Glastonbury/Street/Wells area........comments on secondary schools please

[spellbound]

dh is likely to be transferring to work in the area some time over the coming year. dc 1 will be Year 7, dc 2 in Year 5, so need to look at secondary schools. Also (planning ahead i know!) 6th forms as I gather many somerset schools are 11-16 only? Indepenedent sector is a possibility (though would be a real stretch financially) so would be keen for any comments on that too. I have a cousin living in the area who says although there are some well-known independent schools in the area, they're pretty crap value for money and the state schools are fine! Any thoughts???

Nah you're right in that it mainly ficuses on FE.

there's something of a tendency in some FE Somerset collegs now to offer the first year of HE courses, with a guaranteed transfer to say bath afterwards- and of course there's the HND's which are often offered at FE or Uni level.

There seems to be a lot of transfer between schools etc at 16, whether into Private for A-levels (thats often linked to availability) and out of independent- often for the same reason. So I'mnot sure post-16 is so easily planned for . But tehre are options, and I think post 16 Somerset is quite good; sadly post 18 it isn't (the reason we live in Wales now is that there were no accessible universities I could get to from home).

Millfield is the UK's top 'overseas rich' school...

From what I've heard, Bruton's a bit wierd, as there are not only the two private schools and the state (which is very good) but also a Steiner school, so the town divides up depending on what school you are at. And it's not that big a place (plus has no shops due to a one-way system that has murdered the centre of town).

Blue School has by far and away the best reputation locally. although Wells is a bit twee to live in, but the catchment area does - I think - extend to some of the villages.

ps, you can tell when it's the end of term at Millfield because of the increased helicopter traffic. This is not a joke...

Dh's mate used to be a PE teacher at Millfield.

He was so enthusiastic that one felt tired just being in the same room as him!

I never knew anyone locally who went thre tbh, everyone I knew who went private went to Taunton School. Probably cheaper LOL.

This is all good stuff! Now, can someone just tell me is it really true that the Blue school (Wells) gets better results than the local independents? Someone posted on here that they do at A level which is interesting. Being state and non-selective, I would guess this means they have better teachers than the selective fee-paying schools? Sorry, I know thats a generalisation, but i'm interested to know if anyone has experience of it.

You have to be careful with comparing A-level results as some schools do alternative vocational things that count towards the scores but might be easier, or make everyone do critical thinking as an extra to boost the scores or encourage so called easier subjects (xxx studies).

However, from the good schools guide, Millfield is slightly ahead of the Blue School on A level results per pupil (couldn't find the equivalent chart for Wells cathedral school)...

www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/cgi-bin/gsgdir.cgi?PERFORMANCEGRAPH&OL=Yes&SiteS=None&ExamType=NUMA1&Tabl eName=SE1&NumGSG=104684

www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/cgi-bin/gsgdir.cgi?PERFORMANCEGRAPH&OL=Yes&SiteS=None&ExamType=NUMA1&Tabl eName=SE1&NumGSG=104674

We live a bit further down from Street, in Somerton and the local state school Huish Episcopi has an excellent reputation, focusing on languages and sciences I think, but doesnt have a 6th form. I believe there is talk of creating one in the next year.

We know many families locally who send their dc to Millfield and are very happy with it.

Found a way of getting Alevel results table for somerset from Good Schools Guide:

www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/cgi-bin/gsgdir.cgi?PERFORMANCETABLE&OL=Yes&SiteS=None&Country=E&Table=NUM A1&TableHeader=SE1

I'm afraid it does show the independents as being ahead, but the Blue School does quite well.

As I said before, you need to apply a bit of caution to the results. The GSG ones are 3 year averages which I think is good.

PS scroll to bottom of link in previous post and filter for somerset.

Blimey, I take it back about my dear alma mater then