Pilgrim Pre prep school

[Snoopy10]

We are moving to Bedford and looking to send our daughter to Pilgrims school with a view to her going onto either Bedford Girls or Bedford Modern. Any information about any of these schools would be grately appreciated. I find that it's really useful to read accounts by parents who have their children in the school.
Thank you in advance :)

My children are in Pilgrims Pre Prep and I have viewed Bedford Modern but my children aren't yet of an age to move up, so the other opinions I share will be my perspective based on experience and discussion with other parents who do have children there!

Pilgrims is a wonderful pre-prep. The opportunities for the children are fantastic, the style of teaching is wonderful. There has been a lot of turnover in their early years teaching staff lately but I feel it's a short term issue. Each term is based around a topic and the children really engage with this. However because they are prepping children for the 7+, you should be aware that it is demanding academically and this filters into the amount of homework/home support that you need to provide. The headmistress is really inspirational.

Challenges I have found have been mostly related to being a working parent: breakfast club doesn't open until 8am unlike many other schools. This means that it's impossible to drop your child off and get a train from the station as the car park is full. Some parents have got around this by paying for a premium parking spot at the station.

The school is lucky enough to have a car park, but it is extremely difficult to park in, unless you get to school to pick up 30+ minutes before collection time, especially where events are happening at the school.

The other irksome thing for me is that all after school clubs (one of the things that attracted me to the school) in Years 1 and 2 are run from 4-5pm, if not later. It makes for a very long day and has put me off placing my child in them, so they're not actually getting to make the most of the opportunities that are provided.

Communication between parents and teachers is excellent though, and the amount of support provided to my children has been great.

One of the reasons we are not continuing with the Harpur Trust into prep is the provision for girls though. I have yet to hear a good word (even from current parents) about the Girls School; I feel it suits a particular type of girl. Very assertive, shall we say. The campus isn't great also and I've heard a lot of parents complaining about drop off and pick up, as there's no clear provision given its location in the town centre.

With regards to Bedford Modern, it gets good results, it has lots of happy parents. It simply wasn't my idea of what I want an independent school to be.

Please also consider your commute to/from school/work - although Bedford isn't big, the journey times can be long due to traffic (and continuous ongoing roadworks). You might also consider if your child will take the school bus and what those routes are.

I'd strongly recommend you visit all the schools as soon as you can to get a feel for them.

However, I think you should keep an open mind with regards to the other independent schools in Bedford (Polam, Rushmere & St Andrews who are merging and will be building a joint site shortly).

Kimbolton School goes from 4-18 and is 15 minutes north of Bedford with a good bus service. Their entry in the Good School Guide recently is telling, and it has a completely different feel to the Harpur Trust schools.

Feel free to PM me if you want any further detail!

My daughter left Bedford Girls School after Year 13 in 2016 having been there since Year 9 (joined via merger from legacy schools). My son currently in Year 13 at Bedford Modern School (BMS). Both are very good schools, and most children that I know of are happy there and achieve well. Overall however BMS is preferable to BGS - both for overall teaching and leadership - it’s innovative and organised. The sports at BGS is better than BMS however, and if your daughter is sporty and talented in this area then they will generally are better placed at BGS (although it is still very competitive to get into the teams). Consider the single sex vs co-Ed implications - I believe evidence shows girls do best in single sex - boys do better in in co-Ed environment. Girls school is quite ‘fun’ with dressing up days and school trips can be quite ‘light’ in education. BMS has no dressing up days and all trips are educational. Your choice as to which you think is prefereable.

Overall BMS is at an advantage academically as it has more pupils sitting the selection test (as boys and girls) and do can and does take from the higher achievers.

I think the traffic issue should be fine as the roadworks alluded to earlier should only form part of your daughters school lifetime (and are designed to make traffic flow better (but painful whilst they are being done. Reinstating the pedestrian bridge to BMS will have a good effect !

Rushmore /St Andrews are both good schools but are non selective so are not as academic.

I can't speak with any authority on either BMS or BGS (I was at the girls school 20+ years ago when it was still Dame Alice but not really been back since) but my DS is at Pilgrim.

It is a lovely school with great facilities and, as a PP said, really good interaction with parents. They provide lots of opportunities for your kids to do extra curricular sports/activities through after school club (my DS came from a nursery setting where he was going 7.30-6.30 so while the after school activities do make for an active day, the length of day is something he's used to) and they really seem to take the time to get to know the kids and understand each of them.

They are not selective but they do expect you to be involved in your kids schooling but this expectation is probably no more so than a lot of schools with added homework. As the Harpur Trust pre-prep they do the entrance exams at the school in a setting they're used to which means it is less daunting for them.

As a PP said, parking is an issue but not the end of the world and there are a couple of other niggles including, for me, the wearing of shorts all year for boys - although at least my DS doesn't rip through the knees of all his trousers and I don't have to buy any more - they just get shorter each year ....

Teaching is excellent on the whole with plenty of feedback and availability of teachers who will support you in addressing any concerns you have. Can't recommend it highly enough.

humptydumpty25 Thank you so much for your very comprehensive description. I really appreciate you taking the time to write in such detail. I am visiting the school with my daughter soon so will ask about some of the points you raise. I am lucky with where my daughter is at the moment parking wise, but I guess that is a logistical problem facing all the parents.
That is quite late for clubs but my daughter stays till 4:30 at the moment so hopefully it won't feel like too much of a jump till 5pm. I will be renting before I buy in Bedford so hopefully it will give me an idea about to where to choose to settle in the long run. I'd be interested to hear what your view of a what an independent education should look like and why these schools aren't providing it.
ItsReallyOnlyMe - Thank you very much for your message, especially the comparison between the secondary schools. I guess I will have to wait until nearer the time but interesting points about both. Will bear them in mind when I tour the schools.
CharlieandLolaCat really lovely to hear about such positivity about Pilgrims, especially the teachers' efforts to get to know the pupils so well, along with personal support. That shorts rule is very odd though- why shorts in winter!
Thank you all again for such useful information. Hoping she will start this year - will look at the other schools suggested.
I'm looking at villages just outside to the north so it is easy to get in - anyone have any opinions on good areas to live. Seen Clapham and Pavenham on the map which look reasonable in distance. I don't know much at all about the area yet.