Moving to Farnham - looking at St Nicholas Fleet v Barfield - anyone with children there now would love to hear their thoughts!

[Houstongirl]

We are moving from Scotland to Farnham in July with work. State schools impossible to find as have 3 girls going into ( yr 1/yr4/yr6) and no Surrey address yet! Looking at St Nicholas and Barfield - any current feedback would be welcome - hoping to visit them soon !
Thanks

Well I live in Farnham and thought St Nicks was a secondary school! Maybe I've only noticed it as the upper school.

My DS went to Barfield but many many years ago ( he left 10 years ago now) so I won't have anything useful or current to say, other than it was great for him at the time.

Barfield is of course mixed and St Nicks isn't ( at least at secondary) which might be a factor for you.

And at Nicks have a great bus service from all over the place, including the end of my street!, which might affect you if you work or need to be not tied to the drop off and pick up times at school ( but check that applies to juniors too)

And welcome, in advance, to Farnham!

I've lived in Farnham for a very long time. Both Barfield and St Nics have very good reputations. However, there are lots of other very good private schools. Which area do you think you'll be living in?

Thanks for your comments - we aren't sure yet where we will be living - not visited yet though have seen some lovely houses in the Bourne area online - just keen to get a school sorted - have spoken to a couple of other schools too - Frensham Heights doesn't have space for all 3 - Edgeborough just makes me nervous as it only goes to age 13 and my girls are used to a State school which is quite laid back - the thought of all 3 girls ending up in different schools is a bit daunting ( though Barfield like that too). We are heading down for a visit end of April so looking forward to exploring!

I know it seems along way ahead, houstongirl, but it would be more unusual to not change at 11 than to stay at the same school - so finding a through school for all of your girls does rather limit your options. And you should not underestimate the impact of moving at 16 - it is far harder, in my opinion, to move into a 6 th form college from a private school than it would be to move to a new secondary school at 11. There's a whole subject area to be discussed there,but in general it takes a while to settle when there really isn't any time available....

If you want a through school for the girls then look at GHS - it's slightly more difficult to get to then St Nicks but takes them through 6 th form too ( which st nicks doesn't). Or consider locating nearer Guidlford so they can go there. But that's just my experience talking having had kids travel to Guidlford every day for the last 10 years.....

Or the Royal at Haslemere goes all through, I think?

My daughter is in her final year at St.Nicks.

The school is from reception to Yr 11, mixed infant then girls only - most of the info is available on website

Feel free to ask if you want to know any specifics

Barfield is very poor academically, particularly in later years but has a great outdoor ethos. Farnham's private schools are not nearly as good as its state schools, while in Guildford it's the reverse. GHS, St Kaths, Tormead are all good private schools. Yr 1 would be infants typically in Farnham, while yr 4 and 6 will be junior.