Mumsnet Talk

I can only speak to my experience, and I would strongly advise against Bedales overall. Sadly, my daughter was badly bullied by a teacher at Dunhurst and we left after being there since she was three.

I think the senior school (Bedales) may be a good choice for the right child, if you can afford the fees and are fine with a general lack of supervision and the junior school (Dunannie) was a lovely, although educationally lightweight introduction to life.

With both, you need to understand that the gloss and a lovely ethos form a beautiful veneer it won't come close to delivering on.

Dunhurst is different. It talks a good game about independence when, to me and others, the students went beyond that...I spoke to a headmaster of another school about my daughter's experience and he said that children who came to his school from Dunhurst were "feral."

If your child is super bright, super creative, super independent, don't really need to be taught and you have endless reserves of cash, Bedales (senior school) may be the place for you. If you want an easy, colourful and educationally lightweight primary education, Dunannie is a good option. The middle school, Dunhurst, was a disaster for us, and we weren't the only ones...several have removed their children after thinking they were going to go all the way through to Bedales. Giving your child "complete independence" over their educational journey is another word for "not really teaching them" in our experience. Dunhurst is an expensive con, and was the biggest mistake my husband I have made with our children, and we regret it so much.

Have you thought about Queen Anne's in Caversham, Reading? 50/50 boarders to day, lots of variety, lots going on. Well rounded.

I'm seconding Roedean. Incredibly friendly girls & fantastic teachers. DD's previous girls school seemed to have a glut of obnoxious brats in her year whereas Roedean was a breath of fresh air. The school is easy to reach from London/airports. Great music/drama/art facilities & the boarding houses are currently being upgraded. lots of girls from abroad so always lots to do at weekends. DD was a day girl & often went up to the school on Saturdays to hang out with her boarding buddies.

King Edwards at Witley. Very normal boarding school, co-ed diverse school dealing with average to bright. Don't know the numbers for boarding but do have overseas boarders.

Hi Manicmother. I just read your post and would be keen on connecting with you regarding the research you began for your daughter. We are from India and presently in the UK. Looking at schools for my daughter as well..

Shrewsbury School is taking girls at 13+ from 2014, so are keen to recruit. They have had 6th form girls for about 3 years

I'd second CLC, but would also strongly recommend looking at Sevenoaks School, which I know well. It has a good balance of day and boarders, a good international feel, teaches IB in the sixth form (and has done for decades, so is extremely experienced) and is also a school with plenty of opportunities beyond academic. You don't have to fit a particular mould and they encouraged individualism when I was there. Good luck!

Be careful interesting towns maybe on a schools doorstep but pupils aren't always allowed to visit them even at weekends. I know at last 2 mentioned above where you are very restricted as always if it's important to your DC or you ask don't assume.

Have a look at Canford. GSG says 'Unpretentious and sensitive, at ease with itself but without a trace of smugness. A school which can hold its own with the most popular in the country but one which has, perhaps, benefited from not being fashionable'.

Manicmother, you are asking interesting questions about what makes a school a good fit. We wanted schools which could clearly stretch and get the best for a range of pupils from bright-ish to very bright. We didn't want a school where getting anything other than an A* was regarded as a blot on the school's record but we did want a school where they would pay attention to the children getting the results they should. One school we looked at proudly declared that they expected the girls to excel in everything they did, whether academic or extracurricular - definitely not what we were looking for! And we certainly didn't want a school where a designer lifestyle was necessary to fit in or be part of the cool gang. We also wanted a school with good train links to London. As we looked around schools I also thought that easy access to an interesting town was important because sometimes children just need a break from being in the school - The Leys wins hands down for that being a safe 5 minute walk from Cambridge town centre. (That matters less if there is a weekly exodus to London but lack of an interesting town is also one reason why children might not want to stay at school at the weekend.) It sounds like both Roedean and The Leys could be potential good fits for your daughter.

manic, most boarding schools are posh, only the elite can afford them. Don't pay any attention to the Tatler guide, as you say it's gossipy and only there to bring in advertising from the schools. Look at the GSG and the word "unpretentious" should be the one that rings bells for you.

I have heard good things about Royal Masonic in Herts, would be happy to send my dd there. It's a good all round school and not too posh!
Same with St Margarets in Bushey. Don't know if anyone has mentioned Haileybury, supposed to be very good, but is Co-ed.

St Teresas in Effingham is very friendly, less academic (but getting increasingly good results) and much less competitive. Maybe a bit quiet for your girl though.

Oh dear, I feel VERY foolish. I just looked at the page again, and it's actually entry for sixth form in 2013 that is closed, I don't think that registration for 2014 has even started yet. Can't believe I was so silly, I will ring them first thing tomorrow and find out what the procedure is. It's just that I have a friend whose both daughters study there and she told me that is was necessary to register them years in advance, but that doesn't look to be the case. Does anybody know about Cheltenham Ladies' College entrance procedures ?

Copthallresident Do you think that is probable that CLC would be willing to accept such a late entry? I'm not very good at being assertive, but if you think that we do stand a chance, then I will get my husband to ring them. Or do you think we'll stand a better chance if we just go visit the admissions office (with our daughter) when we come to England next month?

manic I think it may be worth being a bit pushy parent with CLC, it sounds a perfect fit, and nothing ventured, nothing gained, do a selling job, sounds like they should jump at the chance.

Thank you very much for the suggestion Tigerstripes. My daughter is academic- she's at a fairly good school at the moment, and is top of the class in the subjects she enjoys (including Maths) and she reads voraciously- her problem is that she doesn't have an excellent work ethic and would much rather be doing something creative than studying the subjects/ topics that she doesn't enjoy. So I do want a school that is academically challenging and will motivate her to work harder, just not a school that is full of highly motivated geniuses, because she would be unhappy in such a pressure-cooker environment.

My sister went to pipers corner in buckinghamshire and my parents chose it on the basis of her not being overly academic but being very good at art. It's not full of the pretentious types and she enjoyed it there. It is mixed day/boarding though so I'm not sure if that would suit.

happygardening - that is a fair point, can't really disagree.

Thank you outtolunchagain - I will look into both schools.

What about Greshams for a less competitive option ( although I still think Oakham sounds a good choice)

I find the leavening of masters of the universe with the country living brigade and gum boot wearing clapped out farm land rover driving types quite amusing when I have attended the concerts etc. The children all seem to have melded into one not too cool, happy and confident type though.

Certainly makes a change from the clash of Masters of the Universe and earnestly self sacrificing Volvo drivers at DD's school........... and the similar clash between over confident competitive alpha girls and those with more inclusive values.

Copthall not Marlborough though! Actually all we know at Bryanston are bankers and city lawyers clean Hunters and range Rovers!!!

OP I know now exactly what you mean by posh Id avoid Marlborough then! But your point "I read that something like 20% of UK students do their A-Levels at independent schools, which sounds like quite a bit of diversity to me." how many are at day schools? Boarding schools by heir sheer cost are likely to be primarily full of very wealthy parents it goes with the territory. IME the very academic one have less materialistic/status obsessed children but others might disagree. Snobbery arises around intellectual ability instead.

happygardening "gum boot wearing clapped out farm land rover driving types" Plenty of those at Bryanston