after St Swithuns - hants, for boys?

[childrensservant]

SIL was wondering where boys move on to from St Swithuns? Not quite sure why she can't find out for herself, but I am hoping someone on here can give me a list of schools?
Thank you

[TalkinPeace]

Children
She really, really needs to make her own mind up based on visits to the school.

My DD is at Peter Symonds
There are kids in her classes who went to everything from Yob Central see my posts passim to the good comps to Swithuns and Winchester College.

And "accessible" depends a lot on the parental time and resources available - if one parent earns enough that the other does not work then the radius is doubled

And despite what one might gather from MN, private school kids are not always high achievers - therefore a school that makes them and their parents happy is more important than fitting in with the norms of others

For those of us ( the 93% ) who have to use state schools we cross our fingers for the first choice school and lump it if the cards do not turn well

[uilen]

JWIM I agree that the achievement of all pupils is important and nowhere in this thread have I said that I personally prefer private schools to state schools. (I listed reasons people give for using private schools.)

But the impression is often given on this board that all Hampshire schools are fantastic, which I think is misleading. A taxi driver recently told me that he had pulled his child out from a Hampshire comprehensive into a private school for year 10/11 because of disruptive behaviour, no marking of work, teachers not being able to control classes etc. (The comp concerned was not the catchment school of TalkinPeace, but not that far away.) This guy didn't send his kid to a private school for any reason but that his catchment school had issues. Ofsted agree - it requires improvement.

[TalkinPeace]

uilen
I know which school the taxi driver's kid was at : its well known in the local gossip circles of late.
I assume the kid was moved to HCS as they have no selection other than wallet

BUT
The real point is that you wanted to compare a school that segregated out those it did not like
with one that had to take all comers

Hampshire schools are fantastic compared with what goes on in much of the rest of the country
remember I have a DH who works in schools in nearly every county in the UK - of every hue from private boarding to secure special
he's never wanted to change county and as his PA I agree

[Gunznroses]

Wether they select only by wallet is irrelevant to the point that uilen was making.

[TalkinPeace]

Gunz
The scary thing at the moment is that Academy Secondaries (ie the vast majority of them) are no longer answerable to the LA
so if Ofsted say things need changing, there is nobody to enforce that change.
If the Sponsor chain refuse to do anything there is remarkably little anybody can do.
If the governing body refuse to change the SLT there is remarkably little anybody can do
And heads have been given enormous power with an almost complete lack of accountability : most of us cannot pull our kids out and send them to another school as the the better ones are already full
and even HCS would fill up eventually.

Private schools are held to account because the parents can pull the kids out
not the case with state schools
but state schools get the kids that segregated schools do not want
its a vicious circle and Gove ripped out the main tier of oversight

[ISingSoprano]

To answer the question - a private school for a 7year old boy from Alresford? Probably Princes Mead is the easiest. Alternatively, Twyford.

[ISingSoprano]

I should say, Princes Mead and Twyford are co-ed. If they want boys only then Pilgrims in Winchester is the nearest.

[childrensservant]

Thank you Ising. That's the sort of info I am after. Up to SIL to chose which one, but I shall suggest those two to start her off. Still not sure why she can't find this out for herself.

[Gunznroses]

Talkin thank you for your post and I read and understoodeverything you said. I don't want to derail this thread into a private v state education debate but your comment about the private school being non selective except by wallet was uneccessary. The taxi driver's dc had problems at their school, fortunately dad was able to move do to a private school (this was posted to backup the fact that not ALL schools in Hampshire are fantastic. Why the sneery comment?

[TalkinPeace]

Gunz
Uilen slags off state schools for not getting the same academic results as private schools.
TBH I'd be gutted if I'd paid good money and not had good results my parents WERE in fact

childrens
Still not sure why she can't find this out for herself.
So true - because unless you are psychic, you cannot be sure what she is looking for
Princes Mead is nice - DH goes there sometimes, but the classes are tiny so learning to wait is not a strong point

[Gunznroses]

Talkin Okay, I see there is a backstory to this. I think it's pretty nasty to put down either sector, of course people are allowed to narrate their personal experience of particular schools but it always end being over generalised or taken out of context.

I'll leave this now. Thank you for explaining.

[ISingSoprano]

Whichever school is chosen there is always a 'yes, but ...' isn't there? We have St S with anxious, bitchy girls, Perins with it's 'boisterous' rugby team and 5% of middle achievers underperforming (by the way, show me a school which doesn't have a degree of underperformers), Princes Mead with it small classes (too nurturing), KES with its less than sparkling GCSE results and PSC who don't teach depth in the Maths curriculum.

[BrendaBlackhead]

I suppose if money were no object, what would you choose?

I think I might go for Win College if I had a spare £30K plus in my back pocket, but I wouldn't want ds to board, and apparently non-boarders are not quite the thing.

St Swithun's... I'm not sure , because I'm not a fan of all-girl schools (having been to one) and some of those girls look a bit up themselves when I've encountered them at events.

I'm not wasting my money on KES. Hampshire Collegiate does very well considering it takes anyone with a bit of brass. And the pupils I know who go there are very nice.

Princes Mead does seem a bit precious . Pilgrims - a bit poncey. Twyford - very good reports of that. Sherborne House - lots of sport and drama. I had a look round this one but frankly dd at the local primary was doing more advanced work.

[TalkinPeace]

I've had the conversation with my kids - for the fun of it.
They love the idea of weekly boarding - especially when DH and I are really busy.
Bryanston or Marlborough was their choice
neither wanted single sex
but actually, esp now DD has friends who went to many of the private schools in a 30 mile radius, she has no regrets with the choices I made - which is cool!
they did both like the look of St Trinians it has to be said

[uilen]

Uilen slags off state schools for not getting the same academic results as private schools

Huh? Please give quotes. Leaving this thread now, as clearly a waste of time.

[ISingSoprano]

DD has a few friends at KES and she is astonished with how much the fees are for sixth form compared with her 'free' state sixth form - says she wouldn't go there in a month of Sundays.

[Clavinova]

ISing What does your dd dislike about KES apart from the fees?

'Perins with its ......5% of middle achievers underperforming'. It's not 5% though; only 49% of middle achievers at Perins get 5 GCSEs A* to C including English and maths and the national average is 57.5%. The national figure already includes a large percentage of underachievement - Perins is even worse than that for average ability dc (middle achievers account for nearly 50% of the year group at Perins so not a minority.) The school is clearly relying on its high ability dc to pull its results up. It was suggested that the op's sil save her money and send her average ability ds to Perins rather than pay fees. Its stats like these that explain why many parents with middle and low ability dc choose private education.

[ISingSoprano]

ISing What does your dd dislike about KES apart from the fees?

Attitude.

[ISingSoprano]

Clavinova you don't think much of Perins, or indeed most Hampshire schools do you?

[TalkinPeace]

Its stats like these that explain why many parents with middle and low ability dc choose private education.
And then those kids get tutored and pushed way ahead of brighter kids with less rich parents

[giddly]

But Clavinova has a point - it's not just about people "not liking" schools. Henry Beaufort has pretty much the same statistics. I was always under the impression that you couldn't go wrong with the Winchester schools but as the parent of a fairly average achieved I was surprised to find that when you look closer it does suggest that some of the superior statistics are driven by a high number of high achievers entering the school rather than good results from average achievers. Some of the much-maligned schools in London where I lived before have a better record of achievement for average pupils so I do think Winchester schools need to make sure they're not resting on their reputations and laurels.

[ISingSoprano]

No but education is not just about exam results either.

[Clavinova]

'No but education is not just about exam results either.'

It is for the 16 year old who can't get through the door at PSC because he didn't achieve the 5 A* - C he was capable of.

[TalkinPeace]

Clavinova
Knowing which of the kids in DDs school who missed the cut for PSC very, very few were unexpected

and the poor little dears are stuck with BP or Alton or Brock which are still GREAT colleges

[ISingSoprano]

Or even the Ofsted Outstanding Easteigh College.