Love this school. My daughter has just started in yr 7. She came with low confidence and thought she could not learn to read. She was at the bottom of her class in the local school in reading and writing, mediocre in math and had just been diagnosed as dyslexic. The previous school had told us we needed to try harder and practice the reading and had denied my suspicion that she was dyslexic. At Clifton High School they saw her talents and reminder her of them and they have worked out a way to help her learn the things she finds difficult - like doing her homework on an I-pad and recommending various apps and giving her extra support. They have somehow also built her confidence and she is getting extra individual support in reading and writing from Ms Pilgrim who is absolutely wonderful. My daughter is actually enjoying those support lessons were she is facing what she previously dreaded. She is no longer scared to read out loud in class. She is now so confident that she will read a recipe and bake a cake on her own, or read the instructions and install my new printer. This seemed impossible only a yr ago. The transformation is truly remarkable. She is getting lots of As, is clearly engaged in class and the lessons are taught to match her strengths: very creative and high level academically. Lots of teacher with PhDs and masters degrees who know what they are talking about (I could tell when talking to them) and who have spotted her talents especially in maths and science and her creativity. They looked beyond the fact that she could not remember her time tables and offered her a math scholarship. Of course, with all that confidence building she is now happy to have a go at learning the timetables, too, so that she can learn to truly excel at math. For my daughter, it is really important that someone keeps an eye on her and help her and encourage her when she struggles and does not to take no from her for an answer. And this is definitely happening aided by the fact that it is a very small and school. I also like the headteacher Dr Neil, because she is so warm and empowering in the way she deals with the staff, children and parents.
My daughter also likes the Diamond Edge Model where the boys and girls are taught separately in the core subjects. She likes the classes with just the girls and I like the fact that she is experiencing an all female environment at an early age - the joy of which I only experienced much later. At the same time, the boys won't be far when she starts getting interested in them and there won't be such a mystery about them.
I have a son at BGS, which is also a great school, and the kids are really keen to learn and competitive about getting good grades. A lot of emphasis on doing well in exams, with high expectations, and the learning is less creative. BGS is a school definitely turn out people that are successful in life in a conventional middle-class academic way. They learn to be polite, and helpful, to fit in and to do what they are expected to do. But, in my view, it is not geared to turn out people who question society, the system and create the real breakthroughs that the world needs.
To me, it is important that a school both develop's the children's emotional intelligence, their spirituality as well as their intellect. I also considered the Steiner Schools in Bristol for my daughter as it is my view that they have the best system for developing the pupils' understanding of their emotions and senses and communicating them through art, music and writing. However, in the end, Clifton High school won because it also provides a lot on the nurture and creativity for supporting the emotional development, but in addition it is has high-level intellectual expectations too. For a child with lots of intellectual and creative talent, I felt it was the best school.