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)

"Be careful what you post, as it is more useful that this thread stays"

Agree.

Well I'm perfectly happy for any of my posts to be deleted from this thread at the whim of some faceless lawyer.

The blog about complaining to the school's marketing department is interesting. I contacted the school when I received unsolicited mail this year and they responded quickly, were able to tell me where they bought my details and I think have removed me from their mailing list as I haven't had any further mailings. TBH it is in their best interest to remove people who are uninterested in them from their mailshots as the printing and postage costs must be quite high.

In contrast I had a run in with a different organisation (NotOnTheHighStreet) who were unable to remove me from their mailing list despite me requesting it a number of times and the Information Commissioners Office found in my favour when I complained. They have finally stopped sending me junk mail.

Most threads about QE get deleted on MN. I think MN are worried about Carter Ruck. All I'm saying is that there is a very high percentage of overseas students who don't know any better and very few local students. Please feel free to take your horse.

The Solicitor who complained to MNHQ is a lady called Kay Boustead.

Having just looked her up, the only hits for her name are as the former secretary of the "Equine and Livestock Insurance Company" which is based at ...... Thorpe Underwood Hall

I would have to assume that she has taken independent legal advice before going all guns blazing at a group of MN posters.

The website for the estate is interesting : www.thorpeunderwoodestate.co.uk/

E&L

Ha ha ha

That is interesting TalkinPeace - it reminds me of university accommodation which has been significantly improved to cater for conferences. Obviously the students benefit from the improved accommodation, though in the case of my old university, many of the students were against it as they preferred cheaper accommodation with fewer facilities.

E&L

Ha ha ha

Not being a Horse owner, I'd never heard of Equine and Livestock Insurance.
Being nosey I just googled them
and found this thread
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=590758
now see if you can guess who the directors of "The Animal Society Ltd" are and where its based?

I have no real problem with private schools being actual businesses, so long as the primary business is the school and the secondary (eg land and estate management) businesses are used to support the school.
All of the great Public Schools operate in that manner.

I do however have an issue with a corporate group using the charitable status of one part of itself to hide behind.

I've just looked at the wiki editing (mentioned above) It is correct that the school came 15th in The Telegraph list for 2013.

But that list omits Westminster (after statesmom's threads, I was looking at relative performances of KCW, StP and W) and has other "big name" omissions which (according to DofEd published stats) have much higher academic performance than schools on the list. Such omissions mean I would not rely on the list as truly representative of academic performance as measured by exam results.

Woebegone

Please, please be careful. Read what happened on Friday.
We need this thread to not be deleted.

Someone said it up thread, but you should rads Private Eye about how they massage their figures and exam results. All quite dodgy.

I have subscribed to Private Eye for many, many years.

Unfortunately Woebegone as a result of your comments I feel compelled to bow to their lawyer's pressure and ask for mine to go.

I am prepared to stand 100% by what I said but I don't have the time or money to get embroiled in somebody else's fight with QE just because have posted on a shared thread.

I am a bit angry with you Woebegone. Why didn't you heed the messages of others and let this thread stay?

The ISI report (2012) linked above includes information on the number of pupils with ESOL (a measure which is often used as a proxy for diversity, and thus international pupils).

Of a school sized 650 (plus 67 EYFS), 255 have ESOL (and of these 129 receive additional support).

Poor Kay is going to be so terribly busy. I would like to see them come for a webchat to clear up any misunderstandings about QE rather than going all legal.

Where can you get the Private Eye article now?

woebegone might be a NC, but if not, then a poster who joined today.

breatheslowly
According to the cheery email from Friday, the ASA did not uphold the complaint mentioned in the Private Eye article.

BettyBotter
If you have given MNHQ your details (as I have) they you can only be held responsible for your own comments, not for anybody else's (including mine)

I had assumed that the solicitor who contacted MNHQ was from a firm, rather than their in house one. Silly me.

It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next week,
as this thread has prompted far more examination of the QE business structure than would have been the case had they not threatened us.

I believe the technical term is "the Streisand effect"

And I have backup copies of the thread for reference if ever needed.

I think that it is worth noting that, whilst a substantial number of posts have been withdrawn after MN conveyed a message from a legal representative requesting either to have the full name and address of the poster to start legal proceedings or that they withdraw their comments, plenty of interesting posts remain.

Many posters who have contributed to this thread would rather that the thread as a whole is not deleted and are therefore contributing in a calm and well reasoned manner.

It seems to me that facts (presented as facts) and personal opinion (presented as such) aren't a problem.

Yorkshire Post
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/firm-s-schools-are-bottom-and-top-of-league-1-2299624

Oh my. What have I missed?