Talk

Generally has a good reputation but I only know people with boys there. I understand it's 2/3 boys to 1/3 girls so that needs to be taken into consideration.

Have more info about some of the other schools in the area. Dd2 is at prep & dd1 just moved to y7 so have more info about the secondary side tbh.

Richard and Judy's kids went there. And Denise Welsh's. Um, that's all I know about the school

We're moving to wilmslow in 2wks and I'm currently looking at schools in the area.

I visited this school 2wks ago. It seemed very good, very efficent but despite this, nothing about it grabbed me IYKWIM. I know it has a good reputation which is why I visited but I much preferred the prep at hulme hall grammar. Much more what I was looking for (strong nurturing ethos,less academic emphasis though still academically strong)

Berries, can you tell me about the other schools in the area? I know there's 2 other preps in cheadle plus CHG and SGS which I've still to visit. I visited 2 in Wilmslow and didn't like either.

efficient not efficent.

CC - what age/sex are you looking at? If you're in Wilmslow also look at Kings School, Macclesfield (should declare an interest here as dd1 started in Y7 here in Sept). Generally very 'well-rounded' without too much academic pressure.

SGS and CH both tend to draw from smilar intake, but recent reports from CH suggest there may well be an issue if your child proves not to be academically able (this is from people there, not their sales pitch). SGS traditionally more academic but now definitely selling the fact that they commit to the child throughout their education.

The prep schools in Wilmslow are very different from the other schools because they only go up to y6 and so have to get the children ready for entrance exams. The downside is that you may be really happy with the school, but have to look elsewhere & the classes get split up. The upside is that if the school is no longer the 'right' school for the child you have chance to have a good look at all the alternatives. Schools with their own secondary sites will not prep children for entrance exams to other schools.

There's a definite 'table' of schools, showing which are the hardest to get into at y7 (and thus tend to cherry pick the 'brightest' children) so don't be swayed too much by the CGSE results. Withington is always in the top 5 but they do select only the very brightest children (and are quite open about it). It really needs a long hard look at the type of child you have and where they would be best suited.
HTH

I know lots of parents with children at Kings at all are very happy with the school. I toyed with it myself, but I work in the opposite direction.

Have you got boys or girls. The Ryleys in Alderley Edge(boys) seems very posh and I'm not quite sure of my gut feeling on it. I reckon it would suit some kids down to the ground but not others. It is a traditional prep school which goes up to age 13, may pupils transfer to Kings at 13 rather than 11 but also lots go to Stockport, Cheadle Hulme or boarding schools from there.

Alderley Edge School for Girls seems a nice school too. I guess you have to visit.

Another school is Beech Hall in MAcclesfield. I think it has less of an academic reputation and is a lot smaller than Kings but again I know a parent who was very very happy with the school for her 2 boys.

Thanks, Berries and IOS!
I have one of each and just discovered I'm pg with no3. Ideally, I'd like them all to attend the same school so single sex schools aren't really on my list.

The preps I have visited just seemed very academically pushy. I know it's because they need to prep them for the entrance exams but I just didn't like the pressure (maybe just my perceived pressure)It's a shame because one was a lovely walk around the corner from where we are moving to. The infant department was fab but from Y3 there was a clear shift to pushiness and they even split them into two groups-able and not so able. Didn't really want them to feel like failures at 7.

Thanks for the tip on CH. They do seem to be all singing, all dancing and I was worried what would happen if any of mine struggled. I have heard good things about SGS especially the pastoral side which is very important to me. Someone has also mentioned Greenbanks in Cheadle to me so perhaps I'll visit there too.
I'll check out Kings too,thanks.

Sorry for thread hijack.

I went to both Lady barn and then Withington in the senior school. Loved lady Barn, mostly loathed Withington! Lady Barn was great fun then but quite traditional and disciplined. I left 30 yers ago and still have fond memories! Withington is an exam factory which stifles individuality, pushes you to do A-levels/Degree courses you have best chance of doing well in rather than wanting to do, and is only interested in results. Again, i was there a long time ago but the school talked me into a degree i didn't want to do to help their top university statistics and I so resented them for it! They also make the slightly less able girls feel crap about themselves. Just my opinion but I wouldn't touch with a barge pole!

CC, not sure how old your children are, but I have found that as the children get older they are so different in character (& ability) that I'm not sure that choosing one school for both would work. One of the advantages of ind education is that you do get the chance to choose the best school for the child.

I've also heard good reports of Beech Hall, similar to Hulme Hall. Beech Hall hasn't yet got any GCSE results though, so teaching at secondary level may be a bit of an unknown.

Kings is a co-ed school which teaches single sex for y7 to y11 BTW, thus allowing for single sex education but mixed everything else (music, school trips etc).

Thirtysomething - interesting assessment about Withington as it is one we are looking at for dd2. Looks v good at open day, but have the feeling would either be v good or exceptionally bad & can't decide which it would be for dd2. Think she prefers Man High, followed by Kings anyway.

Thank you both. Berries, you are possibly (probably) right about them all having different needs though I'm not sure about the logistics of getting to and from3 different schools each day. I think because of my own bad experience I feel very uneasy about single-sex schools which is why I've just been looking at co-ed. Interesting what you said about Kings though, I'll look into that.

I think that even if they turned out to be exceptionally able I would still feel uncomfortable about going down the Withington/MGS route simply because it strikes me as being such a narrow (overtly academic) education. I read something recently which said Withington gained something silly like 97% A* GCSE results. This seemed like phenomenally high results and I just didn't want my daughter feeling like she'd failed if she got some As and Bs.

I guess it's because my biggest motivation for going down the independent route was the sport, music outdoor type of education. I'm sure as these get older (DD 2.5 and DS 1yr) I'll become more interested in the academic side of things but for now that isn't a big motivation. Neither WGS nor MGS make any bones about what they offer, I just don't think it's for me.

I thought living in Surrey and looking around here was stressful. Wilmslow is no less so!

Well it is the Cheshire set darling!

Well quite, IOS! I'm starting to realise that the only difference will be the accents.

On that point, I must admit to being a little bemused that despite being just a few miles south of Manchester, nobody seemed to have a Manchester accent.

When I lived in Wilmslow (it was up to 10 years ago) there were several primary schools that were very good (Gorsey Bank, Lindow, Ashdene - probably others I can't remember). In DS1's year at Gorsey Bank around 1/3rd of the year went on to independents - particularly Cheadle Hume. I didn't think much of Pownall Hall or Wilmslow Prep.

LM, those are the ones I visited and I wasn't so keen either. Gorsey bank is our catchment as we're moving into one of the roads that runs parallel behind it. I liked it a lot but the classes were big and I wanted them to benefit from all the sport/music offered in the independent sector.
That's why I was gutted not to like PH as we could have walked there in 5minutes.

Cushioncover - we used to live in A** Road. It was a long time ago, but we were very happy with GB school and the thoroughness of the education there. Good luck with your school hunt and life in the "Cheshire Set".

Thank you LM! The street we're moving into is BW (think wide stride! )

It seemed very pretty and green, also very quiet. I think I may take another look at GB. Thanks.

Lilymaid, I've just realised that it was your post on my thread about relocating that made me specifically look at the area we are now moving to (P.Park)! Thank you, it is indeed lovely

Hi can anyone tell me about wilmslow prep???