Plymouth College v Mount Kelly

Well i'm partial to mannamead - & my dog likes Thorn Park :). You might like Stoke village as well (& very close to devonport).

I've lived in the City & a dartmoor village (& elsewhere in the UK & abroad, not a complete janner!) & there are pros & cons to both really.

I like clearbrook. I grew up around that area. Buckland monachorum is a very vibrant village with a strong community of you like that sort of thing.

I've had a lot of negative feedback about DHSG - from current parents (all unconnected) while parents seem happy with PHS (which is weird in a way as DHSG is the harder one to get into).

I think the mount kelly thing comes from the legacy of mount house being a prep to 13 & kelly college having a prep until 11. It's still very soon after merger.

The people I know at PC certainly seem happy with it. Do you know where you'll be living yet? Or where you'd like to be based?

We have looked at both this year for post 16, so forgive me if this isn't your focus. Plymouth College talked themselves out of the game when they told us that IB sciences were significantly more difficult than double maths and physics A levels, as we were looking at it because they offer the IB. I appreciated the candour, but we didn't warm to the school although I have friends whose children have attended who rate it highly. Have also heard that the head is retiring soon.

Mount Kelly, as we must learn to call it, has a new and ambitious head and two new deputy heads with seemingly excellent academic credentials who have joined or are about to. DC was quite enthusiastic after the Sixth Form Open Day; less keen after a taster day. Boring teaching and the same teacher for both maths and physics were the comments (but with the concession that the classes were getting feedback on their recent mocks).

On balance, I'd agree with Indrid that Kelly is raising its game. I know several families whose DCs have transferred there recently. The A level results are actually rather better than most people seem to think, especially as it is non-selective; 70% A* to B at A level (beating the boys' grammar school in Plymouth which only got 63% at the same level last year). Both schools are good for sports as mentioned above, but I think MK probably has the more interesting outdoor programme for students less fond of team sports. The Asian students' skill at table tennis astounded my DC!! We have not made a final decision as we have one more option to see again -- a new specialist 14-19 STEM school, which has no exam track record yet; the first students will take GCSE this year.

I think it was one particular poster who had strong feelings about Kelly , but certainly in our time its reputation took a bit of a hit under the previous head. That said, they have obviously made a conscious decision to up their game and improve things, and will surely be worth considering.

I'm assuming that OP wants day, not boarding, but I would also recommend Blundells, who have a fantastic new head apparently. They do flexi-boarding, and children come home at weekends.

Although I think Kelly runs buses from Plymouth??

Yes I agree it was about the preps, but I thought some of them were coming up to year 7 now so the discussion might have moved on to secondary? Quite a few seemed to have strong opinions about the senior school anyway.

I suppose OP could live in Yelverton and decide later Indrid is right though, if you want to live outside the city Plymouth College might be a bit of a pain to commute to. I think they start quite early as well. 8.30am maybe?

The big discussions about Mount House/Mount Kelly really revolved around the prep school, and I gather that OP is talking about the senior school.

Like jimjams I'm in the area and know people with children at both schools, although I have no direct experience of either (my DS went to Mount House prep). In the past I would have said that there probably wasn't that much to choose between them, and in fact there seemed to be quite a lot of movement between them. However, recently Kelly has undergone quite a change, and has appointed a much more dynamic new head to pep things up a bit. He only started last year though, so it may be a bit soon to tell. I think that it will be interesting to see what happens, but I would say that things look promising.

I think that a lot will depend on whether you want to live in Plymouth or Tavistock!

I'm in Devon, know a bit about the schools but don't use them. Both good for sporty kids, especially fencing at Plymouth college and swimming at either. The grammars in Plymouth get better academic results and I know quite a few who use Plymouth College as a backup for not passing the 11 plus. The children I know who attend seem happy there (but all the kids I know who go there do happen to be sporty).

There are quite a few Mount House (now Mount Kelly) parents that appear on Mumsnet so might be able to tell you more about Mount Kelly (there's a long running thread somewhere - might be in the education, rather than secondary education topic - might be worth bumping that - lots of Mount House parents posted on that thread).