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Original poster

Woodcote, Sunningdale, HH, Cothill or Ludgrove

35 replies

wouldlikeagirl · 24/03/2011 21:19

I think a discussion regarding these schools was on here last year but I seem to have missed it so apologies for starting this again. Would appreciate any comments, opinions or advice about the differences between these schools. We have seen Woodcote and thought it was great but obviously need to go and look at the others.

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FloreatEtonia · 25/03/2011 10:09

It depends what you want.

Woodcote -not a good record of getting pupils to Eton and Winchester in recent years. Lots of army families, which is not a bad thing but a better balance wood be good I think. Nice, down to earth parents.

Ludgrove - I found this school very cold and parents were dreadful. Not as many boys to Eton in recent years either. Full to capacity because of the prince connection.

Cothill - fabulous school, great French exchange programme, lovely location, great facilities. I know the new headmaster and he will bea great asset to the school.

Horris Hill - sweet little prep, boys very nice and kind and bullying genuinely non-existent. More a school for genteel boys heading to Winchester but does send all over. Facilities more natural (dens in woods, camping) than state of the art.

Sunningdale - uber posh but head great and academically rigorous if a boy is bright.

My choice - Cothill, if you want amazing facilities and opportunites with a good track record of senior school placement. HH if you want your son to be blissfully happy and care-free; it is also the most academic of the schools eventhough it is unselective.

Abr1de · 25/03/2011 10:10

Cothill is very good.

grovel · 25/03/2011 10:43

My DS went to a prep which was on the same circuit as these schools. I think Floreat's comments are fair.
If I was putting happiness at the top of my list I would actually plump for Woodcote. It has a lovely, unstuffy, busy atmosphere. I don't know about its record in recent years vis a vis sending boys to Eton, Winchester etc. I do know that they are fantastic when it comes to advising on senior schools for boys and would not be swayed by the prestige of the schools recommended (though the owner's son, I think, went to Eton - so no reverse snobbery either).

Original poster
wouldlikeagirl · 25/03/2011 10:56

Thank you for your posts, Floreat you seem to know these schools well. I did not realise Sunningdale was considered posh, I rather like it especially the idea of the Chateau in France. Cothill does look the best on paper but is by far the most expensive. Your points on HH are interesting regarding academic selection and their emphasis on academia.

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FloreatEtonia · 25/03/2011 11:11

We went to see Sunningdale four times because we loved it so much but in the end we chose another school. I'm not sure as parents we would have fitted in at Sunningdale with the other parents, although I never felt uncomfortable with the staff, but I have no doubt my boys would have been happy and have had a slightly posher accent! ;)

Cothill has a superior French programme as the boys spend a whole term (with a girls school) in Y7 in France. My son has done this, as an external pupil, and it worked very well.

Horris Hill have a termly remove system so if a boy is very able he is moved up by ability and a weaker pupil can consolidate for another term. This means that the classes often have a mix of ages but sport, drama, music, socials etc are all done with the correct age group. It is a great system and works for all abilities.

FloreatEtonia · 25/03/2011 11:12

Do you have a connection with HH as most parents who don't have children there would not abbreviate it to HH?

grovel · 25/03/2011 11:35

HH is getting a new headmaster in September. Don't know if this is a good or bad thing.

Original poster
wouldlikeagirl · 25/03/2011 13:47

No connection with HH but their prospectus seems to use the abbreviation so just picked it up to avoid lots of typing! Did you look at Woodcote Floreat? My boys really like it, though they have not seen the others yet so am also concerned that we may like one and they another. Do you know if Cothill offer scholarships/sibling discounts?

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grovel · 25/03/2011 14:19

In a way it's difficult to compare Cothill and Woodcote. There is a big difference in "feel" between schools with 100 boys and schools with 250+. Both can be great but I do think the experience is different. In a smaller school every boy will know, for example, the name of every other boy in the school. With year groups of 20 boys every boy will get a chance to play sport for the school which won't happen in year groups of 50. The economies of scale for the larger school will mean better (or flashier) facilities. etc etc

Original poster
wouldlikeagirl · 25/03/2011 14:25

Yes, good point grovel and I think I like the idea of the smaller school. We definately want academic and sporty which I believe both Sunningdale and Woodcote offer {hmm}

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Original poster
wouldlikeagirl · 25/03/2011 14:25

my {hmm} should be Hmm !

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FloreatEtonia · 25/03/2011 19:52

I would personally choose Sunningdale and HH over Woodcote if you want small. DS was offered a substantial scholarship to Woodcote but we opted for a much smaller one and sent him elsewhere. I have a friend with a son at Woodcote at the moment and she thinks the school is ok but not great. If it's the first school you've looked around then it is easy to get caught up in the moment.

250 boys may seem a lot but it doesn't have a large feel to it at Cothill. As for discounts, one can only ask but schools often giving out large discounts do so for a reason - they need to attract pupils! IMO, one of the best ways to save money is to send boys in Y5 or Y6 instead of the usual Y4 although this depends on the senior school that you are looking at.

thinkingaboutschools · 25/03/2011 20:02

Out of interest would you put Caldicott alongside this group? I am thinking of this school for my ds (was very impressed by the headmaster) - would be interested in your collective views

Original poster
wouldlikeagirl · 25/03/2011 20:08

Haven't thought about Caldicott, will re-look. I have seen a number of 'different' schools (mixed, up to 18, large and small) in different locations in the south and have decided on the all boys preps to the west of london, access to transport links/family etc. Thought Woodcote was by far the best but now the time is nearing for us to make an absolute decision I am aware of the other preps in the area that may also appeal to us. Just want to be sure we make the right decision. Your comments have been really helpful.

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amerryscot · 26/03/2011 07:38

Sunningdale was on a documentary recently.

I have only ever been there and Woodcote for away matches and thought Sunningdale to be lovely - very warm and friendly, with a caring family atmosphere. The staff really fussed over my younger children when they found the cricket way too long.

Abr1de · 26/03/2011 10:09

'one of the best ways to save money is to send boys in Y5 or Y6 instead of the usual Y4 although this depends on the senior school that you are looking at.'

We sent our son in year 6 and he got into the very selective boys independent of our choice, no problems with either the pre-test or CE. The only thing he had to really struggle with for the first year was French, but he caught up well. SPorts-wise he wasn't quite as accomplished as some of his new classmates, even though he'd done rugby, soccer and cricket clubs out of school at various times.

myotherhalf · 29/03/2011 11:46

We are considering some of these schools for our DS. Have met one of the HMs of Ludgrove, who was very nice, and have been to see Summer Fields which we thought was fantastic. How do you think it compares with Cothill and Ludgrove?

Sunningdale looks really nice, but is a smaller school than the pre-prep DS currently attends, and enjoys, so not sure whether it would be a good fit.

applesaregoodforyou · 19/04/2011 20:48

Wouldlikeagirl, have you decided yet?
We went to see Sunningdale a few weeks ago, we were very impressed but I think we need to go and see it again.

We are also considering Horris Hill, Papplewick and Ludgrove at the moment, not quite sure about other schools but will do some research on the ones mentioned here.
Any thoughts or recommendations of schools very much appreciated, especially experiences of Papplewick, as we haven't been to see it yet.

pointissima · 20/04/2011 09:05

myotherhalf

These are all great schools. Just thought I'd add that ds has been boarding at Summer Fields since he was 8 and absolutely loves it. It is a really kind place and one gets the feeling that much trouble is taken with every individual boy

Colleger · 20/04/2011 10:07

Summerfields is fantastic but the parents are ghastly and the choice of the new Head who had never taught but had some nice political sleeze in his closet sealed the deal for us and we turned them down.

Ludgrove - ghastly, ghastly, ghastly! Grin

myotherhalf · 20/04/2011 12:32

Pointissima

Would you agree with Colleger that the parents are ghastly at Summer Fields?!

Colleger

What was ghastly, ghastly, ghastly about Ludgrove?

Sunningdale is much smaller than Cothill, Summer Fields and Ludgrove and so I'm putting it in a slightly different category.

How might you differentiate the other three from each other? Obviously we will end up visiting all of them I expect but thought some here might some info we wouldn't glean from a visit. DS pre-prep (London) tends to send to Cothill and Ludgrove rather than Summer Fields, but not sure why.

Original poster
wouldlikeagirl · 20/04/2011 13:31

Applesaregoodforyou, not yet decided but we have narrowed it down to Woodcote and Sunningdale, we want to see them again before the end of the summer. We have narowed our search down to the following: location, size of school, academics, sport, full boarding and our boys opinion!

Will let you know......

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pointissima · 20/04/2011 15:32

myotherhalf

I , of course, am absolutely frightful but the other parents generally seem very nice and a much more mixed bunch than I expected. Rather keen on the new head too: v handsome. We weren't worried that he hadn't taught before (not primarily a teaching role) but we did worry whether he would really be sufficiently interested in small boys. This seems to have been unfounded and the boys like him.

freshmint · 20/04/2011 15:35

ludgrove parents hideous social climbers (haven't got over the fact that wills and harry went there 400 years ago)
horrid hell the least bad
cothill never let em out. You can be at the gates on a sunday afternoon saying "please can rupert come out for tea" and they will tell you to bog off if it isn't an exeat weekend

but frankly you'd be 100 times better to keep them at home. Honest.

freshmint · 20/04/2011 15:40

summerfields revolting and unhappy boys whose parents don't seem to give a shit
I generalise, obviously, but some of the conversations I've had on the sidelines at summerfields would make your hair curl. "He's settling in well but when I bring him back he starts crying at didcot power station so now my husband won't let me bring him back because he says it's my fault he cries" and my favourite, from a civil servant dad when asked how johnnie was getting on "Oh he's doing well. Of course he wrote me a memo before he came entitled "10 reasons why you shouldn't send me away to school" because he knows I read memos" "Oh, and what were the reasons?" "Usual things about how he was happy at his london school,how he would miss his friends, how it was unfair that his older brother didn't have to go to boarding school" (WTF?) "Why is he going and his brother isn't?" "Well, he wasn't really involved in anything and his brother does everything. I thought if I sent him away he'd have to get involved, and it worked, he played croquet last weekend! He wouldn't have done that in London!"

All fucking mad.

Keep them at home.