Ranelagh School

I have serious concerns about the management of Ranelagh School and in particular, the transparency of the information presented to parents and prospective families. The school presents a very positive picture of its academic performance, but I do not believe the headline figures give parents a complete picture of how pupils perform across individual subjects. For example, the school's published information does not appear to give parents a straightforward breakdown of results for every GCSE subject or how many entries. This includes subjects such as French, Combined Science, Media and Health & Social Care. In French, the number of pupils taking the GCSE was considerably higher than the very small number suggested by some published subject-level information. No results can be found for other subjects like combined science. There is also little prominence given to the actual outcomes in practical and coursework-heavy subjects. Parents should be able to see the grades achieved in subjects such as Drama and PE, rather than being presented predominantly with headline measures such as Progress 8, English and maths, or the percentage achieving grade 4 and above. There were also about double the amount of drama kids but only shows a low average grade. Coursework was not marked at all for drama. This matters because headline measures can give a very different impression from looking at the individual subject results. Prospective parents should be able to see the full picture — including the subjects where outcomes are considerably weaker — and make their own judgement. I am not suggesting that every subject should achieve the same results, or that a school's overall performance should be judged on one subject. My concern is that selective presentation of positive headline statistics can make it unnecessarily difficult for parents to assess the actual performance of individual subjects. I also have concerns about the school's management, communication with parents and the way individual pupil issues and complaints are handled. In my experience, obtaining clear answers and meaningful accountability has been difficult. Ranelagh has an Outstanding Ofsted judgement, but that should not mean parents cannot ask legitimate questions about management, transparency, examination arrangements, subject-level performance and communication. Parents deserve to see the complete and most recent examination picture, not just the statistics that present the school in the most favourable light. The school management falsely advertise and you only think Ranelagh is good because they tell your kids they are.

The school's leadership and management are, in my opinion, ineffective and lacking in accountability. Concerns raised by parents are too often dismissed, ignored, or dealt with inadequately, leaving families feeling frustrated and unheard. I have serious concerns about the management of coursework and assessment. Work that had been available for a considerable period appeared to be left unmarked until very late in the process, denying students the opportunity to benefit from timely feedback. I was also extremely concerned that draft work was submitted. The school's academic results should be viewed in context. In my experience, many students rely heavily on private tutors and significant parental support outside school. This raises questions about how much of the school's success is attributable to its teaching and support, rather than the additional resources provided by families. Communication is poor, transparency is lacking, and when problems arise there appears to be little willingness to acknowledge mistakes or take responsibility. While there are individual teachers who genuinely care about their students, the overall leadership and management of the school have left me with very little confidence in its ability to support students effectively. Overall, my experience has been one of disappointment, frustration, and a lack of trust in the school's leadership and decision-making.

My experience of Ranelagh is disappointing. The school suffers from weak leadership, with departments largely left to manage themselves and little consistency in standards across subjects. Support for coursework is extremely limited. Marking and feedback are often absent, making it difficult for students to understand where they need to improve. Even when feedback is actively requested, work frequently goes unmarked or receives only minimal comments. I also felt that the school placed too much emphasis on achieving basic pass grades rather than helping students reach their full potential. There seemed to be a strong focus on securing Grade 4s and 5s, while students capable of achieving higher grades did not always receive the challenge or support they needed. In some subjects, the curriculum felt rushed or incomplete, leaving students concerned about whether all required content would be covered before examinations. The school continues to benefit from a reputation built over many years, but in my view the reality does not always match expectations. Prospective parents and students should look carefully at the support, feedback and academic challenge on offer rather than relying solely on the school's historical reputation.

Do not send your child here. Knowing what I know now it was the worst place I have sent my child. Management cover up and tell you what you want to here, just to keep you quiet. All the good staff have left mass exit. They use their fine grading of - & + to put your child where they want them. They lie and cover up results to push your child down, as this suites them. Only interested in getting a pass for their results. Can't get or find pass gcse & A level results. They only publish some formula of maths and English. It is all fake. There is no safeguarding here only to cover up the failing management. Phones are allowed in school and kids take photos, videos and audio in class and cheat in exams. Teachers do nothing. I think they let them to boost grades for the bad classroom management. No idea how they got outstanding but they obviously done something. There is little or no revision for GCSE's as they are still rushing to finish the curriculum. There bully children and give out negative reinforcement. This is not a Christian school this is run by idiots who have a little bit of knowledge. Food is expensive compared to other schools. They use to have great clubs, they are pretty much all gone it is half effort all the time. A disaster waiting to explode.

I loved how teachers explain to my daughter

Don’t send you child there bullying is really bad head teacher does not care if you want you child to know about drugs and how to send messages about killing staff them go ahead and send them there kit had ofsted report for years think the governors should seriously look at the head and staff and understand what bullying can do to children might have had a good reputation in the past but I can promise you that is longer the case does not follow their own standards and has for saying they care far from it If you face fits your ok perhaps should say money talks at the school

Care about grades more than happy esa and mental health and don’t understand special needs just punish you for them