Roedean

[AuntRose]

Hello

I have a daughter in Year 5 in the Sussex area and I was thinking as having Roedean as a possible Year 7 choice. However have been hearing rather a lot of negative info recently and was wondering if anyone knew the truth.

1. Have heard they are throwing money at the boarding facilities in order to attract more overseas pupils?

2. Are handing out scholarships to any local girl who applies?

3. The head is leaving?

4. The roll numbers are at an all time low?

Thanks any info gratefully received.

That is not always so. Lots of UK Asian parents ask for the proportion of white pupils (however awful that request might sound) because they want to buy a traditional English education amongst mostly English children with an English accent. They are fascinating issues. Some schools can hardly fill places to are open to all comers. Others recruit mostly by written exam without seeing even a photograph or name to ensure no bias. Others have interviews.

From talking to people in the placement industry, the only recurrent theme is parents (from all horizons) not wanting there to be large groups of children from Russia or the Gulf.

Thanks for everyone who has taken the time to reply to thread I have lots to think about!

Hello - I'm also interested in Roedean. As a day student, does it feel like a very long day for them? I understand registration is at 8.30ish and the coach leaves at 6pm. How do your daughters find it and do you find the school day too long or do they do their homework there and then come home and can relax?? My dd is only 8 so I'm really thinking ahead here and probably when she is in year 7 that won't seem such a long day but I thought I'd just check in with other parents...thanks!

From back in January on this thread:

Q:"My DD is at Roedean and I am really pleased with our choice of school for her.
She loves being at school, is doing very well and has some lovely friends.
She finds the lessons interesting and stimulating, enjoys the wide range of activities on offer and there is a great enrichment and extension programme which she benefits from. There are always lots of things going on at the school for the girls.
I have been really impressed with the personal feel of Roedean both for DD and as a parent and am always made to feel very welcome when I attend events/parents evenings etc.
Don't be put off by things you have heard which are not accurate, get in contact with the school and go for a visit. I would really recommend it."

Is your DD at Roedean or did you just find a copy of the prospectus to type out

OOI, what proportion of the DDs at Roedean are from one background? Completely anecdotally I heard a large number were Russian. I ask because I knew of a DS who went to one of the most multicultural schools on the planet (in Oz) and when asked about cliques forming, said that there simply weren't enough DC from any one culture to be able to gang up together!

Roedean has a number of girls from differing countries around the world but I wouldn't say there are a large number of Russian pupils? In fact, there were more Russian pupils at DS's school which in turn had a smaller proportion of foreign based pupils overall. You have to be up to a fairly high academic standard to join Roedean & so does it matter which country a pupil resides in anyway? As long as the school ensure integration for all, which Roedean do, I don't see a problem?

Nettle fairy, we used the school minibus service when DD was at Roedean. She was only there a year & had she stayed for A Levels, she was planning to use the local bus service. The day is long, but they have the weekend to recharge. DD was never overtired, whereas DS, who weekly boarded at another school, (obviously being a boy!), was always exhausted. His school day was actually shorter than his sister's! The good thing about the Roedean day is once they get home, there's no homework to worry about because they've completed this at school. DD never had a problem with being in the minority as a day girl & never wanted to board.

It is safe to say, it was a fleeting but successful affair with Roedean for us.

Erebus In my experience the way to make a school with different nationalities work is to not to allow any groups to become tribal / gang up. No going off speaking in native language, make sure they value each other's cultures. Roedean is not one of the schools that are known on the expat circuit for recruiting very very bright DCs from certain countries who will bolster their results and then allowing them to spend the next x years in a separate clique.

Fear not OP, you?ve chosen the right time to go to Roedean. The new head starting this September will be Oliver Blond, current head of just about the country?s most successful state school, The Henrietta Barnett School in north London (see table at bottom).

Apparently Ms Frances King the departing head of Roedean is leaving 'because of the ?hostile? attitude towards private schools in England?. Good job she wasn?t the head of Eton or Harrow which might have finished her off in seven days!

Thanks so much Mutteroo - that sounds good.

I am an ex-Roedean pupil myself and did give it some serious consideration when picking a school for my eldest daughter who is now 15. In the end we picked Cheltenham Ladies College as it suited our daughter better and she liked the school more. I have to say I was pleased to hear that they are doing the boarding house up as it was a bit crummy when I was there but I thoroughly enjoyed my school days at Roedean, CLC was just a better match for my daughter. My son who is now 14 is at Eton but that was a strong must from my husband who was educated there and my son worked very hard to get in. I have two more daughters, one who is 10 and has a place at CLC after much consideration and another daughter who is 7 and we are looking into other schools such as Roedean, High Wycombe Abbey and Brighton College. Brighton College is less academic than CLC so it may be especially a better match for my youngest daughter.

Zombie!

I don't know CLC's results, but Brighton College is very academic these days, and has a reputation locally for being a bit of a pressure cooker. Roedean thought to be a bit gentler and less academic, but on a steep upward trajectory.