Charterhouse v Winchester v St Eds

[Scullydog]

Currently doing entrance for Charterhouse for 6th form for my son, currently at St Eds where pastoral care is disappointing and evident pervading affluence an unwelcome distraction. He is a music scholar. Any advice on CH and/ or Winchester and the transition would be very welcome.

@Scullydog you should check out recent threads involving Winchester. Numerous current and recent parents have posted about their unhappiness with pastoral care, widespread tutoring and lack of support with university applications. It still has its fans as you'll see but doesn't seem to be having a golden era just now.

@LochDuich thank you. yes I saw the trail. Not good. We are leaving StEds because of poor pastoral. We will stick with CH where Head seems to prioritize kindness.

Best of luck with that move, @Scullydog , it looks an exciting one!

Genuinely interested in this, as St Ed’s doesn’t have a 6th form, so wouldn’t you have to move anyway? Or are you leaving during an earlier year? Sorry if I misunderstood.

@SpecialToMe , I think the OP means Teddies in Oxford - St Edwards. I've had 2 friends dc leave due to poor pastoral care/ lack of full gcse curriculum.

@Scullydog
I would have tried Rugby. Great for pastoral care. It’s also something that’s really hard to judge before you get there. All heads care. They don’t always ensure staff and Dc sing from the same hymn sheet. Teddies always suited robust Dc. It’s just the way it is.

I have a DC at Wincoll and frankly I wouldn’t take the claims of external tutoring or lack pastoral care at face value. Wincoll really excels in both teaching and kindness, without needlessly stressing or micromanaging pupils.

Having said that, I think it is true that US uni admissions support is a bit lean with only one person for 140 pupils, but Wincoll is still a heavy hitter in the US with a stellar reputation e.g. Harvard, Yale and the other Ivys regularly take a couple of Wincoll students every year.

@Wincollparent2023entry One of the common themes I've noticed is Winchester parents dismissing the views and experiences of critics- ranging from suggesting other people's children were academically under par, that there's a conspiracy to attack Winchester, to your own 'ancient history' and concerns 'not to be taken at face value'. Unless you believe all those posters describing adverse experiences are fabricating them, perhaps it would be better to allow your own six weeks' worth of positive experience to lie alongside other perspectives rather than suggest they aren't real.

In most schools the majority are happy. It’s inevitable some Dc are a poor fit and don’t get along so well. Rarely anyone’s fault but just not the right school for them. The trick is still down into what makes your DC tick. They are presumably going at 13 so abilities, trusts, dislikes and likes are all known. It’s often better to find a school just below top if it’s overall more suitable for Dc.