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Original poster

Cambridge private schools, the perse

32 replies

Rarily · 12/07/2011 14:11

Hi. My daughter has finished reception class, in a good school. She is a very advanced reader and seems to have high natural academic ability which has been commented upon since she was quite small. For this reason we are considering sending her to private school where she will be more stretched - the local Perse seems to be the school which targets academic ability, but also seems to have a competitive and success orientated edge. Does anyone have experience of the local independent schools and any comments to make about their experiences?

OP posts:
LovetheHarp · 12/07/2011 14:22

One of my friends sends her son to Kimbolton and has found it a good school, and very stretching for her son. I am not local but everytime we see her she raves about that school and they live in Cambridgeshire.

diabolo · 12/07/2011 19:59

Several Year 8's at DS's Prep are moving on to the Perse for Year 9 (current Head Boy and a very academic girl who won a scholarship).

I have heard mixed opinions recently. Some parents say that while is very academic they believe this is to the detriment of pastoral and sporting provision, and that they feel if their children were to plateau or drop off academically, they may be asked to leave. I don't know if this is true of course. It sounds rather shocking, so may be a case of sour grapes from the parent of a child who was unsuccessful.

dippywhentired · 12/07/2011 20:03

I went to St Mary's in Cambridge. Was pretty academic but also very good on the pastoral care front as well. Having said that, I left some years ago and it may have changed since then.

JoleneJoleneJoleneJoleeene · 12/07/2011 20:09

Im involved in competitive events which perse come to and they are VERY sore losers.

JoleneJoleneJoleneJoleeene · 12/07/2011 20:09

I thought perse was just a girls school?

dippywhentired · 12/07/2011 20:22

There's Perse Girls and Perse boys (which also takes girls in 6th form I think).

diabolo · 13/07/2011 18:56

The Perse is co-ed from 3 to 18 (link attached).

www.perse.co.uk

diabolo · 13/07/2011 18:56

www.perse.co.uk/

diabolo · 13/07/2011 18:56

Sorry - my links aren't working and I usually have no problem with them. That's the web address anyway.

Lilymaid · 13/07/2011 20:40

Rarily - do you mean the Perse or Perse Girls? The Perse School used to be boys only through the Prep School and Main School with girls in the sixth form but is now co-educational. Perse Girls is girls only. It has a sixth form called "Stephen Perse" which is mixed.
I can only comment on the Perse - and from several years back. It was an excellent school but not with a competitive and success orientated edge - it was pretty laid back. Not sure whether this has changed - would have doubted that the current head of the Perse who has taught there for years would have changed the school's ethos that much!Perse Girls has a reputation for being very demanding academically.
Surprised to read about lack of sporting provision at the Perse. It might not be the Leys, but it was pretty competitive, especially in hockey and cricket.

beanlet · 13/07/2011 20:46

Generally speaking (and I know lots and lots of parents with children in private schools in Cambridge) you choose to send your children to Perse Boys or Girls if you want them to excel academically. And then Hills Road for Sixth Form. That's what we're aiming to do with DS assuming the stars are in the right alignment...

Lilymaid · 13/07/2011 20:50

I had that plan - save on sixth form fees but DS was very happy where he was! Not so many left the Perse back in his day to go to Hills Road compared with those who left Perse Girls, the Leys and St Mary's for H.ills Road (or the Perse)

Original poster
Rarily · 14/07/2011 09:57

Thanks for the feedback. I"m getting the impression that both Perse schools are similar to the grammar schools of the past whereas other schools cater more broadly. Its a shame private education is extraordinarily expensive - for us it will mean I go to full time work.....

OP posts:
Malcontentinthemiddle · 14/07/2011 10:00

Your child's doing very well in her current school, and has progressed to an impressive level.... and so you're going to haul her out of the place where that's happened? Seems a bit silly, really.

Lilymaid · 14/07/2011 13:54

The head of the Perse Upper says the Perse sees itself as "more like a direct-grant grammar school than a posh public school in ethos".
Perse parents tend to be dual income professionals/academics (often ex-grammar school themselves).
I would suggest you might wait until secondary school level. DS went at 11 from a state primary and didn't find he had to catch up with those who had been to the Prep.

JumpJockey · 14/07/2011 13:57

Does anyone have any comments on St Mary's? I was at an all girls school and we're pondering the same for our DDs, so that really means only Perse Girls or St Mary's.

beanlet · 14/07/2011 15:51

St Mary's has a good rep too. Friend of mine has just got a teaching job there and speaks very highly of it all round. So far:-)

Dustylaw · 14/07/2011 22:31

I can strongly recommend The Leys - mixture of boarding and day pupils with an intake at 11 and at 13. Bright to very bright children, good teaching, genuinely all round education, great facilities and a kind and decent school.

Original poster
Rarily · 15/07/2011 12:25

Thanks for your responses - I'm getting a feel for the local area and indeed it seems that the Perse, Perse Girls (and possibly St Mary's) are similar to what would have been grammar schools. Yes Lilymaid, I have considered waiting until secondary so we remain more connected with our village in the meantime. I'm visiting these schools come September and am quite involved with our local primary where she currently is, so look forward to seeing how the schools differ.

OP posts:
Erebus · 19/07/2011 09:10

I know someone with DSs in the Perse continuum. They feel it has been a mixed bag, really. The elder one went to the prep and had to sit the entrance exam for the upper or higher- whatever they call it. My friend was a teensy bit disconcerted, tbh, how the entire year group passed, being a little Hmm about how academic they actually were. For the second DS- they abolished the need for prep boys to take to exam at all, BUT my friend was taken aside by the head of the prep to be 'warned' that his DS2 wouldn't have passed the entrance exam- yet that's where he's heading with the prep's blessing. I believe they still do IGCE's, not GCSEs, so how that sits with admitting less academically able DCs, I don't know. Nor does he!

As for coed- the DS1 who I think is in Y8 or 9 has girls in the year but no mixed teaching; the DS2, finishing Y6 is in increasingly mixed classes. My friend feels that he's happy enough with the schools but is a bit concerned that his second DS may not have the same experience as the first in that the ethos appears to be changing. They chose the school(s) because, amongst other things, they were single sex. The 'getting girls' in was unashamedly aimed at keeping the grades up and to address slightly faltering boy-intake numbers.

One thing to bear in mind, though: The Leys is way more expensive that the P!

MovingAndScared · 19/07/2011 11:18

Couple of things - have you been on gifted and talented boards on here - that might give you thought/ideas about how to support your daughter -
and to be honest if she is happy I wouldnt be overly concerned

expense - she might be able to apply for get a buseries at 11 I think
is there not the option of doing other activities with her as opposed to sending her to a different school which might be cheaper?

do you have other children? Just thinking of the impact on them of the expense of private education

LaWeasel · 19/07/2011 11:33

I went to St Mary's (left 6 years ago)

TBH, I don't really like the direction it has taken. Sixth formers are now pretty shut in and not allowed out when they don't have classes etc. I did an art A level and being in the centre of Cambridge was fabulous as you could go out and have free entry to the botanics or the museums/galleries. Being in the middle of Cambridge and not being able to do that is pretty daft!

I found their pastoral care to be particularly poor when dealing with students with mental health problems. I don't know if I was part of an unusual generation that there were so many severe incidents of depression and anorexia... there were quite a few problems and none of it was handled well.

Both Perse schools are extremely academic and competative, there's nothing wrong with that but it might not suit an all-rounder child.

If we were still living in the area I would have been happy for DD to go through the state system, there are a lot of good school and both Hills and Long Road sixth forms are extremely good options (depending slightly on which direction you think your child might want to go post 18)

Erebus · 19/07/2011 13:11

But as I said, weasel the fact remains, the once-'Boys' Perse maybe isn't as 'academic' as once it was (see remarks re Entrance Exams!) and it's trying to poach the girls form the Perse Girls, isn't it?! Of course, it's going to trade on its academia but my friend's experience there might point to caution IF they're looking for a solid academic environment for their DC.

LaWeasel · 19/07/2011 13:19

Yes, it was still single sex when I knew people there.

I wouldn't necessarily worry about intake 'brightness' though St Mary's and Perse Girls for example, get reasonably similar results and numbers of Oxbridge acceptances, though St Mary's takes in kids with a much broader range of ability.

I did both entrance exams, there were lots of girls at St Mary's who had failed the Perse Girls exam (I did), one I remember had to do catch up maths over the summer before she started and was a full marks at A-levels/Oxford medic now!

The Leys has always had a reputation for being for the sporty kids - lots of the other schools use their sports facilities, but I have no idea what it is really like.

Erebus · 19/07/2011 13:22

My friend seriously considered sending their second DS to the Leys when they realised he might not make the grade at the perse higher school but they discovered that the fees sky-rocket in secondary, apparently. Which is a pity because it looks like a nice campus!