Queen Ethelburga's Harrogate anyone?

[TessTing]

We just had another prospectus brought home from DD's state primary for QE. The idea is quite appealing but not within our budget. It seems very expensive but mentions possibility of discounts through various bursary's and scholarships. Does anyone have any experience of this? Is the school to be recommended? (middle and high school age)

Thanks MoreBeta. York isn't an option for various reasons of family commitments.

They sent us a prospectus - I contacted them to find out where they got our details from and it turns out they bought a mailing list from one of the companies that compile and sell them. I haven't found out how we got onto that mailing list as the company wanted to charge me £10 to find out. I thought it might be Boden. I have serious doubts about a school that resorts to sending glossy brochures to bought mailing lists to fill spaces. We live in the SE and have a 3 yo DD - we are fairly unlikely to send a child to QE in the foreseeable future.

Their boast of 2nd co-ed day and boarding school in the UK in the Telegraph's tables is disingenuous. The Telegraph list is far from a complete list. They have then crossed out all of the day only or boarding only schools. They have then crossed out all of the girls schools and boys schools. And they have split the school in two to get the academic results in one and the less academic in the other.

That said their results do look pretty good and they have been improving rapidly if their website is accurate.

They have about 50% international students in their sixth form - which you might have an opinion on. I can't see on their website that they offer IB.

Full breakdown of results here and media.qe.org/pdf/results/2013-Faculty-y13.pdf.

Interesting that 1/3 of A grades were in MFL...

Hahahahaha.

We used to live fairly near there.

They used to send us prospectuses blind too! Have NO idea how they got our details.

OP, I wouldn't!!!

Umbrellahead - I wondered about that. Might that be foreign students taking an A level in their own language? Is there a MFL A Level for people who speak English as a second language?

But don't they have ponies :)

Re: schools in Harrogate, just a word of warning to the OP before moving...

Harrogate Grammar has a minuscule catchment, please check this. AFAIK it is now only around 700 metres from the school and house prices are ridiculous in that catchment.

St Aidans requires not only regular church attendance but parents helping out as they give out points on this basis - again check this. St John the Fisher if you are a baptised Catholic and send your children to one of the feeder catholic schools, less of a chance otherwise.

If you don't fit in those then there is Rossett, but you cannot really compare Rossett with the likes of GSAL to be honest there is a world of difference, although Rossett is still better than a lot of Leeds comprehensives.

HTH

Yes re St Aidens, when my grandmother was alive and living, very comfortably in terms of finances and health, locally she was besieged by the families of ten year old DCs wanting to visit, do her shopping etc etc in order to gain brownie points for good deeds in order to improve their chances of getting in. It was a bit of a pest

just had a look at the website. my dd loves drama but this would send her running screaming:

sppppooooky

Haha, they are standard trestle masks. Most state schools have a set. Probably the cheapest thing QE's owns!

They started sending me prospectuses when Ds was about 6 months old. We live in Edinburgh. It was weird.

oh a genuine ethelburgian! tell us more grabaspoon?

Err no I don't craggy. It'll be based around stock characters. The weepy one is being mock comforted by the villain who will later steal her handbag or similar.

But yes grabaspoon, tell us more!

And blueberry is correct re house prices, I could get a tiny 3 bed semi in the same street as HGS as a five bed large detached with extensive gardens 25 minutes away.

I remember getting marketing leaflets in the pony magazines I used to read. Being a poor kid who was mad on pony books and Malory Towers QE seemed AMAZING. Now with my adult head on I wonder why any decent independent school would need to advertise.