St Anselms Bakewell

[Lmurphy]

Hi,
We are thinking of sending our 2 sons to S. Anselms, Bakewell Derbyshire, next year they would join years 5 and 7. Please could anyone give me any feed back on the school.
Thanks

Very well said, Drivesatractor. Things were allowed to go on for far too long. The new guard may want to look to the future but they also need to acknowledge the damage that was allowed to happen and the parents, children and staff who were let down by the governing body. Even at a distance, it is a relief that things have changed and the little school we valued might once again be decent and kind.

I absolutely understand and support the importance of the school moving on from this sorry episode and looking to the future. However I believe that in order to properly do this there needs to be police and Charity Commission investigations into the 'financial and administrative irregularities' and any other concerns, with the full and proactive involvement of the school. I think all governors who were on watch at the time must be replaced and not just the majority.

Can it be right that on doing a search on Peter Phillips one will still find only positively written articles from before this all came out and he was sacked, including - as mentioned by a pp - the Tatler Head of the Year award?

This must not be allowed to happen again, and the school needs to rebuild confidence in it for past, present and potential pupils, families and staff. Things do not need to be brushed under the carpet in order to move on. In my opinion, greater respect and trust is only really earned by dealing with issues head on and openly.

Yes, things are definitely far, far better now than they have been at S Anselm's since 2012, but more must be done.

There is a fairly brief item online from the Derbyshire Times local weekly newspaper, dated 7/3/19. It quotes from both letters and then there is a quote to the reporter from the current Chair of Governors. The quote doesn't fill me with confidence, because it seems to me to contradict both what we know and the second letter - which was, of course, sent by the Chair.

Others must make their own minds up, but it just seems to me to be another 'nothing to see here' smokescreen. There has been too much of that already in recent years, and it does the school no favours in rebuilding trust.

This is a tremendous school. We have been parents for over a decade and through Nursery to Common entrance, these have been the best years of my children’s lives.The children are happy. Happy, safe, healthy. The class sizes are small, the general behaviour is a pleasure to behold, not something I have seen on tours of the equivalent schools that you might consider in the area (North and South). They are confident, delightful, polite children, friends with their peers and children across other year groups. The parents are a supportive group, many of whom will remain lifelong friends. School life for any child in their glorious variety will never be perfect, parental input is always needed but this is as close as it gets. The Governors are working tirelessly (for an appreciation and confidence in the place and certainly nothing more) to maintain this super school.

The pp writes an absolutely fantastic advert for the school, much of which I can agree with. However we must remember that not every family was as fortunate under the previous leadership of the thankfully now ex-Headmaster and his supporting staff, families and Governors - some of whom remain at the school. Some wrongly thrived because of it, many of us thrived despite it, and some of us were made miserable for much of their time at Anselm's or had to leave. This wasn't right and must not be allowed to happen again.

Do consider the school certainly as it has much to offer, but do so with your eyes open and without rose tinted spectacles.

Frank Thompson has been appointed as the new Head of S Anselm's. Most recently Head at Stoke College, he was previously Deputy Head at Mount St Mary's. He starts in January 2020.

Must confess to sadness it wasn't Lisa Donelly but she may well not have wanted the post! Also concerned he hasn't been in his last school long.

I'm a current parent and saw previous heads too, and was relieved when action was finally taken against PP. That said all my DC have loved school, and did well throughout despite the obvious problems with the head. I think now things are in hand and full and Flexi boarding are being worked properly again as well as this year, no staff turnover apart from natural retirements, the school should become amazing again.

I am thinking of sending my daughter to the school, so thank you for the information and feedback.

I did see that the new head spent 4.5 years at the previous college which I personally thought was a reasonable length of time.

We don't know the school so we're looking forward to the open day to find out more!

I know this is a very old thread but just wondered if anyone here still had children at the school? We are considering starting in the prep next September and would love people’s thoughts