Headington School Oxford

[Pittsfield]

Hello wise Mums. We are considering Headington for our DD. Can anyone share their experience of the school - academic or sporty, ethnically diverse student body, international students, supportive staff?

We changed school recently from Headington Prep to elsewhere. I would say Headington was a huge disappointment. It is a very large school. Marketing was fabulous and a lot of money went into this. We felt our DD was lost in the school. Pastoral care was distinctly poor - we were promised the earth but they hardly knew our DD; teachers were over-worked and frazzled and frankly rude e.g. ' sorry only one of me and we have limited resources'. Parents evening were rushed, and teachers followed clear policy of returning calls but no true follow through. A shocking state of poor human resource but rich in facilities. Children had to petition for more lunch food eg not enough bread rolls! Not enough clubs to go round, frequent complaints were children not getting their preferred clubs. Overall it depends on what you want - if it is facility - yes this is a nice prep school but individual attention, fantastic teaching (children were asked to google answers), true pastoral care sadly lacking. Also if you were looking for academic excellence, SHSK and OHS distinctly better due to better teaching though facilities in OHS possibly not as nice...

Thankyou for posting this, @KettleCHips It may be worth getting it moved to the Education section if you could ask @MNHQ?

Others may benefit from reading this too x

I would like to add that my DD's experience during her GCSE year was appalling and lacked the pastoral care that you would expect in a school such as Headington. She was clearly suffering with extreme anxiety and she was weekly boarding so I was unaware. She was asked to leave after GCSE results as she didn't meet the sixth form requirements -she had a temperature of 40 degrees for 3 exams sitting them in the medical centre and had been re diagnosed with a medical condition all of which the school were aware of. It was a kick in the teeth for my dd but quite honestly I was so glad to have her home and she went to sixth form locally. She got 2 A* and a B at A level and is now at her chosen university