Coed Day school recommendations - anywhere in the UK

[choppings]

We're potentially moving to the UK and thus have the opportunity to move anywhere. I'm keen on an independent day school, (is it possible to be day and not day+boarding), with a good name / ethos / academic record etc

I'm doing my research but just wondered if anyone has any 'on the ground' recommendations?

Thank you for your help!

[baffledmum]

Nottingham High School (voted Sunday Times Top Prep in 2012) is Co-Ed from this September. Nottingham itself is a strong city with plenty to offer - ignore the Shottingham headlines, I have lived here safely all my life.

[AtomicDog]

I really don't think there's a school that would be the best school for four individuals in a family. My siblings and I all went to different schools according to our needs and abilities. That's what I want for my children.
Decide what you want in your lives outside of and around school, and go from there.

[HemlockStarglimmer]

I second St Leonards in St Andrews.

[ScottishProf]

It's quite a few posts back now, but I know for sure that it's not true that children at Cargilfield in Edinburgh ever have to board - there are many day children all the way through. My informants also consider it an excellent school.

[Reluctantlandlord]

ScottishProf, I wasn't suggesting that boarding was compulsory. I was pointing out that it's a school with a strong boarding ethos which preps, in the main, for top public schools.
It is not a day school just because some pupils are day pupils.

I wanted a day school for my children. I didn't even view schools with a mixture of day and boarding, only those where all children were day pupils. Being a day school and being co-ed were my 2 main criteria.
The op is looking for a co-ed day school. That's not casting any aspersions on Cargilfield as a school; it has an excellent reputation. But when we lived in Edinburgh I was only interested in schools where all children came home every night.

[Reluctantlandlord]

Atomic, with 4 children, what I need is for them all to be at the same school!

I get asked all the time why I didn't take up the place for DD at one of the highest achieving girls schools in the country. She's academically gifted but also very sporty and musical and they loved her. But I thought it wouldn't be ideal for her to be in a sort of false environment where everyone around her was just like her. I was adamant that they should go co- ed and that it was only slightly selective rather than hot house stuff. Not to worry as there was about 300 parents clambering behind us desperate for the place so nobody lost out and dd is happily moving forward in an environment with kids as bright as her (one brighter) and kids less bright. Much better life experience IMO and it means all 4 of my children fit in just fine.

[Reluctantlandlord]

By they should go co- ed I meant my children not the school. Apologies for poor grammar.

[jo164]

Another Bath school is King Edwards - probably the most academic school in Bath. I have lived in the West Country for quite a number of years (actually in a small village now) and have never had a problem with decent broadband as someone earlier suggested you needed to worry about. Bristol Grammar School is another decently performing day only school worth a look. Both have good train and road links to London if you need to be there at all.

[AtomicDog]

reluctant- at secondary though, unless you're really rural, children travel independently to school, so apart from co-ordination of parents' evening, etc it shouldn't make a difference. Most uniform cannot be passed down (particularly if you've a mix of b/g) so not really cost saving there.

I suppose our desires for our children's schools are coloured by our own experiences, but brightest child in a normal distribution is exactly what we don't want for our children, having been there ourselves!

[Reluctantlandlord]

I will have a 6th former at the same time as a reception child and 2 inbetween. The ability to drop all 4 at one gate and zoom off to work letting the (then) 17yr old or 15yr old walk the others to the infant dep is a big plus for me. Some of it has to be what works for us as a family.

And I get what you're saying about very bright children and you're correct that my experience influences my decision on this. I was a high achiever pushed towards everything academic at my state secondary. Not allowed to do 'commerce' as it was. Pushed to do physics and chem instead plus 2 languages etc. I don't want my very bright child pushed down a narrow academic path. Her development as a whole is more important to me than a guarantee of 2 extra A*s.

[instructionsforaheatwave]

If you want a school in London, I'd put in another vote for Highgate. It
Is very big on a well rounded education so it seems to suit various personalities though.
Very selective though and high academic standards which might not suit everyone...

[threegoingonthirty]

In London most are single sex, or an odd mix (for example UCS is mixed until 7 and I think in the sixth form but not in between!). Highgate is the only one I know of in N London that are mixed - possibly Northbridge House too.

[choppings]

I thank you all for you opinions and advice.

I must admit that dh and I are more confused than ever. I think we're going to centre our search around Bath, but of course that's open to change. The mixture of rural / city. We're going to see King Edwards.

It seems to be a divisive issue, but being one of four dc's myself, I am keen on one school for our family. It just seems right for us.

I guess there's just too much choice - too many good schools!

[Reluctantlandlord]

Choppings, I have pm'd you.

[tenderbuttons]

If you are looking at the area, then do also take a look at Dauntsey's. We hear good things about it, and it's on our list for DD.

[Spindelina]

I'd second Bath/Bristol. Lots of day and boarding/day schools in both cities, so you would probably find something to fit each child. City or countryside living; 90 mins on the train to Paddington if and when you need to.

[Trendsetter2000]

I would say Bedales. It's a prestigious school and it's not super academically selective. I think it's possible to get all kids in as opposed to say somewhere such as Westminster. Surrey, generally, is supposed to have the best schools, which ties in nicely with Bedales, as it's just on the border.

[trinity0097]

Bedales is a specialist choice though, doesn't appeal to the mass market, e.g. The children call their teachers by their first names,

[summerends]

Surrey is generally supposed to have the best schools.

[Clavinova]

Has anyone noticed that the fees for schools such as Bedales and King's Canterbury are twice as much as the day fees for the independent schools in Bath? £24,000 pa v £12,000 pa - the op has four children, what type of independent school is she really looking for?

[happygardening]

The reason why fees are twice as much is that at schools like Kings day children do everything the boarders do apart from sleep there. They will start at 8ish in the morning and not finish till after 9 PM, they will have access to everything the boarders do, have all their meals provided and the school will be open to them 7 days a week just like it is for the boarders. Basically your what some schools call a "day boarder". Children at independent schools in say Bath (a couple of friends have children at KES) will finish at 4 ish I'm not sure they even have Saturday school at KES (I could be wrong I'm struggling to remember what my friends DS's do).
Also Kings where the majority board and others like it wish to maintain their full boarding ethos, if you made being a day child significantly cheaper you risk attracting a different type of parent; one that doesn't believe in or want full boarding and it's inevitable that you will loose your full boarding ethos and probably over time you'll start making changes to the day to accommodate day children and then you become neither a full boarding school or a day school. And why change it if you can fill you vacancies? There are only in reality a small number of parent who can afford full boarding or who want it but we are out there. I as a supporter of full boarding wouldn't tough a school where the majority don't properly full board.

[Spindelina]

KES is a day school, and the most academically selective in Bath. I don't know its history, but it has the same vibe as many of the ex-grammar-turned-independent (Reigate grammar etc).

Royal High, Kingswood, Prior Park are more mixed day/boarding, with Monkton ?boarding only?

Depends what style of school you want really. There's a similar mix in Bristol.

[Trendsetter2000]

Marlborough College. Kate Middleton went there.

Stowe. Richard Branson went there.

Both schools are prestigious and I don't think they're too hard to get in to.

[Clavinova]

I quite understand your points happygardening - I have 2 dc at independent schools myself and a number of day and boarding schools within easily reach of me. I wonder though if the op is clear in her mind what she is looking for? Up thread she talks about Cheltenham College and King's Canterbury and then Eton and Winchester being possible for the boys - now she is looking at £12,000 pa day schools - the brief for what she wants isn't clear to me.

[summerends]

Trendsetter the OP is specifically looking for co-ed day schools