Cheltenham Ladies College, Shrewsbury School, Wellington College?

[jellybelly65]

I'm looking for boarding school for a sixth form place for start in 2024 for my daughter. Preferably co-ed and with a more full boarding feeling but with fixed exeats or times when they can come home occasionally. Looking for a school with good academics but also with a good music department and are somewhat keen on swimming. I don't mind the travelling to and from but would prefer one within a 2 - 3 hour drive so I could pop in on exeats.

We are based in Manchester and DD goes to a boarding school in Lancashire since year 7 but really isn't enjoying it. Lots of bullying and she just wants a change of scenery for sixth form. We tried to get her moved for Year 11 but couldn't obviously due to GCSE's and not many schools accepting students into this year.

Does anybody have any experience with the following schools? Especially for sixth form! Also open to reccomendations for other schools.

• Cheltenham Ladies College
• Wellington College
• Shrewsbury School
• Ellesmere College
• King's College Canterbury
• St Peter's York

CLC is surely all girls?
Wellington is a long way and draws from flashy London/home counties . It’s not a school I’d choose to join at 6th form from a quieter Lancs school. Wellington also largely weekly.
think Shrewsbury is a good school but I wrap ally don’t know anything about it. My DC are at Oundle in Northants which is fixed full boarding. Compulsory exeats every three weeks but nothing inbetween (although you could visit every day if you wished!). It is academic with strong music. Maybe 3 hours from Manchester.
i would also add Rugby School as that’s probably closer to you.
my advice if you want your dd to stay in at weekends then choose a school that does not allow flexi or weekly. Any flexi weekly school does not have a decent weekend vibe like proper full boarding schools. Choose carefully and door be fobbed off by schools/parents that say flexi weekly allowed but most stay in at the weekend. It’s always PR bullsh1t!!
canterbury is more like 5 or 6 hours. Doubt st peters is full boarding . Never heard of ellesmere.

soxth form entry for bonafide full boarding schools tends to close nearly 12 months before start date so if it’s 2024 you’re looking for you need to move quickly.

Kings Canterbury is very international. There are fixed Exeats halfway through each half term. The character of each boarding house is very different so it’s worth visiting in person and chatting to house parents. Music is good ( Kings Week is a big plus at the end of each year!) and there is a decent pool. Since the school is in the city, there’s a good level of freedom to roam. It’s a long way from Manchester but well connected by rail.

Cheltenham ladies is not coed

Definitely consider St Peter’s for 6th Form. Not so many younger boarders , but by that stage there are more. Strong at sport/music and good academics & York is a great place for shops/culture/socialising! Also, easy travelling via train to Manchester.
Shrewsbury definitely popular so probably worth a look too. Given your location, I would discount Canterbury/Wellington.

@leftandaright yes her school at the moment is majority weekly and flexi boarding and only international and about 5 or so english per year group stay at weekends which is one of the things we don’t like. We like the look of kings due to being in the town but obviously it is quite far away. Do you have any experience of bullying at oundle? She did mention it a month or so ago but I turned it down as we had already applied to quite a few but if it’s as you say and it’s majority full boarding it might be worth a look at again

@GoAndAskDaddy I do have a good feeling about Shrewsbury and St Peter’s especially as they are closer to home. Are the majority of boarders at St Peter’s full boarding? Obviously don’t want DD to be alone at the weekend. She does seem to make friends with international students but I know how it is with them speaking their own languages. Do you know what the ratio of international to English is and boarders to day kids? Are they allowed to go out into York alone at weekends and is there organised trips to opt into? Sorry for so many questions but it is such a big decision.

@CustardArt do you have experience with kings? It is towards the top of our list. Are majority full boarders and what are the percentage of international to local/ English? Also a big thing for us is bullying, is there much that goes on that you know of?

Not sure exactly on numbers/ratios but there are more full boarders at Shrewsbury than Peter’s I think. Probably best to visit & get a feel for them. By 6th form I don’t think they do organised trips as such but they do allow them to go into town at weekends by then (Peter’s). They all stay at school until 4pm on a Saturday so weekends are not very long anyway. Not seen evidence of bullying either.

I don’t know of any schools with outright bullying issues tbh but I can say that ALL schools will have problems between individual pupils at one time or another. It’s unavoidable but it’s is not the norm so should not be endemic. Boarding schools would not thrive if they were. Teenagers can be vile no matter what school they go to. No school can say there is no bullying nor ever will be but it’s how they deal with it that counts. I think boys also tend to sail through teenage years a lot more smoothly than girls who feel the hormones and ups and downs of friendships more keenly. So whilst bullying might be a cause for worry for you now , it could just be your daughter’s age and if she’s at a small school, the options to escape a bullying group are much much more limited.
that said, by 6th form these children are young adults and the fall outs/hormones have settled a great deal to probably nothing at all. Choosing a larger school also gives your daughter more opportunity to find her tribe.

if you live in Manchester and you are looking for a school where your daughter can join for 6th form and board at the weekend, then take a map and exclude every school you cannot get to within 3 hours. Then exclude any school that offers any kind of flexi or weekly boarding. Choose only those with fixed exeats. There will actually be very few of these schools. If a school has any kind of weekly options then make sure you I’ve within 45 mins so you can get her on Saturdays when others head off home.
the very nature of fixed full boarding schools will attract a fair number of overseas pupils but schools are notoriously secretive about these ratios and will muddy the waters by including day pupil numbers in their overall ratios. Broadly I think 20% of overseas is a fair reflection of most full boarding schools these days.

I expect most of the schools that form your short list will be able to offer good music, swimming and academics but discount any that very obviously don’t cater for this.

i would include oundle, rugby and Uppingham on your shortlist. Shrewsbury too if it’s full boarding. Discount Wellington, Canterbury and anything else outside than your 3 hour travel window. Why make life harder than it needs to be when you can find excellent schools closer to home.
repton might be worth considering too. That’s in Derbyshire but I’m not sure where it stands on full boarding.

What about Uppingham? That would be closer and a great school.

Have you considered Ampleforth? We nearly ruled it out because of the historical safeguarding concerns but couldn’t be more pleased we opted for it. They don’t deny their history and are all over safeguarding now. It’s a really supportive, caring place. The music is excellent. We feel it has got much more happening than places like St Peter’s (also a good school) as there is a high proportion of boarders. It’s very commutable from Manchester. I’d go and have a look if you can.

Ampleforth has literally only just been allowed to accept new pupils again as the sex/drugs/lack of safe guarding issues are very very recent. Unless you’re a die hard catholic, there must be 1000 other schools you’d pick for your child before thinking Ampleforth is the best way to relieve yourself of 45k a year post tax income.
i don’t doubt that it has its fans with many happy pupils there right now but it’s hardly the obviously pick right now. Maybe in years to come it will regain the position it once held but academic it is not nor has it ever been. Far from it. This isn’t a school I’d recommend adding to the OPs shortlist.

Not a Catholic but very happy indeed. I think sometimes when something has gone wrong that’s exactly when it becomes particularly good as people have to be on it. It’s certainly now being used in teaching courses as the example of how to get safeguarding right.

Everyone has to do what it right for their child. Personally I think it is a hidden gem and nearly didn’t even look at it due to comments on Mumsnet.

Hope the OP finds a good school for their child.

You could look down the Welsh border - within three hours, just about, are Monmouth School (co-ed in sixth form, fully co-ed from 2024), Hereford Cathedral School (co-ed with a boarding house for both domestic and International boarders) and some of the Bristol schools - Badminton boards, though I think is still single-sex.

I see a lot of clc locally. I know many highly academic committed teachers there. Great results. My reservation would be increasing numbers of international students - many from China and Hong Kong, which could be cliquey. Major focus on wellbeing which is so necessary in that environment and in 2023. I would want to know how many students join just at sixth form or whether your DD would need to break in to established friendship groups and live with them, which might be difficult. For girls there is some culture of 'women can do anything ' which is so positive. To some extent it means they will not be distracted by the whole 'boy' thing as they are busy and focused on school life. I can't comment on the other schools.

Have you considered the Belgrave School in Staffordshire?

I'm pretty sure that Shrewsbury empties at weekends - after Saturday mornings or sports if I remember correctly
I may be wrong but I rejected it after talking to a friend who had a DC there and I wanted FB for sixth form
Rugby def FB

If she wants good music, I would suggest Marlborough. It full boarding with fixed exeats. 6th formers can apply for weekend leave too but most stay in school as there is so much going on at weekends. However, it’s very far from Manchester sadly. Alternatively, what about Rugby?

Ampleforth is great. They have had their issues (now firmly in the past) but also were remorselessly targeted by people within the DofE who don’t like Catholics or public schools and were hoping for an excuse to shut the school down for those reasons. I am glad that Ampleforth has come through (with huge support from past and present parents and the community) better and stronger.

If you aren’t Catholic, how about Repton (Derbyshire) as a possibility?

St edwards oxford?

Does anyone have experience with rugby school?

I have sent you a private message!

@jellybelly65 just to say @wwyd2021medicine is completely wrong about Shrewsbury emptying out over weekends. This never happens, indeed day pupils opt to come in evenings and weekends to take part in stuff. Depends on individual Houses, but most have activities sorted throughout the weekends.
Shrewsbury is the obvious choice from all the ones you listed in the op. With a new girls House just opened, the school is becoming an even more welcoming place for girls.
St Peter's in York likely has a similar inclusive vibe, as the former Head was the current Shrewsbury Head!

@Takeittotheboss
Thank you for correcting this - it may vary by houses then and different year groups vary. It is the obvious choices for someone based in Manchester and I was only looking for sixth form - friends DS went all the way through

No Flexi or weekly boarding allowed at Shrewsbury. Very full on boarding. I've heard music is very strong. Don't know about swimming there.. only 1/3rd girls and we didn't choose it for our daughter. Some of the anecdotes I've heard re girls at Shrewsbury haven't been positive.
Hereford Cathedral School very few boarders and mostly international but music very strong.