Roedean

[Dustylaw]

I would be grateful for any comments on Roedean, good points and bad points and especially on impact the new head has made in the last few years.

Thanks

[100lilgreen]

I personally think it is a wonderful school and prepares girls amazingly for their life to come. Alot of people think it is very inundated with foreign girls, but I think you get that at all boarding schools and there are still so many British girls!

[idealism]

my bro works there. if all teachers put in as much effort as he does, you won't find a better school!

[wordfactory]

DD has played some sports fixtures there and it is very beautiful and the pupils seem charming and happy on the whole (and they're bloody good at lacrosse).

Is it still termly boarding? I really can never see the justification for that. I mean, yes, allow pupils to remain in school who hae to...but the rest should surely be allowed to go home as and hwen...

[slipshodsibyl]

I've worked with two teachers who have worked there and they are both first class professionals. The school sensibly and gently supported a friend's dyslexic daughter, who was failing at her previous secondary school,through GCSEs and she gained 9A* grades. The sometimes negative comments on these kinds of threads about "foreign pupils" seems to me to ignore the reality of the multi-cultural, globalized world in which our children live and will live and work as adults. Surely this is a positive?

[Dustylaw]

Thank you for your comments. It's very good to hear because I liked Roedean - it seemed comfortable, friendly, focused on the individual and not pretentious at all. Friendly, normal girls who seemed to enjoy a relaxed relationship with the school and with the staff. I was impressed by the fact that the girls themselves felt able to go a bit off the schedule to accommodate a particular request - good skills and clearly not afraid they would get told off for taking some responsibility. Actually, not at all what I had expected, given the big name that Roedean has. In answer to Wordfactory, Roedean is introducing both weekly and flexiboarding. With such a big cohort of overseas girls this shouldn't dent Roedean's full boarding orientation (weekend flight seems a real problem for some boarding schools) but should just add some flexibility for local and London girls. Few schools are placed to do this successfully so this seems a real bonus and well thought out.

Thanks again for the comments.

[EmBhat]

My daughter has been at Roedean for the past 4 years and she loves it. it's a great school with a good mix of girls from all over the UK, the EU and overseas. My daughter boards and has a great time and she has made some lovely friends for life. Give its stature the school is very down to earth. A lot of the parents who send their children their are professionals, like my husband and I, who value education. Our daughter has flourished in the caring and friendly atmosphere of the school and has transformed from a shy retiring girl with little confidence to a young woman with opinions of her own, a great personality and excellent academics. Its truly a place where girls can shine. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[jeee]

There was an article about it in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago - it might be worth checking this out.

[Dustylaw]

Thank you, that is good to know. You know what it's like - you like what you see but wonder if you are seeing what it's really like - so it's very helpful to hear first hand.