Grittleton House School, Wiltshire

These have just been released and I think it speaks for itself. It works brilliantly for some children and helps them achieve their best.

SATS and GCSE Results 2013

SATS 2013
73% of Year 6 achieved Level 5 in English
50% of Year 6 achieved Level 5 in Maths
These are well above national averages!
(the average pupil across the UK will achieve a Level 4 in English and/or Maths at the end of Year 6)

GCSEs 2013
86% of Year 11 achieved 5 GCSEs graded A*-C (significantly above national average)
51% of all the Year 11 GCSEs taken this summer were graded A*-B
Our Year 11 top achievers were L P and J W who each achieved 9 and 7 A*/A grades respectively.
A number of Year 10s took their Maths GCSE early and I am very pleased to announce that they were all graded A-C! In addition to this there were five Year 9 pupils who gained a mixture of A-B for their Latin and Roman Civilisation GCSEs ? again, well done to you all.

I found this link when searching for The GHS website. It has been interesting to read people's perceptions of GHS, some accurate and some misleading. Both my sons have been to GHS , one academic and one not so. My youngest son is still there.

GHS has pupils who are in the top 5% of pupils in the UK academically and they are supported by the Gifted and Talented program. It is a small school granted, but staff turnover is low which brings many benefits for the children as the teachers know there strengths and weaknesses . Both my lads found/find it a very nurturing environment. Children develop emotionally and physically at different rates and in a small environment this difference can be magnified, but by and large the tutors and staff are supportive and most things get resolved. The plus side of this is that the groups can be very supportive of each other as they know each other well.

The GCSE options are standard and the children are supported to gain the best they can,with up to 9 GCSE's ( you only need 8 for entry) They also offer Latin for the more able children along with Spanish and French.

It is not a school for every child, but every school State and Independent has its own culture and atmosphere and does not suit everyone.

On the down side, communication about activities are sometimes vague as there is an expectation of assumed knowledge by the children and parents. This is improving though .

The school may not have the facilities of Kingswood or King Edwards, but it is developing and improving.

My eldest son joined the school from a State primary that was listed as one of the best in the region, it was not working for him and we saw his motivation crashing. He went to GHS, they quietly without fuss took him aside and built his confidence and English language skills , he gained a B in English and 9 GCSE's at A and B.

We looked at options for my youngest a son and decided that we want him to get a good grounding in English Maths and Science and a more traditional education, where he can actually enjoy learning, he can specialise or take more vocational subjects post 16.

He is an academic boy and yes probably would gain more GCSE's at King Edwards but we want him to enjoy learning at this stage.

I would suggest you visits on your own and then with your lad and see if it matches his needs and personality.

Or move to the Deer Park cirencester catchment area the SEN support is supposed to be excellent.

Had a couple of friends' DC who moved from Grittleton to SBL due to financial circumstances changing. The older one couldn't cope with the change and was borderline SEN. She moved back to Grittleton and was much happier but didn't do very well in exams. Possibly not Gritteton's fault. It does seem to cater for less academic DC compared to other private schools locally. I don't know anything about it's dyslexia provision, though.

Idly curious about independent schools being inspected by Ofsted.

Apparently it happens if the school is not a member of any of the independent school associations:
here

I'm not sure whether the inspection criteria are the same as for maintained schools - as the Grittleton House inspection starts off by saying that it is simply checking whether the school is suitable to be registered as an independent school, I wonder whether a different set of criteria are applied.

waves at MrsCB

Just wondered are you in catchment for Beechen Cliff as I know several families with children there who have additional needs and they are very pleased with it. They discounted Kingswood et al in favour of it.

If you might move nearby then what about downside, Kings Bruton, Monkton which are supposed to have excellent dyslexia support. If your DS is sporty then you don't really want a school too small for a team. Sorry see you've discounted Monkton.

The building is beautiful, the grounds are beautiful, it's a lovely place. I have doubts about it as a school.

We had our wedding reception at Grittleton House. It was lovely.

Completely irrelevant to your dilemma, I just wanted to share!

I didn't know Ofstead inspected independent schools. We learn a new thing every day.
ISI report are not great I didn't recognise my DS's prep from the ISI report.

Ofstead don't inspect private schools beyond nursery age.

I think Wycliffe might be ok we met the head of special needs she seemed really switched on although she might of left by now, the head is very likeable ?too likeable (God I'm a suspicious old cow). A boy we met there with dyslexia was also doing better there than either he or the school predicted.
The area is I suspect cheaper than where you currently live and its very close to Stonehouse station (not exactly the London underground but its a train service) you can do varying length of a day in the senior school as well. If you moving for a school its better to move closer to Wycliffe than Grittleton.

Another point of interest Grittleton is one of the few schools not inspected by the ISI. I'm the first to state that these are often not worth the paper they are written in terms of the standards of education/pastoral care etc on as it's a box ticking exercise and heads know how to play the game so most are glowing. But parents like them and often look these reports up when decided which school to choose so its becoming increasingly unusual that schools aren't inspected as they are good marketing tools. But these reports not only look at the quality of teaching but also ensure all staff have proper qualifications, that basic health and safety regulations are being met, child protection policies are fully implemented including staff training etc and all staff are CRB checked etc at one stage many schools were not doing these things often becasue these things cost money. It's so easy to assume that in 2013 these things are just being routinely done. I'm not for a moment suggesting that the school is deliberately employing dubious characters but to do these things properly not only requires money but infra structure secretaries administrators etc etc who cost money.

I was looking for the ISI report trying to find out how many children are actually in the school becasue the reports do state fairly accurately the numbers currently there. This is something else I would check very carefully.

As far as I can see jo many small independent schools in this area are struggling Stonar et al is of course not just competing with Marlborough etc but also a raft of good state schools including grammars in the next county with no catchment area, some state schools are now offering riding as part of the curriculum. Marlborough of course will always be the preferred choice of "old money" local families and the smart rich, Dauntsey takes the slightly less smart (no criticism intended) and Badminton is not far away and then Mr and Mrs MC of which there are a lot in this area who don't have £11 000+ a term to spend on fees will either send their DC's to Kingswood, KES and RHSB or their local state school with other nice MC children. All in all none of this is not good news for the likes of Westonbirt, Stonar and Grittleton.

My dc's are at Kingswood (prep at the moment) - I think there is more emphasis on the snr school particularly becoming more academic.

I've been very pleased with the prep but am not sure I'd say the same if my child had additional needs. And certainly at the prep any extra help is paid for on top of fees which is something I'd want to clarify if I were you at the snr school.

I also know people with children at the specialist school in Colerne, they've been very very pleased with it. Some of the children only attended for a couple of years and then moved back to Kingswood despite being told by the prep they were unsuitable for the senior school.

Happygardening - As far as I am aware Stonar's numbers are not terrible, but that is not to say they are thriving either! - they have been coeducational in the Prep for 4 years now and it was only a matter of time for this to filter through. It has recently been bought out by NACE - a group based in Spain who operate 7 schools in Spain and 4 in France, Stonar is their first British school. Whether this will provide it with future stability who knows? It trades off its excellence in all things equestrian, which even the MNetters cannot deny! However this is rather a small market and what with Bath, Bristol, Marlborough, Dauntseys, Warminster etc... being rather close by, it is understandable that it has struggled to attract attention especially when its results are never anything to shout about. I think when other Independents were able to be more selective they probably had a bigger market - however as you say I can't imagine any of the Bath schools are oversubscribed, and so often a more average child with a full fee attached is going to be accepted now.

"I'm not sure how selective these schools actually are in reality or if its more about the fact you are paying, but its seen as a necessary process to look like they are selective!"
I think a lot of it is being seen to be selctive frankly. I quickly checked the results its not overly academic and you've got at least year to go before he sits the entrance exam if you and he really like it spend you money on a good tutor to improve his English rather than pay for Grittleton.

The gossip on the block is that Stonar is really struggling and there are threats of closure. Don't know how true this is. jo you're right it is always very unpopular on MN coming I would guess only second to the head of Wellington which is quite an achievement I would say. OP I'd search it on MN if I was you.

Wellsway is a great school if you can manage to get a place. I imagine you are not really in its area of responsibility and its always very popular. I am not too sure about its dyslexia support though.
On another note, Stonar is now co-ed and so it may be worth a look. It does not have a great rep on here, but it was always very good with the pastoral/nurturing side and it is not academically selective. In the past it always achieved good 'value added' results, in that it managed to help the children reach their potential regardless of starting point. During the time I knew the school there were several dyslexic pupils. For what its worth I also know of very bright children who went to Stonar and achieved fantastic results - before someone comes and tells you how unacademic it is!! Of course low number of boys may be an issue, and it would be about a 40 min drive from you.
Colstons School is the one mentioned in Frenchay - it is the least academic of the Bristol Independents, very sporty but I don't have any personal knowledge of dyslexia support.
As others have suggested, Kingswood would be the most convenient for you and would be worth a look..