Bryanston

[Totalbollox]

Our daughter has been offered a place at Bryanston. We also applied to Wellington College (my husband went there) and have been placed on the waitlist. I'm 99% sure we've ruled out WC due to distance and the fact that so many kids go home for weekends, which wouldn't be an option for us due to the distance.

We've been impressed with Bryanston, but I've seen a couple of comments on here about the school struggling and would be interested to know more, particularly if your child is already at the school.

Our daughter is a keen equestrian, which is the big draw for us. But she's also fairly academic and hardworking, enjoys sport and drama.

I haven't heard anything though they did seem to to have many vacancies for staff at one point. It looks like a fab school but wasn't right for my son. I have a few friend's kids there so can ask. it would surprise me if it was in financial trouble as plenty of money there.

I’d not heard of financial trouble?

I think it suits two types of kids. The first are not very academic, and suit all the arts and sports opportunities without the pressure of being pushed. The second are the really self motivated ones who thrive on learning in Bryanston’s slightly more independent way. The school is great for them

The kids I wouldn’t send there are the ones who could get great grades with enough direction. Bry might let them float along rather than achieve their potential.

My DC attend a feeder prep for Bryanston and I think this appraisal is spot on tbh. People say “oh it’s not very academic” but that’s not strictly true- it’s more academically diverse than the other school the prep feeds into but there are some well motivated, academic kids going to Bryanston who will likely thrive on the less structured environment- those kids can and do get great results at Bryanston. I looked at it and was v impressed but Sadly my dc’s personalities fall into “ kids I wouldn’t send there” camp. 😂

Hello - hope I am not too late to contribute but I would entirely concur with the Eloraa's estimation. I have had a child there who does not fit the two types she describes and it has been a significant problem. There is a lot of messaging about exams being less important than "finding yourself" and this is hard to counteract, especially given the boarding environment. I think unless your academic child is very self-directed and works hard without much external push I would avoid it. Unless of course exam results truly don't matter to you as a parent (n.b. Do ask them for their results - not published). I wish we'd gone for Wellington despite my reservations about the decamp to London every weekend/ high-net-worth vibe: I have a lot of friends with children there and they do seem to require them to do their best academically. With the child you describe, I would keep knocking on Wellington's door though possibly too late at this stage. Bryanston is beautiful, seems happy enough, and for the right child is a lovely place. It just wasn't the right choice for us.

I went to Bryanston from 2016-2021. I found most people were not focused on academics, and only a few made it to top universities. The attitude was definitely not focused on studying, but the teachers were always willing to help, and were top notch for any dedicated student. I have to say, there was a specific cohort (IB kids) who was very focused on studying and almost all received great uni placement.

Bryanston amplifies whatever your kid is. If your kid is creative, it will nurture that, but if he's chaotic, it will worsen that too. If she's focused, the teachers will encourage her.

I also didn't buy the whole "freedom" and "individuality" bullshit. My housemaster constantly monitored us, was checking the bathrooms every night to make sure we weren't spending too long in there, we would routinely have housemasters or people on duty bust into the room to try to catch us doing things etc... We always had to be in a particular place at a particular time. We were made to run what they call "Breakers" - during your 20 minute break between lessons, you would have to run ~2k and come sweaty to your next class. Once, we were all made to run 4k at 6 in the morning because my housemaster heard one of the people in the house swear. It felt like a prison. There are also stories of kids doing horrible things to each other. If you're a parent, don't send your child to boarding school, especially not when they're as young as 13-14.

The kids there were pretty awful. I'd say this school is where the kids with rich parents but who aren't particularly focused on academics go because they couldn't get into a better boarding school.

If your kid is dedicated, the laziness of other pupils might actually play to his advantage: I was captain of two sports, president of 3 clubs, played an instrument, learned 2 languages, and overall made the most out of my time there, with very little competition, and a high access to teachers. Despite the kids being lazy, the teachers were great and the education system really fosters learning. You have to give it to them that their teachers and education structure is amazing. It's just again a shame that the kids who get in are academically dumb, and mean.

Claysmore School v Brayanston school

I am looking at these schools for my three children, I’m trying to gauge if they compare or not. Who goes to these schools. Are both these schools for all rounder children, and provides a high level of learning and will push and nurtures children’s strengths?

Is there a community around these schools or mainly boarders. If my children are day students will they have play dates at the weekends?
so many questions and would really like to talk to some current parents at both schools.
please DM me.

Claysmore school- is there a good feeder into this school

I think Clayesmore feeders would have children coming from a lot of the local prep schools.
Bryanston is more boarding with very little flexibility.

Trying to think how best to answer this so forgive if it's a bit all over the place.

For context, my DC go/went to a prep that feeds predominantly into Canford, Bryanston and Claymore at 13+ ( grammars, Ballard and Talbot Heath at 11+). Generally, at 13+ the more academic kids go to Canford, then Bryanston, then Claymore, but there are some academic stars who go to Bryanston for the performing arts, location or they just prefer the vibe. Both Bryanston and Claymore are pretty academically broad - Claymore has very good support for SEN so results do reflect that. If you look up the GCSE results, you'll get an idea of the students they are admitting.

The vast majority from my DC's prep schools go to whatever school they go to as day students although Bryanston has flexi boarding and "day with a bed" which is now quite popular for DC that do a lot of extra curriculars (esp performing arts) as these can mean 9pm finishes. All three schools have decent numbers of day students although the arrangements differ in terms of how the houses work - Canford has dedicated day houses, Bryanston mixes them in, not sure about Claymore- it's the one I know least about- it's about 50/50 boarding vs day though.

In terms of playdates etc, they'll be past that as they'll be 13/14 but I know what you mean. Bryanston has Saturday school (lessons in the morning, matches in the afternoon) although Claymore doesn't, and most of the Saturday school kids just want to chill on Sundays as have had enough of each other! However, I think integration between day and boarders is pretty good at most schools. Even the day students come from a pretty broad catchment though which can make catch ups tricky - I know Bryanston day students from Christchurch and Salisbury. It's not going to be as easy as if they are at a local day school with a smallish catchment.

Preps- in the near vicinity, some of the preps that feed into Bryanston are Castle Court, Wallhampton, Dumpton, Sandroyd, Port Regis, Farleigh, Sherborne prep. But Bryanston does have quite a broad geographic reach as it's a "name school" so there will be DC from all over the UK and overseas, Claymore less so. Of course, Bryanston and Claymore also have their own preps so those are worth considering.

HTH. Depending on where you live might also consider Canford, although possibly you are the other side of Blandford.

Thank you for your insight! Really helpful and I will look into Canford.
Do you have an idea of best villages / towns to live in and around the area that have a good community?

Quick look at the charity commission it doesn’t look great financially. It has spent more than it is bringing in and it doesn’t look like a one off issue as the margins have been small for years.

I don't really know the villages around Blandford.

The bigger towns within "day pupil reach" are Bournemouth/Christchurch/ Poole which is effectively one big town, plus Salisbury and Dorchester. Wimborne (where Canford is) is a nice smaller town and there are some lovely villages like Witchhampton just outside- Wimborne is also fairly close to Blandford. Blandford itself is ok but bit rough in places. Ringwood is just about do-able - easy to Canford but a stretch for the other two. Lytchett Matravers, just outside Poole, is quite nice. If you don't already live in the area I'd think about school preference first and then choose where to live as while all three schools bus from quite a wide catchment, it's already a long day without 60 mins on the bus at the start/end of it (and then a drive home as the buses are not door to door). Also the bus only goes at the main going home time (usually 6pm) and if you want to leave earlier or later you have to be collected or flexi board.

Basically as a day parent I would not want to be too far away so if you're really thinking Bryanston or Claymore, you'd want to live over towards Blandford rather than over towards Poole, unless you're happy with a degree of flexi- most of DS's friends at Bryanston who live in BCP do 2/3 nights a week boarding.

Thank you for your insight super helpful.

Hi. Im a parent with a child at Yarrells prep, which is a school that mostly feed's into the local grammars, although a good handful leave and go to Clayesmore, Bryanston, Canford and BCS. Out of all of them, Canford would be my choice. Their academics are excellent, and the standard is hard word. The other 3 arent much different from each other - ok academics if the kids are inclined and lean into it, but otherwise a bit of a holiday camp.

So, my advice would be to match the kid to the school. If your child is academic but needs to be somewhat directed, id consider Canford or the grammars. As an example, Bournemouth Boys had about 8 or so of their 6th formers get a place at Oxbridge. Ive met a few kids from Clayesmore, Bryanstone and BCS and have not been impressed. They've all struck me as kids who would be lost on leaving, because the school has focussed on their interests and talents, without much thought for life after school.

Anyway, its all probably a bit late now, but hopefully it'll be of help to someone.

@JemimaADC what is the intel on wellington weekly boarders? I am worried about my easily distracted son who is v bright, falling off the wagon!

I have been recommended very different schools - wellington, winchester and Radley, Harrow.

I do not know much about wellington. When i went there, i didnt feel some sports were treated so seriously as somewhere like Harrow. I also hear that the day students are academic but boarders tend not to be.

I also have heard that winchester kids/parents are very different to winchester/ wellington parents

@ForSnappyPombear I think bright children are stretched at Wellington, but it is easy to get distracted if children are more susceptible to the social scene than perhaps they might be at a Winchester. I don't have boys but do know a lot of girls at Wellington who do seem to be doing a lot of London partying at weekends. It's more of a university feel I think - big, well appointed, excellence in many areas. Lots on offer but if your priority for him is the academic, perhaps there is more to divert him (in a positive or negative way) there than your other choices. The way selection works at Wellington is interesting: They all have to pass an academic benchmark (which is above average, but not high-high) and then once that is done they are looking for various types and strengths to form their school community. Thus benchmark PLUS sports, or drama, or art etc etc. Some are benchmark PLUS academic which is where their v high flying types come in. Having said that, I do have friends whose boys did not get in to Wellington despite being much more academic than classmates who did. They have thrived at Eton in one case and Winchester in the other. Personally I think it is a tough school if you are not "special" in some area. I am not clued up on boys' schools, and don't know Harrow at all, but my impression is that bright boys who love academics do well at Winchester. Plus you have the co-ed stuff coming in which is probably a v good thing for the boys. Radley - they take a fair few average boys from an academic perspective, but seem to to very well with them. I'd ask for their "value added" as I imagine it is quite high. This is just my very uneducated perspective from looking at children going in from my girls' prep school. And from teacher friends who know the intake well. None of these schools are going to be as academically stretching, probably, than their London equivalents.

I’m a private Ed - honestly there are quite a few problems at Bryanston - it’s not what it used to be academically 33% A-A at A level (meaning that even Millfield has beaten it) I’ve done two moves due to substance and social issues - if she is a keen equestrian I’d look at somewhere like Stonar instead - 35% A-A and ZERO toxicity (literally one of the happiest schools I’ve ever looked round and interacted with students from and world class equestrian facilities - plus an absolutely stunning campus