Stowe Feeders or Godstowe - help desperately needed

[RachelGreensFlair]

Growing up I’d never imagine asking this question, as Independant schools were just a different universe. But since getting a big promotion at work I’m considering my options for DD who is currently 15 months old.

We live in Bucks, and Stowe is our goal (it’s local which helps too), we were initially looking at Ashfold School, but when looking at the good schools guide we then moved our attention to Godstowe.

However after reading a bit from past MN posts about the school I am concerned they usually feed other girls schools in the High Wycombe area, and since they are non selective it might not be the best move if Stowe is the end goal.

Which has then led to us now looking at Swanbourne House or Winchester House (although Winchester is further away) as they feed Stowe.

But this is an absolute minefield, I have no family or friends who have gone this route so I wanted to ask here - has anyone got any advice, should I go with one of the Stowe feeder schools, is Godstowe excellent and worth it even if DD doesn’t then go onto Stowe. I am ambitious and want the same for her, so I feel a bit uneasy with Godstowe being a bit ‘for all’ in terms of her being pushed to her full potential.

I am also not sure how this process works, do I need to register DD now, even though I’d not like her to start until pre prep, are wait lists long etc.

thanks in advance - I really appreciate any guidance in this area

Surely Godstowe feeds Wycombe Abbey which is one of the top independent girls boarding in the country? (It always used to).
I would think that WA is harder to get in to than Stowe.

Godstowe & Stowe are 1hr apart though, so you can't be local to both (though your definition of local may differ to mine). For pre-prep/prep won't you want a day school?

Isn’t it a bit early to be deciding your daughter needs a school that isn’t “for all” and is more academic?!

I’d pick a close prep that has good destinations (although many of these may be by tutoring/extra help at home), with the facilities you’re happy with. It’s also hard to tell at 15 months what may suit her at primary, let alone secondary.

Agree.

Yes I agree! Imagine thinking that a school "for all" was not for your child. How can you know if your DC, currently 15mo, will be more able? I'm pretty academic but not all my DC are fwiw.

I agree also, unless I am looking at the wrong schools, Godstowe and Stowe re more than an hour's drive apart. I agree, I'd look for a prep close to you, where children seem to be happy and thriving. Wrt waiting lists and other queries, I guess you need to contact the individual schools.

I live in a village, anywhere less than a 40 min drive is local to me

She has been put on a ‘gifted’ pathway at her nursery, and they have encouraged us to consider options as she is apparently a lot more advanced than her peers.

she is our first so not sure what that all means in reality but we can only take their word for it (as have nothing to compare her to) and therefore have started thinking outside of our planned route to the local Villiage primary etc.

I don’t want all girls boarding, she would be a day pupil at Godstowe (and Stowe if she got in)

And yes depends on your definition of local, we are 20 mins away from Stowe and 45 mins away from Godstowe.

In that case I would rule out Godstowe for prep. Far too long a journey for a 5-11 year old.

Is it?

We currently drive 35 mins each way for nursery so didn’t think it would be that much of a stretch!

I wouldn't do a prep school that's 45 minutes away - it will be really tricky with playdates and stuff, especially when your daughter is young.

Although there's lots of good stuff about stowe, I wouldn't say it's particularly academic. You definitely don't need to worry about godstowe not being able to prepare for stowe entry - lots of the girls go on to senior schools which are much harder to get into.

thank you for this, play dates would always be an issue as we live in a small Villiage so already have to travel to interact with her ‘friends’ at this age, but at those ages I wonder if it becomes harder?

And that’s good to hear re the academics, I was a bit worried seeing a comment on MN on an older thread about the Godstowe girls she spoke to during their tour not being very articulate.

Nursery doesn't have the academic demands that primary level does.
Other people may disagree but I feel 45mins each way is far too much. Where would you then be going? It would be too much to do 2 round trips daily, surely?

I’d be going back home to work, so yeah two round trips

Depends on your direction. HW traffic is a law unto itself so I wouldn’t bank on it being 45 minutes at school run time. Marlow Hill (A404) can get very snarled up.

Also, do you really want to be driving as far as Maidenhead and Gerrard’s Cross on the weekend for birthday parties? Her schoolfriends are unlikely to be living in north Bucks.

I did the distance checks and map checks factoring in school time, so set the arrival time for when they’d start etc. and it ranged between 45-50 mins depending on using Waze or Google maps.

and tbh we travel over an hour most weekends to see friends, family etc. so it wouldn’t be too much of an issue! (Last weekend we drove to Bournemouth and back in a day to see my husbands grandparents) but I can see it might get a bit annoying, but for the past 5 years we’ve been doing it and not really feeling it yet

The morning traffic around Godstowe is awful. Your 45 minute journey is likely to be 1hr plus and the pre-prep cohort tends to be more local.

Stowe isn’t particularly academic, I wouldn’t worry about her getting in at all. Choose the local prep school. You can always move her to godstowe when she’s older - they always have spaces.

I 100% wouldn't do a prep that far away.

It's more than school run-it's parties and playdates and friends.
Go local.

I have sat in stationary traffic for 45 minutes on Marlow Hill at pick up time 😳 No accidents, just High Wycombe being High Wycombe.

Godstowe is a really lovely school but I genuinely thought Stowe was middle of the road academically so I wouldn’t have thought you needed a hothouse prep for it.

Wow no way would I commit to three hours in the car each day for a five year old’s schooling. How would that fit round your work as well? Would get a very dusty answer from my office.

it would fit fine as I currently do 9-3, was a requirement when getting the promotion to reduce hours but increase pay so I could look at alternative options for DDs childcare (preschool etc.)

So are those your hours going forward? Or will you be starting at 10 and finishing at 2?

Also why have you been doing this for five years already?

I have to say @RachelGreensFlair I have to drop off and pick up my dd once a fortnight on a Saturday morning; it takes about 35 mins each way and is a PITA tbh. No way would I commit to a longer journey, every day, with work in between, for no great benefit apparently (I don’t kniw the schools tbf). Up to you tho obvs.

The thing is that you could discover that some of her little friends live 30-45 mins in the other direction and while you may not mind the driving for playdates/ parties etc, the other parents might, especially if they have other DC to consider (not sure if you're also considering more). Mine are 40 mins from school but they are Years 7&8 so it's less of a big deal (started in year 6 as we moved) and they get the school bus with their friends so I don't have to do the drive but it can still be a pain when you start factoring in getting them back in time for sports/ ECAs etc. Out of school friendships do tend to become a little localised just because of logistics.

Stowe isn't an overly selective school so a non-selective prep will be completely fine providing there is a genuine range of ability.

Yes, they are my contracted hours.

and I was referring to driving loads for 5 years, we moved away from family and friends so travel a fair bit every weekend to see them, so driving an hour for a play date on a weekend or a party wouldn’t be outside our current norm

35 mins is our current nursery commute so it’s only a bit more than that, and we have done that twice a day (well 4x a day) for the past 7-8 months

Schools tend to have more exact pick up and drop offs than nursery. So you have to allow extra time so as not to be late.

no shit Sherlock