Summerfields or the Dragon in Oxford

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Would love to hear of your views on Summerfields and the Dragon please. We are looking for good quality teaching and a positive encouraging environment. Our DS has been bullied at his current prep school for standing up for an ostracised individual, so any views on the effectiveness at these schools of anti-bullying policies / staff training and staff interest in the children's welfare/pastoral care would be most welcome. Thank you.

Hope you have progressed in making your decision about your DS future school. My DS left Summerfields last year after completing his CE. Speaking to parents while we were there, they kept talking and reminiscing about the former Head and the warmth of school then. SF has changed since. I would advise you to go and visit the school. It is definitely different. Looking back now, their Pastoral care was not the best as my DS is much happier now at his Senior school and does not want his brother to join SF. Your boy has to be emotionally strong to be able to cope at SF. It is a cold learning environment. Not nurturing for all but the chosen few. Good luck!

Thank you Nadoka3 for your message. We have been to see SF, yes, and some others. Compared to where we are currently, it looks a good option. So, very interesting to receive your message. Can I ask if you'd be prepared to expand a little?
By nurturing for the chosen few, do you mean that they focus all their effort on the ones who are super-talented to start with - whether that's sport or on the academic front - rather than encouraging/coaching all? We have that tendency at the current prep school which, I agree, is far from ideal, as it also affects self-esteem potentially if one is not in the 'elite' group.
Can I ask you to elaborate also on the 'cold learning environment'? Is it the tone set by the new HM and/or the new staff being employed that are somehow different from before? Has staff turnover increased?
Sorry for the multiple questions but we were considering SF as a strong contender (and DS was offered a place after the tests) as the previous feedback we had from others was really positive.
You may have sent your message just in time!
Thanks again.

What I found frustrating is that the children were not supported and/or properly to sit the various schools entrance exams. The 11+ exams preparations were scanty and unstructured. A lot had to be done at home and for sure do not trust when they say "please give loads of rest to your child to rest at home as they do loads at school"...That is not true. They do very little preparations at school. To answer your questions, they do set the children according to their academic abilities and even those in the top or scholarship class are expected to work very hard with minimum support. The less able ones are given good encouraging reports but at the end still underperform at entrance exams to Senior schools. With the newly introduced Iseb 11+, it is even worse because the preparation SF pupils received at school is just not enough. You have to do loads of preparation independently at home.
The "cold environment" I was referring to is the lack of good communication between teachers and parents. Rumors have it that the present cold academic atmosphere was brought by the fairly new Deputy Head. You just have to be mindful and navigate your way around any issue arising. Their excuse is that they are always busy with the children...Another advise, be gentle in your approach when dealing with SF teachers. We found that we got a lot done by agreeing to everything they say, good or bad/ true or false. SF is a good feeder school to the top schools, but only for those parents Who do most of the work at home. That's the sad truth. We believe a good nurturing school should first focus on creating a good partnership between parents and teachers which in turn create a good learning atmosphere where each child is happy and encouraged to do well. When you join, the Housemaster in the boarding house will email you to give info about life in the boarding house, And as well as remind you that it is only in case of emergency you may call to speak to your child. I remember then thinking: "That's very insensitive to give us such warning before we even arrive!!! Instead of reassuring parents on how they will take care of an upset child leaving home and starting a boarding school away from home. However, Not to worry, although calls must be minimised or avoided, A calling card service is offered to parents. I hope I have answered your questions better. I wish you all the very best with you and your DS!

Thank you Nadoka3. Your message has been incredibly helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and advice in terms of communicating with the school.
I agree that ISEB is a worry, though I think for us it would be more of a general worry, as our DS is only just getting his act together - has improved greatly this last year in terms of putting in much more effort and taking an interest in his subjects. Any early testing - ISEB - is not going to do our DS any favours. He'll be fine later. Probably one of those boys who will become an interesting alumnus, rather than one who'll get a top academic scholarship to E or H! I think judging boys too early is a mistake that schools using ISEB for 11 yr olds will regret ultimately, as their intake will become much more one-dimensional. So we are not too worried about ISEB or preparation for top schools. Our DS will likely be happier at an all-rounder school and will do better at personal interview - so we are selecting schools that interview first and then apply test results, rather than schools that use a funnel the other way round. Overall, I'm not keen on our 'academically' focused education system, as there are so many other character traits that are equally - if not more - important. So we'll be happy if our DS gets an all-round education whilst being able to enjoy the journey with some nice friends. Top marks at CE aren't the 'be all and end all' for us luckily. It's very useful to know about the need for extra preparation. We do quite a lot with our DS so we'll just continue on his weaker points. We are ok with sacrificing the possibility of a top school, if it means our DS has a wonderful time whilst at prep-school, with time put aside to just get along with, and have fun with, his friends. As long as the pastoral care is solid and the staff supportive of the children. It's worrying if they don't put care into building the relationship with parents. Perhaps they have had feedback on this issue from parents recently, however, as the Head took pains to explicitly express his hopes of building a constructive partnership with us. So sounds as if they may be trying to improve on that front, even if it hasn't yet got round all the staff. Receiving test results regularly will be a great improvement on where we currently are. At the moment we only get results at the end of each term. Every two weeks will be a welcome change. Thanks again for writing. Forewarned is forearmed. All the best.