Cheltenham ladies college

[violetballerina]

Does anyone have up to date information on CLC? I'm wondering how high the cat score expectations are.

Also wondering if it is a high pressure school or simply suits academic girls.

Is it ok for 'normal' girls to go, I'd say we are a pretty average family. Dd attends prep now but we are quite obviously normal people which doesn't bother any of us now but I want to make sure dd doesn't feel out of place wherever she ends up.

I'd like dd to attend initially as a day girl moving to boarding for gcse years but not sure if this would be a bit odd.

I suppose everyone thinks they are normal. In what way are you more normal than the other normals?

@Placido I mean poorer! By normal I mean
lots of people at our prep have a lot more than us, lots of old money rolling around . I don't think dd notices any different now because the dc are still young enough not to really care.
We don't want dd to feel out of place though as she gets older and it becomes more obvious.

But aren't people with more money than you allowed to feel 'normal' too. What about people poorer than you? Not normal either? How do we judge our normalness against other people?

Ok well I will leave it there was hoping for a more helpful response. Thanks

But you might not get a helpful response from people who have children at the school who might perhaps have much more money than you, because you don't think they are normal. Which is a bit offensive.

I have no idea, but just wanted to give the OP some support. She asked for advice not nitpicking about a word.

I come from the area, had friends go there and am a teacher myself. I have nosey interest in others experience of the school too.

@Placido

But you might not get a helpful response from people who have children at the school who might perhaps have much more money than you, because you don't think they are normal. Which is a bit offensive.

Yes she might. And she hasn't precluded responses from those people.

If you're struggling with the phrase normal then look up bell curves abd distribution. It's clear the OP is referring to income in the average ballpark. If you're struggling to comprehend that and have nothing helpful to add, why are you here?

Thanks @WaltzingBetty that's what I meant. I'm not quite sure what @Placido was aiming for in their posts tbh.

Lets just say you managed to offend me as a parent. Will move on now.

Oh I see well tbh if you're a CLC parent it helps to know anyway

@Placido

But aren't people with more money than you allowed to feel 'normal' too. What about people poorer than you? Not normal either? How do we judge our normalness against other people?

Stupid and pointless response which causes totally needless offence.

@Coronawireless thanks.

It's been difficult to find out about schools this year and last due to coronavirus putting a stop to many open days and other events.

Our prep will be helping us decide but I am not overly familiar with boarding schools and dd says she is interested in boarding, so I was hoping to find some more up to date information on this school.

@Placido

Lets just say you managed to offend me as a parent. Will move on now.

Not sure your response fits into the 'normal' category so perhaps the OP was right!

@Placido

Lets just say you managed to offend me as a parent. Will move on now.

Oh no! How will OP ever get over that? 😩

It's an excellent school for a confident go-getter IMO (especially if boarding). More hothousey in recent years I think, more selective than it was? Parents no more monied than at any other top notch boarding, public school, Wycombe Abbey, etc.

My DD was there from 11 to 18 as a boarder. The defining ethos, I'd say, is "give it a good go". Yes, it does have high academic standards, but compared to, say, Wycombe Abbey, it doesn't feel hothousey. Unlike Placido, I get exactly what you mean. There are very rich families. There are perfectly ordinary families - in the sense of professional or self-made parents who are making sacrifices to send their children there. Some girls are into the latest iPhone or brand names. Lots more absolutely are not. Message me if you have specific questions. DD only left 1.5 years ago so I'm reasonably up to date still.

Hi, I went to CLC a in the 90s. I came from an average middle class family who lived in London so I was a boarder. Lots of people were like me too. There were some very wealthy families in my year but it was a big enough school that you just found your group and you didn’t really notice how wealthy other people were. There were always the rumours like, her family owns half of Gloucestershire etc, but you never really cared. My experience was as a boarder rather than as a day girl though so maybe it was different for day girls going to each other’s houses? I would say that moving to boarding for GCSE might be a difficult adjustment- your house is basically your family when you are a boarder and bonds are quite strong so that might be a difficult experience for someone not joining in year 7 or year 9. I really enjoyed my time there. I never found it bitchy or snobby. It’s quite jolly hockey sticks or at least it was when I was there. In fact I found the university I went to afterwards to be far snobbier. Good luck with your decision and I hope a current parent can give you more insight.

Thanks that's all helpful to know. I hadn't planned boarding schools into the list of potential schools but dd has decided she wants to board after hearing about it at school but I am still not sure.

Thanks @hidingmystatus I appreciate your post, I looked at WA and it felt too hothousey when I looked into it. Great for some girls not so much for mine. I will message you.

Have you thought about Dean Close, that might suit more if you are worried about fitting in?

I saw a list of average CAT4 scores required for different schools recently. Unfortunately I didn’t save it and can’t seem to find the link now but I had noted a few down and CLC was said to be around 128.

I know a few people with girls there and they have all indicated that there is a good range of abilities and quite a few sets in each subject. Obviously they will want to identify and select very able girls but the overarching qualities they look for aside from academics is a self-motivated curiosity to learn and experience different things.

I hope that helps.

Placido has posted several provocative posts this week which are basically anti independent education so I would ignore if it's not helpful.
My sister used to teach at CLC and it had the full range of wealth categories. I wouldn't worry about that. It will be the same at every independent school. Is there an option to do some kind of taster day so she can get a feel for it? That's the only way to find out what the atmosphere is like.