Falkner House vs Glendower... and then what?

[icecream2929]

Hi everyone,

We have a daughter who we hope will be offered a place at Glendower or Falkner next year (we have applied to many others too though, as I know how competitive it is for places so don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket!)
My questions are:

1. Glendower vs Falkner? Everyone we talk to seems to think if you get into the former, you take the spot without even batting an eyelid. We were given the same advice for our eldest when he was offered a place at Wetherby and have been delighted with the decision so far, so do see merit in following advice from those who’ve tried and tested, but would also love any feedback you all have on these two schools, as they are our two favourites of all the girls’ prep’s that we looked at!

1. Where do you all send your girls AFTER prep? Wetherby goes up to 13 at which point he’ll either go to one of the London day schools, or he’ll board somewhere. But for girls (if my girls wanted to board I’d have a hard time letting them go any earlier than 13), where do you send them for this ‘in-between’ stage? This is literally ten years out so not urgent of course, but I’m just curious.

1. What would you all consider as the girls equivalents to Eton and Harrow, both co-Ed and single sex?

Thanks!

1. Up to you, and which you think will suit your DD best.

1. If not going to an 11+ school, then move them to a prep that covers those years Newton Prep, one of the Thomas schools, or if the journey is OK, Broomwood Hall

1. Wycombe Abbey (single sex) Marlborough (coed)

With regards to point 2, even the oldest most traditional girls schools (Wycombe Abbey, Cheltenham Ladies, Downe House, Benenden) have their main intake at 11 these days. They all have a reasonable 13+ intake but the majority start at 11 so if considering boarding I would take that into account.

I personally would look that they are sending girls to a wide range of good schools. You have no idea what strengths your daughter will have in several years time. Indeed, my daughters biggest weakness when she started prep school was her biggest strength by the time she left. So, have an idea of the path you think you would like to follow but don’t get hung up on it.

You can't go too wrong with Glendower or Falkner so just pick the one you prefer. Falkner is more traditional, head who runs it very much her way and expects parents to follow that but very solid academics and down to earth in many ways. Glendower more fun, still academic and slightly larger I believe. Both send DDs to 11+ day and boarding and a good variety of schools. From that, I'd be confident your DD will end up somewhere that's right for her.

As PP have said, there's the 11+ (normally all girls) boarding schools like Wycombe, Downe House, Cheltenham.
There are a few 11+ co-Ed boarding like Brighton College or Epsom.
There is also the option to move at 11+, or a bit before if you realise it is what you want, to a 13+ prep either day- like Thomas's or Newton, or a gentle boarding prep experience to prepare for boarding senior- like Lambrook, The Dragon etc. These mean you can 'fill in' the two years between 11+ and 13+ entry.

Sounds like you have loads of options ahead of you.

Go with your gut re which culture you feel most comfortable with - they are both great schools, with subtle but significant differences.

Re your first point I would have to disagree though: judging by academics and difficulty of entry, FH is by far the superior school and much harder to get into. Also borne out by the stronger leaving results to the best public schools. This will suit some girls more than others, as will the fact that it is much smaller and run in a totally no-nonsense, non-princessy way by some very formidable women. Celebrity daughters need not apply unless they’re genuinely smart and the parents have their egos under control.

Much less overtly bling, on purpose, but on many levels the most exclusive prep there is.

PS:

Re your third point: Wycombe Abbey and Cheltenham Ladies for single sex; co-ed is harder as girls tend to do so much better academically in the single sex schools (which in and of itself isn’t a reason not to go co-ed, there’s more to teenage life than just academics). Don’t think Marlborough is that strong, Brighton Coll gets great reviews although has a bit less social cache if that’s important to you. Wellington?