Hampshire Sixth Form Colleges - opinions please

[GorraHeadache]

These are the ones we're considering. Finding it a minefield. DS is quite bright but not superbright, he'll probably get a few As Bs and Cs at GCSE. Hoping to do 3 or 4 A levels. He's predicted A* in the subjects he'll take for A level.

Richard Taunton's
Brockenhurst
Peter Symonds
Barton Peveril

see you there this evening any and all

shall we embarrass the CRAP out of our DCs by guessing who each other are and greeting each other ?

I think I embarrass ds full stop. My best one is to ask loudly, a la Lady Bracknell, "Do you know that girl, ds?" hee hee

Not sure if we are going tonight or tomorrow. Spot me if you can, dh is very tall at 6'5", dd is about 5'7 (all legs and hair) and I'm the short one trying to keep up with them!

I talk like I type

This open evening is starting to get a whole lot more interesting!

Just to add to the debate ................ We looked at St Anne's (So'ton) Sixth Form last week and Richard Taunton's last night. Both were very different - the former is tiny and very nurturing. RT's is larger (1250 students) but much more diverse. My dd (currently in Y10) really liked the atmosphere at RT's and their broader range of courses. As we live in the New Forest, we will also be visiting Brockenhurst but BP and PS are too far geographically.

minty-dh was at BP same yrs as you , he took economics, pure maths and stats

bp is only ten minutes further on train than soton dog

Yes but we live nowhere near a station unfortunately!!

doglover have you looked at the bus maps for the various colleges
PS has buses from half of Hampshire ....
www.psc.ac.uk/support/studentservices/transport/routes.php
as does BP
web.barton.ac.uk/parents/transport/index.php?id=1

I was at BP '84-86 and my niece has just finished there with top grades in all sciences and maths. Highly recommended

Oooh really? I don't think I would have rubbed shoulders with him as I took English, History and Drama. Did he know he was there at same time as Jack Dee?

Many thanks, TIP. I appreciate your thoroughness! I don't want to 'out' myslef in RL, but, we actually live south east of Bealiueu (right on the coast) so our transport options really are limited. Both Brock and RT's now run buses to our area so these are our options practically. If I didn't work, it would be possible to ferry them to the nearest station but, as a working parent, it's just not viable. Also, my dd would prefer to live vaguely near her fellow students rather than constantly having to rely on us to drive her around.

Plus, around here at the moment, many people are pretty disillusioned with Brock. They are finding it rather impersonal and 'soulless' and are looking elsewhere ..............

It's a real connumdrum. You want them to attend the best college possible but not at any cost .....................

doglover
Fair point - the transport in your corner is pretty dire.
The only other option to look at is whether there might be any regular reliable car shares up to the train station by the pub ....
each of the colleges will know exactly where their students are coming in from so might be able to help.

Tauntons is definitely on the up (admittedly from a low level) helped by the significantly improving Southampton GCSE results.
And its in a nice location to be a teenager semi off the leash.

Absolutely, TIP! That's a thought about fellow students, though. I will definitely make some enquiries next year.

Minty- have just told dh about Jack Dee ..he had no clue !

Doglover - we are in a similar-ish area but our transport links are OK and Peter S is do-able. I too am worried about what I've heard about Brockenhurst College lately. I thought a lot of the teachers seemed worn out and lacking in enthusiasm. Not so at the others.

Have now visited all 4. PS is winning the day followed closely by BP.

One thing that shocked me though at PS - students can't take textbooks home, they have one to use at school but are expected to buy their own home copy?? Didn't ask the question at the others, but is this the norm? No wonder children from disadvantaged backgrounds tend not to do well!

we have had to buy textbook for bp gorra but we had a bursary

Gorra TBH the amount that kids use books versus online resources has changed a lot.
I happen to have a house full of science related reference books that my kids hate opening!

We've seen BP and PS. Really torn between them.

Just trying to decide whether to bother looking at Brock as it's further away than the other two. It would be good to see it to actively rule it out. But stories of traffic jams (TIP) are putting me off.

LOL !
Winchester and Brockenhurst are both known traffic stress areas
add 1000 parental cars into the mix and it was inevitable.

DD has her heart set on PS - the form is ready to send as soon as she gets her predicted grades.

Which subjects is she going for Talkinpeace?

Chemistry, Biology, Maths, more maths, French

Ha! our offspring may meet. Mine is opting for Maths, Biology, English, Psychology.

LOL : they will probably end up in the same tutor group !