Prep Schools worth moving house for?

[Cortina]

As per previous thread:

Cheam School, Newbury
Beaudesert Park School, Minchinhampton
Cothill House School, Abingdon
The Dragon School, Oxford
Summer Fields School, Oxford
Port Regis, Shaftesbury
Farleigh School, Andover
Ashdown House, Farleigh
Dolphin School, Reading
Guildford High School Junior School

Summer Fields is outstanding - it is almost exclusively a baording school though. Very few day boys there and if you move to Oxford your DS will have no friends during holidays.

Have you thought of Magdalen College - a day school exclusively?

Why would moving to Oxford mean that a child would have no friends in the holidays, people do live in Oxford and the area around! I live in an Oxfordshire Village, lucky to have one of the best state primarys in the village so no worries for us. Know a good many people who have used Dragon, known plenty pull the dc out to go to village primary and others have the dc go to other schools for secondary stage even though Dragon runs right through. I don't think uproting a whole family for a school alone is ever going to be a good plan!

He would not know any Oxford children if he went to Summer Fields. There are virtually no Oxford children go to Summer Fields as it has almost no day boys. The boarders there come from all over the world although a fair few live in London.

I know the school well. Our DSs almost went there. It is a great school though.

He would have local day boy friends if he went to Dragon or Magdalen.

Cortina, what exactly is it that you want? If you are wanting to send a child to Eton or Winchester then send him to Summerfields, Horris Hill, The Dragon etc. If you do not then why have you come up with a random list of schools in various counties? Any prep school will be fine. If you are looking for Grammar then I would suggest moving to Gloucestershire which has numerous grammar schools and private schools and keeps all options open.

I love the Dragon School (don't send my kids there, but would if we were rich and lived in Oxford).

But some of these schools are boarding, and some are day schools. Some have kids commuting quite some distance to get to, eg. Guildford High. I would also think the feel would be very different.

It all comes down to what you are looking for personally the couple close to me that are on your list I wouldn't send DD to even if they paid me.

Mount House, Tavistock, Devon. Fab school, gets kids into Eton, Winchester, Canford, Sherborne etc. Mix of day and boarding; worth every penny I spent in fees.

This is far too subjective a topic for there to be a list, but if you're looking for a list of very posh prep schools try the Tatler schools guide . For the record, we didn't like the Dragon School because it was so big and impersonal, and many of the older girls seemed too old for their age.

Ummm, we rejected an offer from one of those preps because it didn't suit our DC whereas another one not on that list did.

The prep school is only outstanding for specific chgildren where it meets their specific needs.

Otherwise it is just a random list of posh school. Like saying Prada is better than Alexander McQueen. Not true. Depends on what you want

Was rather an random list I found, not sure what the criteria were. It seemed to be fairly 'neutral' - I always think the Tatler guide must be biased and the Good School Guide is so positive about seemingly every school
I feel still as in the dark as I did before I started reading.

Nor do I really, I have a few half baked ideas about whether to move DS from his state primary (it's been fine, there have been a few things that have slightly worried me). We'll suck it and see, I guess. Next year could be great.

I found this list amongst some paperwork I had, also another list for state schools and wondered why these schools had been included and others missed etc?

I hear what you say about learning to 'make do' and nothing is perfect etc. That said, if possible I would like to get things 'right' as possible for my children. It's probably the pregnancy hormones but sometimes I wonder how people 'know' they are doing the right thing.

I know your neck of the woods. I was there visiting an old school friend, yesterday. I have always been a fan of academically excellent schools. Let's just say that it was a bit of a lesson into why that isn't the be all and end all. Met a group of girls at one of the 'best' schools in that area, they may have been bright but they were very surly, rude and couldn't talk to adults. Even for 5 minutes. They also appeared to be a bit too grown up for my liking. Not well balanced or well rounded, at least on first impressions.

Cortina, what senior school do you want DS to go to? If it's the top ones then you need to move to some of the preps you already mentioned.

If it's a school like RGS then the criteria are not so important however I would consider moving him to the junior school by Y5.

After Y5 you've basically missed your chance at a top school unless your child is a genius.

So what do you want and only then we can advise you?

Erm. Shakes.

RGS Guildford is usually top 10 to 20 in the academic league tables ( Independent has it as 5th I think). Talk me through why that would make choice of prep less important than a 'top school'.
I am not understanding your point

And RGS Guildford doesn't have a junior school...in take is at 11

I thought the school that had choristers was basically the feeder school/junior school to RGS.

RGS is a good school however it does not need the preparation or "nepotism" that some schools require for entry such as Eton and Winchester. I also wouldn't look at league tables which are seriously flawed and although it is a good school there are more to schools than mere academics. I too could shake at the comment about him not doing better at Eton - somehow I doubt that very much and it is a common comment said about such a school when a child either doesn't get in or parent's can't afford to send a child there.

The fact is that Corina has brought up a lot of schools with very little connection to each and has not said why she has picked them. If we knew her goals for senior school then we could at least answer the question.

Lots of RGS boys come from State schools, etc. Lanesborough boys are explicitly not guaranteed a place.

As I said RGS entry does not need the preparation of other schools.

[sigh]. Actually . I feel the need to also point out that DS1 never applied to Eton, we never considered Eton because of the reasons mentioned above.

Pag for what it's worth I think you are spot on. I have friends with dcs at a couple of preps that would have been completely wrong for ds. There seems to be a lot of pointless snobbery attached to certain schools. I was thinking of moving ds to a choir boarding school if he continues to show such an interest in an apitude for music but have been rather put off by the stories eminating from there of competitive snobbery.

OP ....

Please please please do not choose your prep school on the basis of "recommended" lists. You need to visit schools to be sure they satisfy your particular DC's needs, plus (in agreement with other posters) you need to be thinking about post prep - boarding/flexi/day - etc etc, plus suitability for your pocket (!!), your aspirations for your DC and it is so so so important to consider their happiness.

DD has just finished at a top 10 boarding public school and DS is at a very good (but certainly not top 10) PS. They both attended a local prep school. We chose each school for each child very carefully - all childen have different needs and a "top" prep or public school may not be able to accommodate all requirements for parents and children.

Gabbitas can offer practical and impartial help on selecting a school - may be worth checking out the website for some useful info.

Good luck!