South Farnham School A GSG School
- South Farnham School
Menin Way
Farnham
Surrey
GU9 8DY - Head: Esther Whitbourn
- T 01252 716155
- F 01252 718260
- E info.southfarnham@sfet.org.uk
- W www.south-farn…m.surrey.sch.uk
- A state school for boys and girls aged from 4 to 11.
- Boarding: No
- Local authority: Surrey
- Pupils: 846
- Religion: Non-denominational
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
-
Ofsted:
- Latest Overall effectiveness Outstanding 1
- Early years provision 1
- Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding 1
- 1 Full inspection 14th June 2012
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Lesson quality outstanding, with no child allowed to slip through net. ‘Local myth is that it’s very pushy’, said a parent, ‘but that simply isn’t true’. Instead, secret weapon is 90 per cent under-the-surface preparation, achieved by talented, well-led staff. Broad and balanced curriculum means science is packed with experiments (no lab, though – it’s on the wish-list) and art spans across everything from ceramics to tie dye to DT. Junior class size of 34 headline figure but misleading. Emphasis is on differentiated learning, with 30 teaching assistants – all in training, many teachers in waiting – and seven personalised learning specialists adding up to a child/adult ratio of 13:1. Kindness and responsibility take centre stage. No orchestra but...
What the school says...
South Farnham School stands on two attractive 11 acre (total) sites lying, as its name suggests, south of Farnham. The accommodation includes 5 libraries, a music suite and 4 practical rooms. There is both an assembly hall, two studios, gymnasium, cloakrooms and changing rooms. The 7 acres of play area include 3 hard tennis courts and grassed sports fields and pavilion.
Parents are able to state a preference for this school for their child irrespective of where they live unless the school is oversubscribed. Most of the children move on to Weydon Secondary School when they leave at 11 years of age, although once again parents have the right to choose any secondary school. We maintain close contact with Weydon to preserve continuity in our children's education.
South Farnham School was one of the first schools in England to be granted teaching school status a new designation entitling it to lead the initial teacher training and professional development of schools in their locality. Following an Ofsted inspection in June 2013, the school has once again been graded as 'Outstanding'. ...Read more
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What The Good Schools Guide says
Headteacher
Since September 2021, Esther Whitbourn, previously acting head since March 2021. Taught in Southampton after studying her BSc there. She then returned to her Surrey roots to join the school eight years ago, first as a teacher, then year leader, assistant head, deputy head and finally acting head.
Entrance
Non-selective and oversubscribed, the school has a sense of fabulous sweetshop surrounded by disappointed parents pressing noses to glass. Now 90 places at 4+, one more class added at 7+, many from three feeder infant schools – St Mary’s in Frensham, St John’s in Churt and All Saints in Tilford. After standard queue jump priorities - looked after children, SEN, siblings - success hinges on home to school distance. Dozens of families, turned away outright, don’t even get that far. No wonder a local estate agent pays...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
There is a special needs team that support and work alongside the classroom teachers. Additional help is available, when appropriate, from educational psychologists and the other outside support agencies.
Interpreting catchment maps
The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.
Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.
For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained
Further reading
If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.
Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.
Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.
*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.
The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.
Children get into the school from here:
regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year
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