St Faith’s School, Beeston Hall & Cheam School - recent experience

[veryconfusedmom]

Evening all, would love to hear from current or recent parents from
St Faiths (Cambridge)
Beeston Hall (Cromer)
Cheam (Newbury)
and their experience with the schools when it comes to happy kids, academics, and general social/parents interaction.
Our kiddies are very bright and neurodivergent and I’m struggling to decide which schools is best for them.
TIA

Are you local to Cambridge, @veryconfusedmom?

St Faith’s hasn’t taken boarders for decades, but the other schools do. Are you considering boarding/not boarding or relocating?

Hi @AdaAndCissie We are looking at day school :)

Sorry, should have added, we will relocate if needed 🙈

@veryconfusedmom , there is such a difference between living in a village outside Cambridge and commuting in with all the traffic and constant development, moves by the council against cars and living in very rural north Norfolk, miles and miles from a city or even a decent train station. I would have thought the parent make up of the schools is totally different. (I grew up in Cambridge but went to boarding school in north Norfolk). Where do you want to live, do you like driving and do you like going to London as these questions will help you!

@redrobin75 I totally appreciate that! We have no preference on where we live, as long as there is plenty of green around (so we won’t be staying in a big city and more of a village type of setting). Driving is not a problem and these schools offer bus service (which is a bonus).
The struggle is deciding which school would be best, and hearing from other parents experiences could shed some light on the matter (hopefully 🙈😂).
Did you go to boarding school? What was your experience living in Norfolk?

@veryconfusedmom , I am not keen on north Norfolk - it is very cold and very remote! You need to focus on the housing situation in Cambridge and outlying villages, it's incredibly expensive and the traffic is horrendous to get to the private schools.

Have you thought about secondary schools as in north Norfolk you have so little choice (Greshams) whilst in Newbury you have loads of choice.

@tennissquare that is one of our concerns going north, plus there is a 2 year gap between kids - what if they want to go south for secondary school? Not sure I can bear the idea of sending them to boarding school 🙈
housing seems to be a problem in all three areas though, so much of a muchness at this point.

Why don't you focus on Greshams, The Leys and the Perse and then compare to the vast array of secondary schools including many mixed that are west of London.

I taught in an independent prep school in Cambridge for many years before leaving to spend more time on educational research and other interests. I’ve been working as a private tutor in this area for almost ten years now (specialising in preparing children for entrance assessments to independent senior schools in Cambridge and Ely) and receive lots of feedback from parents and pupils on various schools.

From all the feedback and insights I’ve gained, if you are considering moving to Cambridgeshire, I highly recommend looking at King’s Ely School. Their pastoral care is excellent, especially for neurodivergent pupils who, from what parents tell me, are nurtured and well supported. If your children went to St Faith’s Prep, then I assume you are looking at The Perse or one of the other highly selective academic senior schools in Cambridge. Competition for places at The Perse is fierce (only about 1:4 of the very brightest applicants are offered a place). The Perse, and to a lesser extent the Stephen Perse and then the Leys, in Cambridge are highly selective and ‘cream off’ many of the high achievers at every stage so it’s hardly surprising their results are so good.

In comparison, while King’s Ely are still selective and rigorous in only taking children who they assess are capable of achieving a good standard, given the broader intake their ‘value added’ results for GCSE and A Level are even better. Furthermore, they have great facilities within a beautiful 75 acre site and are renown for their music, sports (everything from rugby to rowing) and creative arts along with all the usual academic subjects. All the pupils I have contact with at King’s Ely are very happy there. Some stay at King’sEly for 6th form but many get places at Hills Road 6th Form College in Cambridge, the highest rated state school in the country. Whichever they chose, the vast majority get places at their first choice university.

Ely is a lovely little city and you don’t have all the nightmare traffic to deal with that blights Cambridge. Alternatively, you could look at living in Waterbeach, which is a large village situated on the railway line roughly half way between Cambridge and Ely. We moved here 15 years ago and love the beautiful countryside, community feeling and many facilities offered in Waterbeach. It’s a 7 minute train ride to Cambridge, 11 minutes to Ely and only about an hour to London. Living in Waterbeach would keep your options open for schools in Cambridge and Ely.

Cheam is a throwback to a bygone England IMO. Quaint customs, countryside serenity. Not at all diverse, with or two token non white faces, and quite a few non-working mothers who send their two, sometimes three children to the school at once! With fees over £7k PER TERM, this is some feat! Carpark is full of 4x4 BMW or SUV Porsches….. Very good academically, and amazing facilities, but not sure it is particularly good at preparing kids for modern life since they operate in this sort of “bubble.” St. Joseph’s or St.Gabriel’s are much better at this last point , although Gabriel’s has still a very large split of females vs males in most of their classes.

We have spent a lot of time looking at Beeston Hall for our DC as we have a second home in North Norfolk and post Covid considered living there full time.

It is a great school but it’s very much a boarding prep environment (with a healthy contingent of day schools). The great majority head to Greshams and Oundle at 13. It’s a monied school but more old money, farmers and military than flash cash. It has a very grounded vibe.

I actually think that the long busy days in a boarding environment (even if the child isn’t boarding) can be very good for a ND child. It provides a structured day with routine, but allows independence in a safe and supportive environment. They also spend a lot of time outside doing sport and taking advantage of their location.

We decided against it in the end, not because of the school but because North Norfolk life for teenagers can be hard. Friendships are often spread over large areas with poor public transportation and there’s very few things for them to do outside Norwich. Lots to love about the school though.

It is also not good academically at this point: New head seems on rocky ground to the point that his wife has stepped in as co-head. There were no academic scholarships last year (usually around about 6) and it seems that the entire Maths department have resigned this last term. I'd avoid on the grounds of academics alone. Re social: it is awash with non-working mothers and luxury 4x4s - fine if that's your thing, but that's the prevailing culture if not. There's a bit more diversity further down the year groups but the school has not dealt with racism at all well in my experience. My boys are no longer there but there seems to be pervasive disquiet about the direction the school is headed from those of my friends who have younger children still enrolled. What is good there still? Probably the sport and music (which has a strong head of music) and few schools can beat the lovely grounds. Children seem happy enough.

Hi, I’d be interested in your perspectives on Cambridge preps. Looking at St Faith’s, Kings and Perse for high achieving neurodivergent 7yo.

Hi @JustASquareMoreChocolate, from my experience and the feedback I get from parents of children I tutor, all 3 prep schools you mentioned are good but I think King’s Ely have the edge for many of the same reasons I outlined in my earlier post about senior schools. However, as I’m sure you know, there’s never a ‘one size fits all’ where children are concerned and so much depends upon the type of environment your child thrives in. It would help to know where they are at school at the moment and what you think are the top three things they need to thrive at school.

Are you already living in the Cambridge area or thinking of moving here? I’m happy for you to pm me if you’d like to.

@JustASquareMoreChocolate what kind of ND are you talking? SF has v high expectations of v young children in terms of getting themselves around the site with big bags of PE stuff, so would your DC be able to cope with that?

Thank you both.

@Nenen i will PM you - thank you!

that’s also helpful @readingmakesmehappy … I think so. ASD - also bright, and sorts out his stuff currently (moving from elsewhere in England).

Out of interest, did you settle on any one of these, or did you go elsewhere?

Gosh, all my friend from North Norfolk love it. Tight-knit friendships, idyllic healthy upbringing, learnt to enjoy riding horses on beach, running, getting boat licenses - not too fast but not middle or Cumbria. All seemed to love Oundle and now in bright lights of London. Beeston Hall is fab, they all loved it!

If you want to go slightly west it's nice around Peterborough and Rutland. Witham Hall, Copthill, Laxton Junior and Spratton nice. Easy to get into the capital but still rural.