What is Canford school really like for bursary students?

[TheOpenWriter]

We have been offered a place, a scholarship and a bursary. I am so proud of my child that they have won this opportunity and want them to take advantage of this! But I am worried, they won’t fit in, as they won’t be coming from the independent sector. My impression is that Canford is like a huge family, and I was impressed when we visited. The school have done a great job at assuring me, that my child will fit in, and flourish at the school. However others have suggested, my child could be bullied due to the fact we don’t have the same level of income. Does this matter these days? Will they be missing out on lots of additional at cost activities? Will they feel on the outside, as lots of kids already know each other from feeder schools, or does Canford have a truly inclusive culture? Can anyone give me an inside view of this please? Has anyone had a child go through the school as a bursary assisted child. What would you say the positives and negatives are please? Thanks :)

We’ve just decided to return the place we were offered . A number of friends with kids there have said that it is very elitist and getting more so .
We don’t want our DS to not fit in.

Thank you. That is our biggest fear. Our DS is super academic, highly focussed and very sporty. So that’s why Canford was attractive. But realising that the majority of students will be from wealthier backgrounds, and having people suggest there may be this type of undercurrent has made me feel wobbly about the whole idea. I am also worried about the potential issue with VAT on fees…..

I don’t know Canford at all (will look it up) but our now undergraduate child had eight years of prep and Public school on a combination of scholarship / bursary and pure bursary - each totalling 100% of fees. This was at prep and senior boarding schools both considerably better known than Canford.

There was never any cause for said child to feel less valued than any full fee paying pupil. At prep the number of scholarships / bursaries per year was in single figures; whereas the senior school famously has approximately a quarter of its pupils on some form of confidential means tested bursary. And the scholarship students are widely celebrated.

On short, it would be a real shame if Canford does not have this sort of ethos.

A quick look suggests it’s quite a small school.

But I’m a little confused as to why you’re having doubts only at this stage, @TheOpenWriter. It seems hard on your child to let them go through the whole application process before you discover the school might not have the right values. What did you think of it until now?

This (photo) shows a variety of scholarships are available - so clearly the school doesn’t intend scholarship students to be looked down upon.

I would have preferred to see more noise about their bursary provision - I’m accustomed to finding information on the number and proportion of bursary recipients front and centre on a school website, rather than having to search for it.

I hope there are posters here who have had a different experience to @olympicsrock, and might reassure you, but essentially you either trust what the staff have told you, and the good impression you must previously have gained, or you don’t.

We are local and DS was encouraged to try for a scholarship ( bright) . We signed up for a place BUT the 20% increase in school fees has made us worry .

a) the school demographic would change to become even more elitist. We know quite a few local families like us who have changed their mind or are worried about the fees.

B ) It’s is just going to be too much money even with a scholarship. Bursary not an option as we have a holiday home.

We have had to look for an alternative school quickly but have found another fairly local school which is even more academic , great extra curricular activities and fees 1/3 less.

Another thing that put us off was Saturday school as family time is important.

We do know some families who are really happy with their choice ( kids just finishing now) but I think the CoL crisis just changes things for us.

It was a big decision but losing the fees for the assessment day and exam was small compared to it perhaps not being the right school.

This is reassuring to know. We felt on visits, it was the right place for him, but have been worried by others comments. I guess it’s a case of not knowing until he is there, so I have been agonising with the decision. I feel it could help him maximise his potential, especially given he has won a scholarship. I just didn’t want to place him in a difficult position.

We did feel the school had the right values, and were absolutely over the moon he was awarded his place. It has really been other people’s opinions that have made me feel a bit wobbly about the decision. He is a high achieving child, who will undoubtably do well, but we felt the Canford ethos would enable him to make the most of his potential.

ill they be missing out on lots of additional at cost activities??
Yes, if you can't afford them. That's life.

I understand, but was really trying to find out if there are lots of additional opportunities at higher costs which may make a bursary assisted student less able to take part in the wider school life. For example is this a few opportunities, that not everyone goes on, or are the majority of kids financially elite and able to do everything. It would be difficult if you were the one always missing out. However of course I understand that if you can’t afford it you can’t go. One or two opportunities may be achievable - but if it is every week, I think it may be demoralising…

However others have suggested, my child could be bullied due to the fact we don’t have the same level of income.

Who are these ‘others’? Have they ever set foot inside an independent boarding / day school? Because I can tell you that on every single bursary thread on MN, people with no current knowledge whatsoever pop up to make similar claims. In the 1970s I had one girl attempt to be rude to me when I joined an independent school - my parents were paying full fees but perhaps the fact I am not white inclined her to believe I must be receiving some sort of fee assistance. In this century - we regularly and repeatedly interrogated our bursary child about this issue. They rolled their eyes!

Does this matter these days?

Not at any decent school.

Will they be missing out on lots of additional at cost activities?

It’s entirely up to you what you choose to pay for. Only a tiny minority of pupils will go on any non-compulsory trip. Everything the school considers necessary for a good education will be provided as part of the curriculum.

Will they feel on the outside, as lots of kids already know each other from feeder schools,

Schools thrive on the regular influx of new pupils. In any social situation there will always be people who know each other already and others who don’t. The fact that you have applied to and been successful in gaining entry to this school suggests that you understand the nature of competition - and that you believe your child has the wit, talent and brains to carve out a path for themselves. So what if some pupils were at prep together? That doesn’t prevent your child from making friends, surely?

Thank you! The ‘others’ are not people who have had access to the independent sector and I would suggest are making assumptions. However in this digital age you can pretty much search anything and find things that support it! There is a lot of conflicting information out there, which is why I started this thread. I’ve been trying to approach it from the perspective of what are the gains my DS will make and do they justify the cost. I am pretty sure they do. But I just want to be as sure, as I can be!

I know someone whose DC went to Canford on a bursary. They loved it. It's a great school with good teaching and lots of opportunities for children to enjoy extracurricular activities, be it sports, music or drama etc. I was a private school parent and have never heard of children being bullied because their parents aren't wealthy. The kids mostly don't care what background the parents have. Well done to your DS for getting in.

This is so good to hear! Thank you. Starting to feel more relaxed and back to being excited for my DS now.

"Our DS is super academic, highly focussed and very sporty."

Canford is brilliant for sport. He will love it.

DS is 100% bursary in top London day school.No one knows and no one cares.
A real mix of pupils,he fits in with his circle of friends and loves it. He has done a couple of "non expensive trips" . Some go, many don't.
Yes there are some very well off parents , but I really would not worry.

Your son has a wonderful opportunity and I'm sure you and he won't regret it !

My son had a scholarship and 90% bursary and fitted in perfectly. Never a problem. It's a wonderful, nurturing and down to earth school.

I’ve just seen the job advert for the Canford Headship - does anyone know where the excellent Ben Vessey is off to?

Driving past the village school here there are children walking from the local council
estate and parents dropping off in their Range Rovers. Why does everyone assume their child will be bullied at an independent school as they don't have as much money as other parents.

We are all rich compared to some and all poor compared to others.

My child has been asked to attend an open evening for 6th form at Canford by sports coach who teaches at the school. Suggestion of applying for scholarship. Hope you don't mind me asking within this post some questions about the bursaries at Canford? If DS got a scholarship it says max 20% off fees which we still couldn't afford. Do you apply for scholarships and bursaries all at the same time? We prob have joint income of 70K. Tiny 2 up 2 down house but no mortgage. Do you think there is chance of 100% bursary?

Thank you for all your responses. Unfortunately due to the uncertainty over the effect of possible VAT on fees - we are unsure of the stability of bursary’s. Particularly as I have a DD, who wouldn’t be attending until 3 years time if she got a place. We were warned it could be a completely different landscape. It is so tough, as we were happy and wanted to take his place. This, has completely changed everything. I guess no one really knows how much effect the introduction of VAT on fees is really going to have if labour gets in. So we have decided to watch and see, and defer the place for year 12.

So you had a detailed and informed response from the school itself when you asked them about possible changes in bursary provision?

There are no guarantees with any bursary provision. I asked the questions, but really felt that I couldn’t gain the type of reassurance, I wanted. Which was not the schools fault, as they also don’t know what is going to happen, or how this will impact bursary provision. For us, we just don’t have the buffer financially to make contingency plans should bursary provision be affected or the eligibility change. We felt even though it was a difficult decision, that it was better to wait. My DS is in a good school and achieving high grades. So academically should still be on track to achieve. Canford is an amazing place though, and he is still keen to join if he can in year 12.

OP, I see you've made your decision and totally understand your reasons, but in answer to your initial question, I'll just add some brief comments in case it's helpful.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge the fact that Canford is a school where day fees are 30k+ a year and boarding fees 45k+, so the average student there does come from a reasonably wealthy background. It's silly to pretend otherwise.

At the same time, it definitely feels less "money" than many other schools I've visited across the south west and the students are the nicest I met anywhere - confident without being cocky, polite and friendly. My DC attend a feeder prep and the children going on to Canford come from a range of financial backgrounds. For a v v small minority the fees will be small change. For the majority, Canford is not a decision that will have been taken lightly and won't be without sacrifices elsewhere- the vast vast majority of kids are not in a wealth bracket where they're going to be signing up for every extra under the sun, rocking up with the latest iPhone and a Moncleur winter coat and jetting off for 5 foreign holidays every year, esp if the VAT thing happens. There is plenty included in the fees to keep them busy and happy.

In terms of making friends, I'm pretty confident it won't be an issue. The biggest feeder prep accounts for around 10% and that is split between boys/girls and boarding/day and between houses so there are not going to be unshakeable cliques. My DC's school's destinations split is probably 40% Canford, 30% Bryanston, 30% other so a lot of existing friendship groups will go their separate ways and the kids will be in the market for new friends. Quite a few Canford students have older siblings who go to state schools (usually Poole and B'mth grammars) and most socialise with DC from a variety of schools through hobbies and club sports so they are not going to be in any way weird about people who went/go to state schools.

Just to clarify a point made by pp - many scholarships doesn't mean many students who can't pay full fees - these are not means tested and are awarded in recognition of ability/ talent so someone could be easily in a position to afford the fees and still get a scholarship.

HTH

Just to clarify a point made by pp - many scholarships doesn't mean many students who can't pay full fees

Why would anyone think that? It certainly wasn’t the point I was making several days ago!

Can I ask what school you are referring to which is more accedemic but cheaper? Currently going through the process of finding a school but was under the impression Canford is the most academic in Dorset?
Thanks!