Boarding for sixth form?

With the greatest respect, I would NOT consider a boarding school down south in your position. As a Scottish based parent of a DS who attended boarding school in London and live within easy proximity of Edinburgh airport it was still a trek every Exeat and holiday for our DS. Factor in travel time from school to the airport/train station then the journey up north then the pick up from airport/train station then the travel home, the Exeat just seems a chore in the end. At the beginning and end of term (unless the school will consider your Dd as a foreign pupil and therefore allow her to store her belongings at school) you will need to make the onerous journey by car to and from the school. If you want to attend an event, factor in 2 days! If it is an evening event you need to leave around mid day to get there, the events finish too late to catch the sleeper back and you won't get a flight after 10 at night so you need to book into a hotel. Realistically you would need to fly from either Inverness or Aberdeen from where you are based so the flights will be infrequent and very expensive, I suspect. Your interest in Pangbourne, imho, and any in the Midlands (where you would really need to go by train) seem misplaced on logistics alone and I mean that most kindly.
On Scottish Boarding schools here are my thoughts; Gordonstoun, goes it own way and attracts, I think a certain type (Still does have a bit of a reputation for being outdoorsy) lots of boarders. Strathallan, yes it is quite sporty, not hugely academic not a lot of full time boarders, lots of flexi boarding. St.Leonards, too out of the way for easy travel. They do the IB so depends what you think of that. Kilgraston, very small numbers in a year so not best for breaking into friendship groups perhaps. Glenalmond, only proper high school (all others are all-through schools) high proportion of boarders, fairly rural (my favourite Scottish boarding school though and DD attends here). Loretto, nice school, again quite small numbers in each year, friends son went here and they spoke very highly of it. Loretto is also quite sporty. Fettes, lots of day pupils but good school. Lots of my daughters friend have gone there. Dollar, follows the Scottish curriculum. Hardly any boarders so wouldn't recommend in your DDs situation. All the other day schools in Edinburgh have a tiny amount of boarders so not worth considering. I know next to nothing about the Glasgow schools so can't help there.

The Mount School York is excellent for drama and pastoral care. Also it's an all girls school.

What about Kilgraston? It might suit as a first time boarder.
Lathallan might have quite a lot of weekly\flexi boarders.
Tend to think that Gordonstoun very outdoorsy rather than sporty.
What about Fettes?
Also, Strathallan is as sporty as you want it to be. If you'd rather sing, paint or just focus on academic work - that's fine too. Different at start of senior schools when everyone is trying to find their 'tribe' but by 6th form they've generally relaxed into who they are.
I'd check how big an intake the schools have at 6th form and also how many are overseas students. How many are flexi\weekly boarders? What the typical weekend activities are and how evenings are structured.
Second all the comments about cliques. Not unknown for the odd new 6th Form intake to not last long and return to old schools or be miserable!
Try and get a few taster sessions at shortlisted ones. At least three or four overnight stays but spread out. That way she'll not be so much of a novelty and neither will the school! I
Good luck!

Since you are considering RC plus English schools you might like to have a look at Ampleforth, very much full boarding.

The school where my DD2 moved to for 6th form did give more exeats for 6th form and it was full boarding. It’s just something you may need to factor in regarding transport. Sometimes mine went off home with another girl but you cannot guarantee this of course.

The web site I gave you earlier gave boarding numbers.

I thought Lathallen had hardly any boarders so would question what the boarding ethos is like. I think you need to get more of a grip on this and your DD is a bit young to be making the running here. Getting to Pangbourne would take forever.

Most schools lighten up for 6th form and are less regimented. The children are now young adults and are trusted within the school community. They should get more exeats and you need to factor that in. Don’t just look at web sites. Go and visit.

My DD's friend from their girls school boarded at Gordonston for sixth form. She wasn't overly academic but above average. No previous experience of boarding other than being friends with some of the girls who boarded. She was very happy at this school.

My info is a few years out of date. DD's friend left 6 years ago. You need to look at a few schools. Be practical & don't pick anything too far away. Rely on gut instinct but ultimately your DD needs to pick the best school for her type of personality. Also a bigger full time boarding community will mean there'll be more students staying at school during weekends. This is better for you if your daughter wants to full board. However if weekly boarding is her thing, I shouldn't worry if there are no official weekly boarding places. My DS weekly boarded most weeks while staying for the odd weekend when he liked the look of the activity. His school at the time only offered day or full boarding places, but easily accommodated our needs.

Good luck with your search.

Agree all children are different and thrive in different suroundings. Also children do best and are happiest when they have a real sense of belonging which can be created in different ways.

I went to Oundle and a surprising amount of people came to the sixth form who had not previously been to the school. It was a totally different atmosphere with all the fresh faces so I dont think all schools are cliquey at sixth form. There was also quite a lot of freedom to come and go into the city.

My close friend went to the Mount in York and had good experiences altho that is an all girls school. Also had a friend at Bootham in York who said it was quite a liberal place. They apparently had a lot of freedom to come and go into the city (was located bang in city centre) and good facilities. She had her own room and just had to share a small study space with another girl between their rooms.

I think in your situation boarding sounds ideal. Your dd wants to do it and as you live somewhere quite remote it opens up a lot of opportunities for her.

user1469682920 comments re Pangbourne clearly demonstrate why you need to decide if an individual school would suit you and your DC rather than relying too much on other people’s comments. As a died in the wool pacifist and someone who dislikes intensely uniform and meaningless rituals Pangbourne definitely wouldn’t have worked for us. I watched it’s videos etc and to my mind it had a very strong military ethos.

Nothing wrong with RC per se I just personally have —what some may describe as an irrational loathing— am a not keen on anything RC.

SEdbergh is in Cumbria as another potential option.

OP

I know most of the 6th formers at dd school, I'd be happy to answer any general questions or those related to social/H.ed. you can pm, if I can help at all.
Obviously, I can't help with specifics as dd school will be different.

My dd boarded from 11 and went from H.ed, she's not 6th form though.

I would advise to look at which school has the largest intake at 6th form that haven't gone all the way through the school, unless they are just 6th forms, obviously.
I know somebody who felt a bit alienated as most of others had been friends for years.
Most 6th forms will have a building weekend though if this is the case.
The H.ed thing in itself wasn't a problem for my dd, just slotted into classroom.

If you are in an isolated area, is it possible to fly to a school to save the driving? My DD started boarding at 6th form and even though we share lifts with a friend, it is still a lot of driving.

And Marlborough is very selective for 6th form. My DD had straight A*s at GCSE and thinks most new joiners had similar grades. Marlborough does have a largish intake of girls who generally join boys houses that take girls in the 6th form. This gives the best of both worlds. All the girls are new but they quickly become integrated into the wider school because of the friendships with the boys.

There s a video on the pangbourne website and on you tube 'life at pangbourne' which I think is quite accurate, although a few years old.

I agree with you though Happy Gardening about schools having to show they have raised standards - a couple of local schools have effectively done that but are now having to select which is hard for those that either don't want, or cant get into, a school with more focus on attainment, academic or otherwise.