I suspected from the onset, made considerable progress and already passed several examinations. At the prep school, (also fee paying), this pupil had been allowed to coast along and it seems that little or no effort was made to recognise and develop his/her obvious ability. (A school who employed and continues to support a teacher who was part of a Whatsapp group which used vulgar and derogatory language towards female teachers as well as despicable slang words when referring to children with learning problems. Using ‘spaz’ to describe children, as well as the other profanities, is hardly a prerequisite to exemplary teaching practice – especially in a fee paying school which should be top of their game – not bottom!) There were music lessons at this school, but at the time, these seemed to be rather perfunctory and there were limited opportunities for him/her to perform outside lessons. At the very last day of school, the pupil had been led to believe that he/she could perform as the audience assembled for the end of term celebration. The poor child arrived, with music – only to be told, “We aren’t doing that now.” The parents were rather disappointed and I, myself, was hurt that any child could be treated in this manner. When the pupil started at Forest, they recognised his/her talent, and set about filling in the gaps in their education. The parent pointed out that he/she learnt more in his/her first year at Forest than they did during the past several years at preparatory school! The parent said that Forest School is ‘on the ball from start to finish’. Her words were: “They have proactively identified areas that need additional support. It has been done in a supportive way in conjunction with previous dialogue with us, the parents.” These parents were delighted with the progress. The musical support is second to none! This also, was recognised immediately, commented upon and addressed. The child was given additional support and regularly performs for an audience, playing solos and as part of an ensemble. This experience is invaluable, in that it gives the children a reason for learning to play and an incentive. It is also social and another area where children learn to work as a team and interact positively with each other. In this, the school certainly knows what it is doing! I am a great believer in teaching additional skills to the children such as word processing/keyboarding etc. Again, as I continue to work with my pupils, these things have been commented upon. Instead of impeding extra activities, Forest applauds, encourages and develops them! I feel that by supporting my pupils, they are supporting me. It is easy to understand why, in the current climate, when other schools are struggling, Forest continues to expand in each year group! “

” This school charges what they do yet they can’t organise a lollipop man to help control traffic on woodford new road’s pedestrian crossing. Do you think all cars should have to wait sometimes 20 minutes in traffic whilst the kids cross all at once? DAILY? Stop being cheap and get a lollipop man to control how many children pass allowing fair intervals of traffic to come through. I also will complain to council about the coaches. This is extremely poor form and unacceptable. The traffic extends all the way to the a406 all due to this schools inability to do the right thing. “

” The student culture is a living hell for certain groups of people, bullying and bigotry is rampant. Everything there is elitist and intolerant. The facilities are good and if you get lucky you’ll get some good teaching (but some of the teachers say things they definitely shouldn’t). If you’re a cishet man with stereotypical interests you’ll probably love it there, if you’re a woman or LGBT or neurodivergent or even just a bit of a nerd, rest in peace. I just can’t give it more than 1 star, it was just not a nice experience, for what it’s worth after I left I think they were trying to improve some stuff so maybe it’s better now, but none of that was in place when I was there. I ended up with amazing GCSE grades at the end of it, but god I hated this place. “

” As on Old Forester, I completed my A-Levels 20 years ago and now my son is loving life in his first year having passed his 11+. Teachers are very friendly and sports continues to play a vital role which is very important to my family. “