Looking for advice on York private schools

[Stainlesssteel300]

Hello,
We are currently looking at St Peters, Bootham and Terrington Hall.
Bootham and St Peters seem to be very different - ideally I think we would like a school somewhere in the middle which is why we are now considering Terrington Hall.
Does anyone have children at either of these schools that could give me any insights.
I’ve heard great things about St Peters 2-8 and 13-18 but not so great about the middle school. Bootham seems to be very relaxed and maybe a bit too relaxed for us.
I haven’t seen Terrington Hall yet but everything I’ve heard has been positive, small classes and good pastoral care.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you 😊

Stainlesssteel- we had the same decisions to make a couple of years ago. We looked at Saint Peter's, Bootham and two excellent state schools.
We liked them all, but considered St Peter's the best fit for our DC based on our visits and chatting to family friends with experience of all 4.
We've been very pleased with the school so far.
The styles of the 3 schools vary, as you'd expect under 3 different headteachers and with 3 very different age groups. They all fall under the same 'umbrella' headship though and the ethos shouldn't be massively different.
Like you, I thought Bootham was v nice, but just not quite right for my two. Lots of threads discussing the merits of all the schools - most would agree I think, that for the majority they are fantastic schools but you will always get a minority of students who may have been better suited elsewhere.

I know the school was very proud to become the chorister school but conscious of the sad ending for TMS - unlike a previous poster, I don't get the feeling they're crowing about it. Of the few families we've been able to get to know this year with children who joined in September, they seem to have settled very well. Some had planned to join at 13 in any case, others not.

Good luck!

@marveillosa thank you for your reply. Can I ask what years your DC joined and if they settled in well?

They have settled v well despite it being an odd couple of years and joining a fairly established year group. They'd had a bit of a mix of styles school wise, having attended an independent school for their infant years, before moving to York and choosing a state primary for juniors, then starting SP in y7.
They also like that they have a couple of years being the oldest in school.

We chatted to friends this week whose son started y7 at Bootham. They're v happy with how that's going too. My DD said the boy had told her he was in a class of 13 which surprised me. I must ask if that's right, or just for certain classes. SP is 23/24

Bootham have a max of 60 at Y7 with normally 3 forms, so guessing they weren’t maxed out for that intake.

Another vote for Bootham, but the only correct answer is what is right for each child. Would say though, that if you’re close to the centre of York it would probably be best to choose one of those schools. Travelling extends already long days, if you’ve come from State primary.

@Stainlesssteel300
When you say Bootham may be too relaxed, what do you mean/what are your thoughts exactly?

This is a very interesting discussion.

Our son was at the Minster school, because he's a chorister, and is now at St P's. He came from a state primary in London, and we would never have gone down the private school route if he hadn't got into the choir in year 4.

But now he's in St P's he loves it. However, we're wondering whether to keep him there after year 8, or move to Bootham. He'd need to get a hefty music scholarship to make either option even remotely feasible.

So I'm interested in comments that Bootham is 'more musical' than St P, as we prefer it in other ways too - Quaker ethos, less emphasis on sport, fewer gigantic 4x4s...

Is St P really very 'flash the cash' ? I don't know many people who go there but the ones I know don't fit in that category? We are about to join so a few comments on here have worried me a little.

Still, my youngest is super sporty so at the very least she should fit in well in that sense!!

@herbaceous Can't answer on the music question but the Bootham Music Director comes across very well and seems well regarded.
Your decision sounds like it may depend on the scholarship so would apply to both then at least you have an option. But, "now he's in St P's he loves it." would also be a big consideration as well.

'less emphasis on sport' - always seems to come up in Bootham v St Peters. Is he made to do sports teams? Or is it something else?

@Travelban
Assuming you've taken 'fewer gigantic 4x4s' as the opposite of 'flash the cash' then not so sure.
I would probably say that St P has more wealth and is a bigger school, so by definition there would be more 'flashy' cars. I agree that it doesn't mean St P are necessarily 'flashing the 'cash'.
Would say, though, that Bootham, to us, seems like a (family) extension of a small state primary school. It seems 'normal' for want of a better word.

@herbaceous
! Just noticed that Bootham are advertising for a new Music Director from Jan 2022.
Don't know if he's retiring or moving onto other things.

@stubiff very clear post. You are right ultimately that its horses for courses and a smaller cosier school is right for some and maybe not for others

@marveillosa - our kids are in the same year at St P! Ours has just slotted in so well - it's been brill. He's loved the bigger class size than the Minster School, and the higher academic challenge!

@stubiff - I saw that about the Bootham music director leaving. Who replaces him, and what they've got in mind for music, will also play into our thinking. An instrument teacher of ours said that Bootham music is not of the same 'elite' standard as St P's, but they still stretch the good ones.

Oh and the sport bit. He is terrible at ball games, for various reasons, and hates the pressure from team games. But there's little escape at St P, and they have to do hours of it a week. Everything is made into a competition and he dreads it.

At Bootham there seems more emphasis on just enjoying it, and only one afternoon where you HAVE to do it.

@herbaceous
It is not an afternoon, but understand what you're trying to say.
At Bootham, they have 3 PE lessons a week, which totals around 3 hours (compulsory, obviously).
They finish at roughly 12:30 on Sat.
Sat afternoon is for team training and/or matches.
If you're not picked for a team then obviously not compulsory.
Boys do (mainly) football and basketball, then cricket and athletics in the summer.
Hope that helps.

@herbaceous I would disagree with your music teacher. From what I have heard, Bootham has a much stronger music department than St P. Such a shame the Dir of Music is leaving Bootham though.

Innnnteresting. But yes - shame the music director is going. Surely the replacement will be sh!t hot though!

I'd also disagree. In the decade + I have known both schools, the music at Bootham is the elite one! By a long shot.

Shame about the director of music, but there are some very musical governors who will I am sure know what it who they are looking for 😁

really interesting reading this. trying to decide whether to uproot from london to send all 3 to SP. didn’t seem overly flash but then it was out of term when we visited. are there many families with both working parents or is it a bit one wealthy parent and SAHM driving them in? we’d both be working but obviously keen to try and meet people and wondering if the school is sociable for new parents/kids?

One of my close relatives finished at St Peter's a couple of years ago. They were only there for 6th form, but we were really disappointed. The worst was results day, when they'd dropped a grade and missed the place they wanted and for which they were holding a scholarship. School gave no help at all. Absolutely nothing. University advice had been quite poor all along, which came as a surprise to us, but we really thought they'd intervene or at least give some advice when we needed help. We couldn't even get anyone to speak to us on the phone.

I'm not sure what happened to my earlier reply, but we def aren't flashing the cash
There's a mix of families, some v wealthy ones, some for whom it's a stretch and many others somewhere in the middle who are clearly pretty comfortable, as well as staff children and music/choral scholarship /bursaries.

We fit into the category of tightening our belts for the school years, and among our wider circle of friends it is noticeable that the ones able to 'flash the cash' now (earlier retirement, holiday homes, enormous cars etc) are those who haven't just committed to years of schools fees for several Children.

Naturally you see less of the those who are both at work so pick up probably isn't representative. Lots of kids make their own way home.

School itself doesn't seem rah/flashy, I'd say it's quite polished (compared to my own excellent comp) and with regard to another comment, it does seem like a small family school to me, as I'm comparing it to the 1400 pupil comprehensive we had in mind, rather than to Bootham. It's very sweet to see the diddy ones being picked up and the 6th formers strolling by to their last classes.

In case anyone's interested, after visiting both schools we've decided on leaving St Peters for Bootham.

St Peters has great facilities, it's true, and good results, but the 'feeling' of Bootham is just so much nicer. I love their ethos of producing young people who will do good in the world, rather than the more individualistic 'me me me' vibe at St P. And the music facilities are better than St P's.

The attitudes of SLT are also interesting. At the Bootham open day the head, deputy head and music director all came to speak to us, and directed most of their interest at DS.

Meanwhile, there had been no interest or info from 'big' St P's about moving up, and when I did manage to organise a tour and a meeting with the head he just gave us a 20-min sales spiel, directed totally at me, and didn't even look at DS or ask him a single question.

DS does have good friends there, but philosophically said 'I've only known them a year. If they're going to be good friends I'll keep in touch anyway, and I'll make new friends at Bootham'!

@herbaceous It sounds like you're doing the right thing. We noticed the same thing at Bootham where the staff were very attentive to DD when we visited. I think it's fair to say that the Quaker emphasis on equality encompasses age as much as other attributes, and it's nice to see that shine through in the school.

I suppose if your DS still wants to see his current friends then they'll hardly be far away, that's if the school rivalry doesn't take over! But I would expect he'll establish some great new friendships at Bootham, hopefully gaining some friends for life. I reckon he's a lucky lad going there and wish him all the best for the move.

Thank you! There's something about that school that makes you feel all 'mmmmmm' just walking in. So welcoming.

There is a ridiculous rivalry between the two schools. Apparently, someone from St P came to Bootham for their flute lesson, and spoke of Bootham children as 'the ones who can't cut it at St Peters'. She was sent away with a flea in her ear!

As a hand-wringing Guardian reader, I still feel guilty about private school, which I expressed to the head of Bootham in the interview. I asked him whether his pupils all realised how lucky they are, and he assured me a lot of effort goes into ensuring they do!

@herbaceous good for you! It sounds as if you have made the right decision. Thank you for letting us know.

St Peter's is in consultation to leave the Teachers' Pension Scheme. There'll be some mightily pissed off teachers there right now.