State boarding - any experience of the following schools?

[WhereWeGoingNext]

We’ve shortlisted from all state boarding schools, now we need to shortlist the shortlist.

Anyone have any experience of the following schools?

North

• Dallam school
• Keswick school
• Lancaster royal grammar school

Midlands-ish

• Haberdashers adams grammar
• Liverpool college
• Old swinford hospital
• The royal school Wolverhampton
• The Thomas adams school

South

• Burford school
• Gordon’s school
• Hollyport college
• St George’s Harpenden

Particularly interested in the non grammar schools as not convinced we’re going to pass the 11/13+, but considering all state boarding schools in strategic locations at the minute.

Interested for both boys and girls. DS1 will go first (2024 or 2026 entry, depends whether we go for 11+ of 13+, but need to investigate now), DD will follow a few years after and finally DS2. (I am aware that a couple of the schools are boys only).

I'm up north so know a little of your first 3. Lancaster Royal Grammar is boys only until 6th form and unfortunately there is no equivalent boarding for the girls grammar.

Keswick is well regarded I think. Plays on the outdoor Ed opportunities of its location.

We considered Dallam but glad we didn't go for it in the end. The local paper has an article today about the boarding house closing a week early, parental complaints about the house parents being out of their depth and issues with smoking/weed. Might be worth a google?

So not Dallam then. That’s been crossed straight off the list. I found that article. Wow! Thank you very much for that heads up.

Keswick sounds promising.

I have colleagues who's kids go to Keswick, but not boarding so I don't know anything about that I'm afraid. But I know they're happy with the school.

We're heading east to Ripon which isn't on your list but it's selective.

I know day kids at Burford and it's generally regarded locally as a good school.

I would also check your preferred options for weekly vs termly boarders - if you need the latter? Your choices are quite spread out and I don't know how the numbers of termly boarders pan out at each choice.

DS is a day pupil at Lancaster Royal Grammar school and I can’t recommend it enough. You won’t be able to send your DD to the same school though if he goes there until she’s in the 6th form.

I know of some pupils at Dallam and no one is happy with it. We looked around it for DS and weren’t overly impressed.

My friend has two DS at Old Swinford and they seem very happy there, and are doing well. They don't board though apart from the occasional night as they live very close to it.

Pm'd you OP.

You are wise to cross Dallam off your list! I would very highly recommend Lancaster Girls' Grammar for your dd in the future.

LGGS doesn’t have boarders though.

When you say state do you mean free? I always thought only private schools offered boarding, for a large fee obviously?!

PM’d you @WhereWeGoingNext

@Finallycaved
State boarding schools are state schools with boarding. Education is free and funded like all other state schools. The schools can be grammars, comprehensives, academies or free schools so the education is the same as any other state school of the same type. Boarding needs to be paid for. There are approx 30 state boarding schools around the country.

My daughter boarded at Holyport for two terms before I removed her. I would check the percentage of places allocated to ‘previously looked after children’ before you choose this school.

My son is a at old swinford hospital. There’s a good mix of day students, full and flexi boarders. It’s a great school and takes girls now from year 7. Lots of extra curricular to get involved in. There’s an open day on 10th June, come and have a look.

I've had DC at 2 of these state boarding schools in the North, youngest left last year. Both very successful. I'll DM you.

Known children who've attended Adams Grammar and Thomas Adams. Only heard good things. The kids are now in their late 20s though, so not recent.

I have a daughter boarding at Wymondham.

It wasn't on your list, but is a great school. A lot of the state boarding schools only have a handful of boarders, which can be disheartening. We chose Wymondham because it is rated Outstanding by OFSTED, has amazing facilities by state school standards and has over 600 boarders.

Happy to answer any questions if you are interested in knowing more.

Whilst Hab Adams will take girls currently there's no plan for girls boarding. The equivalent girls school, Newport Girls, doesn't do boarding.

Does anyone else have experience with Burford ? Is it a massive oversubscribed state school?

We looked briefly at Burford but were put off by the low number of boarders in proportion to the total number of students. However, it seems a nice school.

We would have been joining at the start of Year 9 and were told they had one boarding place available and two other enquiries, so it seems popular.

Don't forget that some state boarding schools prioritise rural students with journeys that aren't really feasible daily, military/diplomatic families and looked after/kinship care children who need the help. Once priority students have been admitted there are often very few places left. Some schools have additional criteria. My dd state boarded on a bursary and it was good but she wouldn't have been admitted without the special criteria she fulfilled

I went to Habadashers Adam’s grammar but left in 2002 so not sure if my experiences are valid anymore!! 😂

Hi @MrsPetty. Why would the percentage of places allocated to previously looked after children be a factor when choosing a school? I'm not sure there would be any way to find that out.

I think you can probably ask. Previously looked after children are prioritised. In my experience my DD suffered greatly as a result of behaviours that were likely learned In institutionalised settings. https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/18/how-can-it-cost-20k-a-week-to-look-after-one-child-a-care-home-manager-explains
it’s a much cheaper option for government.

Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

I am pretty confident that no local authority is placing children with the type of complex needs descibed in that article, or indeed any children currently under local authority care, at Holyport College or any state boarding school as a cheaper alternative to a residential home.

Formerly looked after children are precisely that. Children that have been looked after at some point in the past but are no longer, usually because they have been adopted. By this point the costs of mainstream schooling have shifted to the parents, so there is no cost saving to the government. Also, I doubt a child with complex needs would get through the boarding suitability interview.

That is not to say that there are not schools with boarding provision that specifically cater for children with more complex needs, and sometimes part or all of this cost is met by the local authority, but these are typically known for this and Holyport is not in this category.

It sounds to me like you had a bad experience with a couple of children attending Holyport at the time your DC was there. I am sorry about that, but there are lots of kids living with their birth families who are pretty unpleasant at school too.