Boarding schools for rowing mad DS?

[upatdawn]

Our DS is in year 11 and is absolutely rowing mad! He currently goes to a school nearby which goes up to 16 and rows at the local club. We are thinking about options for 6th form now and he desperately wants to go to a boarding school where he can concentrate fully on rowing as well as maintaining the grades he wants. Does anyone know of any schools which fit our criteria and offer sports scholarships?

TIA

Perhaps you need to decide what sort of school your looking for; single sex, selective, very selective, location, etc then look for a school I would have thought that you want one on the river especially if your going to skull because your don't DS doesn't want to have to rely on being driven there.i

Another Abingdon vote here, have a look at their website for Henley results.

DS and I just had a quick look at the Bedford Modern School website - very impressed. It also seems to offer a very wide set of A level subjects which is great.

Bedford School is a different school from Bedford Modern, just fyi.

We looked at Beford School first then at Bedford Modern but BM seemed to offer more A level courses

Pangbourne, Abingdon and Eton are the strongest schools for rowing.

Bedford Modern no longer offers boarding though.

And Shiplake.

If you were to compare the size of each school, Shiplake outperforms everyone. In London it has the reputation of being a good alternative to a selective day school for the sort of sporty, less academic boy who might be miserable in a more hot-house environment.

Re: state boarding schools. They are still state schools with all that entails. They have to be scrupulously fair in admissions and follow procedure. If you look at Rugby you will see that the winners of the Daily Mail Cup are always independents because they have the flexibility to 'buy in' talent at year 7 or 9 or 12. I guess rowing is the same.

Shiplake is known as the thicko school but I'm sure it's good.

I looked a Shiplake a few years ago for DS1 it has quite a few dyslexics and I thought it was a bit wet. But having said that we've got a friend with a son there who has never been happier. Not a lot of full boarders either he rows but does come home every weekend.

Not a regular here, and not female either. I went to Shiplake, as did my cousin. I am also still very much involved in rowing. It depends on your child's academic needs as to which school you choose - they are, after all, very different and all have a different ethos. Happy to advise.

On Shiplake, it is certainly not a school for thickos and I take exception to that. They have a very inclusive policy and their real strength is in getting the best out of everyone. Whether your thing is sport or academia, most boys thrive there. Boys go on to all the major universities as well as into spoting life. Witness Ben Hunt Davies who now has an olympic Gold medal to his name (albeit he was there in my era and left in 1990). They also award rowing scholarships.

There are many schools who row and not many who are actually very good at it. Look over the past couple of years at the National Schools' Regatta results (a better indicator than Henley which is stuffed with Australian and USA crews). Many are not boarding schools.

Those boarding schools who I would deem 'consistently' good at rowing are: (in no particular order)

Abingdon
Radley
Shrewsbury
Eton
Shiplake
St. Edward's
Bedford Modern
King's Chester

Other schools may chuck out the odd freak crew, but these are the ones who are always up there (the list is, of course, much longer if you include day schools)

Here are this year's Henley results - scroll down for the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup
www.hrr.co.uk/regatta/2011-results/

I would also like to distance myself from any thicko comment.

London selective day schools are for a certain sort of child. The boy we know who went to Shiplake has done really well and has turned into a lovely young man.

However in a thread that is mentioning Eton, St Pauls, and Westminster I think it is fair to say that Shiplake is a broader church and none the worse for that. From what we have heard it is heaven for a child who loves rowing.

indeed it is - right on the banks of the Thames. So lovely, in fact, that I got married there.

Our DDs are at King's Chester and it is a day school (fantastic)
Also excellent for rowing Sometimes there are moments when we wish it was boarding

my mistake - I thought it was boarding....

I've recently visited St Edwards in Oxford not looking for a place for my DS but for other reasons. I was really taken aback at how high the standard of pastoral care is they have a good reputation for it and it was certainly justified when you look at their policies etc. Its apparently a fab rowing school.

RGS High Wycombe is also a state boarding school with daily rowing.

Wow, thanks for all of the responses everyone! RGS High Wycombe looks good, as does Shiplake. It's a shame Bedford Modern doesn't offer boarding as that would have been a good option too. Will also be having a look at Radley and Abingdon.

Tonbridge School

DH went there and if we had £££££ I'd like DS's to go too! Academic as well as sporty.

DH went to Pangbourne and was a fantastic rower. Don't know what the school is like now, but it used to be (20 yrs ago!) excellent for producing well-rounded, self-sufficient, capable young men (DH being a case in point ), but at the expense of academia.

"The next few years are spent developing 1st and 2nd eights, which will compete at external regattas and National Schools championships. The 1st VIII always competes at Henley Royal Regatta. The School also participates in the Junior International scheme and boys have represented Great Britain every year since 1992."

That's from Abingdon's web site. Sounds pretty good to me! School has good reputation locally.

Dulwich college?

Eton?