Moving to Devon - year 9 independent schools

Speaking as someone who actually went to plymouth college i do NOT recommend it.
the teachers DO NOT care about the kids as long as they get their results and will say you're overeacting if you're being bullied by someone they need around

also had my chest commented on by a male member of staff there.

Hi, I’m aware this thread had no posts for a while but I wonder if you made a decision and how you feel about the chosen school.
We are looking between MK and PC for a place for my son who is a swimmer and very bright too…will welcome opinions from current parents.
Thanks in advance

Sorry, to be clear DS had his taster day at PC. He was slightly harassed by one of the boys whilst he was there and said that the disruption in class was similar to at his comp - which seems unlikely. Anyway, it has had the added effect that he suddenly seems a lot more settled! I am somewhat disappointed as I am sure he would do better academically at PC but you can get a lot of tutors for £16k a year I guess.

So sorry to hear that, I hope he forgets that horrible feeling. Was that at PC or MK?

Well, that’s answered our questions. DS hated his taster day, said he felt deeply unwelcome and that the boys were being horrible in class about other people and he never wants to go back. I did not expect that.

@shootme69 why do you say PC has a far better / more successful swimming programe than MK? Can you give some more details? We’re considering both schools for our year 10 son because he’s a swimmer, so this info is important to us. Thanks!

Thank you @Bighairydogs and @Coffeemorning579 for your feedback. It always helps to hear other opinions. We’re definitely doing the trial with our son in both schools, so I guess that’ll help us make up our minds. It’s definitely an important decision to make.

We are very local to the "grotty area" (it's really not that bad, I promise you!) so parking will not be an issue as we can walk, but yes, I can see how that would be really annoying otherwise.

I knew about the sale of the prep site, which is huge for a prep site (and actually is in a really random, grotty area of Plymouth albeit walled in) but wasn't sure how far the sale had got. I guess my question really is whether it looks like a safe bet going forward!

Most private schools are run as charities so have to submit their financial records to the Charity Commission, PC is listed as Plymouth College and St Dunstan's Abbey. PC have had financial problems but hope to sort them by selling the Prep School site and all the children are now at the Senior School site. The last accounts show a negative movement of funds of £1.95m, this appears to be due to them overvaluing the Prep School site by £2.5m, possibly to make them look more financially sound asset wise. The site is quite small for its 570 students and located in a really grotty area of Plymouth, most activities are run offsite (athletic meets, cross country etc), lack of parking is also an issue when attending events such as parents evening.
This might read as if I have a real downer on PC but I think it is a brilliant school academically and that it's swimming program is far better/more successful that MK, I just making you aware of the niggles that can really annoy you as a parent. And you did ask about the finances.

@Libre2 , you go on to the Companies House website and put in the school name and you can see their accounts etc.

Thanks for feedback everyone, it is useful. DS is just waiting for a date for a taster day - we've requested the last week in the run up to half term as he has various other things going on this week and needs a bit of a break from anything "stressful" (as he put it!) next week. I'll see what they come back with.

As I mentioned in my PM to you @Coffeemorning579 - KC is not a contender for us due to the commute in the morning. Class sizes seem very small in PC which is good I think. We saw a math's teacher who said that her smallest group is the lower ability group which has 5 students in it.

This may be a random question, but does anyone ever do due diligence on private schools? Is there anyway of checking that they are viable and not likely to go under in the next three years?

@S2UK yes they do that - my DD has had that done twice this year. It’s very cool to watch the video! They have it sent to them (they do 100 IM & it’s all filmed) & the coach has gone through it & marked what they need to work on etc. That year group is a really strong cohort, especially the boys - there are some incredibly talented swimmers.

Hi there - our visit was good today to PC. We went at lunch time which was a bit of a pain as we didn’t see any lessons but the feel of the school was lovely and calm. We are going to give DS a taster day and see where we go from here. We are not comparing with KC so can’t offer any insight.

@Bighairydogs Thank you so much for your reply! I see what you say about it being small, but I guess that can also be a good thing when it comes to the attention and help from the coaches in training and also, regarding studying and preparing exams. Do you know if PC has same size groups or is it a much bigger school?
On the other hand, do you know if during training the coaches really film the swimmers underwater and go through their performance with them so the swimmers too can see themselves. Does this ever happen, that you know?
Thanks again for your help!!!

@S2UK yes she is. It’s a small school in that there are only 50 or so kids in their year group (maybe a few more, but not much) so potentially could be limiting in friendship terms if you don’t find anyone you get on with in your year group. However, from year 10 onwards the houses & swim squads are mixed year groups so perhaps less of an issue going up the school than it is lower down.
I don’t know much about the boys houses etc but feel free to message me if you have any questions.

@Bighairydogs My son will also be starting Year 10 next year. Is your daughter a swimmer too?
When you say MK is very small, what do you mean?, like how small is a group? Thanks!

@Coffeemorning579 and @Libre2 I changed the previous name. To answer your questions, we felt that MT was more “structured” while PC seemed more “relaxed”. What we don’t have very clear, is whether “relaxed” or “structured” are good or not good things. In other words, how does “being structured” or “being relaxed” translate in the pastoral, in the academic, and the swimming results?
More examples, the personnel at BOTH schools were super friendly and welcoming, while the House Matron in PC is an amazing person and you can tell she’s been looking after swimmers for many years, we didn’t meet House Master at MK so it’s hard to compare. The premises and facilities in MT are outstanding, we loved that the children are surrounded by nature, but of course people make the place, not facilities. However we haven’t had enough time in either place to have an overall conclusion so we joined this group to read opinions from parents in both schools. Also we need to understand that each family has its own objectives for their children and its own priorities, what works for me might not work for you… In our case, we need to weigh down those pros and cons and figure out what’s most important but sharing opinions always helps. So please feel free to share your impressions after your visit @Libre2

I would be interested to hear how you find it today. We have a visit tomorrow.

@FromSpainToUK would your son be going into year 10 or 11 in sept? My dd will be year 10 in sept - the boys seem like a really nice bunch, she’s never had any issues with them and all the ones I’ve met seem very happy there. Very very good swimmers too!
like I’ve said unthread, she’s very happy there. The swim programme is somewhat relentless, and can be dispiriting if you’re not having a good season, but there are plenty of other opportunities there too.
My concern with MK before she started was that it’s very small - if you didn’t find your gang I’d imagine it could be lonely. She’s been very lucky in that she made friends very quickly but I think she wouldn’t have lasted long had that not been the case, and that’s just down to luck. I don’t know if PC is bigger but that may be something to consider.

I've name changed for this.
I would not send my daughter to PC if she is starting YR9 in Sept 2022, any other year would be fine. The head and deputy head both have daugthers in that year and the favouritism is blatant. Regardless of talent, one of them is on every team and stars in every production, the teachers are so petrified of the parent that the child is allowed to do whatever she wants. Unless your daughter breaks into that clique you might find it disheartening to watch her continually be 2nd bush from the left in every play.
I wouldn't hesitate to send to send a boy (in any year) or a girl (in any other year) to PC because it is a brilliant school.
I have no experience of MK but know that it runs mini buses from Plymouth and that plenty of children from Plymouth attend so maybe car sharing is an option.

Thank you. We will be in Exeter but my son will be a weekly boarder so, it’s the same distance from Plymouth and Mt. Kelly. But its hard to make up our minds without recent feedback from parents and families in both schools.

@FromSpainToUK - where are you going to be living? I think that might be a deciding factor for me. We’re in Plymouth within walking distance of PC and the road to Tavistock can be an absolute nightmare at times.