Any current/recent Radley College parents about?

[LardiLaLardiLi]

Hi!

DS got an offer from Radley College. We were thrilled - great education record, good feel, great communication with the school, but now that we need to confirm the place, we are unsure if full boarding and school culture is suitable for DS and us as a family.

DS is bright enough to do well in lessons, but will require some SEN support. He is OK with sports, though not an "A-B" team player. He does not have a particular area he is really good at like music or acting but has a few interesting but niche hobbies and in general will have a go at things on offer. He gets on well with other lads in his current school.

I would love to hear from parents of recent school leavers and current parents about full boarding aspect, how bullying is tackled, what's SEN support like in lessons and in the boarding houses, how the boys treat each other, especially if they are of different races (DS is biracial)/culture/background.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Please DM me if you would prefer not to post on an open forum.

Thanks!

@LardiLaLardiLi hello !
did you take your place at Radley ?

every single boy we know who got an interview at Radley this year was given an offer! I think we are up to 11 kids now just in our small social circle

seems Radley are handing the offers out like confetti this year!

quite a few of the boys have nothing remarkable about at all! They are neither academic, nor sporting, nor musical nor known for their drama skills

they are just run of the mill, very average middle class British boys, with no distinguishing features!

I’m surprised as I would’ve thought Radley was highly competitive and so could be more selective and choose boys who properly excel in one or more areas.

worth noting that all the “wardens list” boys we know (I.e. name down before age 4) who have received Radley offers don’t actually want to go there. They are going for Eton and are using Radley as their second place backup, so there will be a churn of offers.

very surprised that some of those boys got offers given what a top school Radley is and how competitive the process must’ve been and how bloody average the lads are!

That sounds like a very common approach from any public school. Even the so considered 'elite' tier of full boarding schools. They over offer to DC, particularly if they know that they have applied elsewhere, to other schools in the same 'tier' (e g Eton, Harrow). It's how schools help manage their intake. Presumably those DC performed well in ISEB and assessment and likely have a good behavioural record/reference (increasingly important in a full boys boarding school), despite seemingly not being outstanding at any one discipline. In addition, schools consider the likely potential of DC over the formative 13 to 18yrs ages. Similarly, you will, I'm sure, have seen children at prep school that you perhaps wanted DS to avoid early on, yet, come yr 7 or yr 8 that DC had developed and become actually a rather nice chap. I believe that Radley are rather good at making those decisions early on, and will turn out fine young men, who are well rounded and ambitious.

Do we really think that all Year 6s going to boarding school — or anywhere, for that matter — need to have some kind of “exceptional” talent?

By definition, most people are average. I think it’s deeply harmful to assume that our children must all have “distinguishing features” before they’ve even left primary school.

What about the ability to work hard or make friends easily? What about the children who are curious, kind, or quietly tenacious? Give me a class full of nice, normal kids with down-to-earth parents any day of the week.

And if I think about the people I was at school with, many of those who probably seemed “really average” at 11 — or even at 16 — have gone on to have fascinating and successful careers.

It’s madness to make such sweeping judgements at such a young age.

@MissDaisy1982 that is just your opinion . You do not know these children fully . A lot of Mothers always presume about other peoples children . They must all have something you do not know about !!