Dumpton or Castle Court??

[shibumimonkey]

We are in the process of making a decision which of these two private schools to send our sons to. Does anyone have any experience of them? Have visited both and finding it hard to make decision. Many thanks

Thanks 21stcenturymum, have just been reading about Kelly's as part of my due diligence. I hope you get an equally good head. Thank you all for making my decision a lot easier.

Teachers and their children going to the same school - my dad was deputy head of the school I attended and it was bloody awful (for me). I got picked on constantly as a teacher's pet, daddy's favourite etc etc. The only plus side was I got to sit in the staff room when waiting for dad to finish. Woo hoo.

Just read through this discussion. Sounds like the new Head at CC is going to be great and that CC is going to be a school to watch. Just looked up the website of Kelly and agree with sylvielt and really like what I read about his approach to education, vision of childhood etc. The religion thing is interesting though - I heard that both the current Heads of Dumpton and CC went to the same evangelical church so...... Will have to ask the new Head of CC about his approach at the Open Day in a few weeks and clear all this up in my head!

Ooh dessie how interesting about the evagelical church. Would you mind reporting on your findgings on the Open Day here? We can't make it that date. Have heard all sorts of scare stories regarding evangelism (is that the right word) of current head of CC. I am happy for ds to go to a school with Christian ethos, but am against constant indoctrination.

Hi folks,

Can't really comment on CC as it is now - had a look when we were deciding, but felt Dumpton was head and shoulders above it so put our DS there and he has been very happy. Head is very good, easy to talk to and happy to meet directly with parents if anyone wants to. There have been a few CC to Dumpton transfers in my DS year, but I haven't heard anyone at Dumpton criticising CC, even the parents who have tranferred are pretty diplomatic about it all. Have to trust your instinct I guess, but just wanted to put a word in. No evangelising either, but they are both Christian schools so there is an element of religion at assembly etc.

As for bling at Dumpton...I wish!!

Living in the area of CC and Dumpton, I do question why you feel the need to send your children to either of these schools.There are excellent state schools in this area, both primary and secondary. My children went thru state schools in this area, had an excellent education , went on to Oxbridge and both got first class degrees, They are well rounded personalities, articulate and no, they weren't bullied at school

Inazuma, I don't dispute I found the Dumpton head was easy to talk to etc, I just thought the new CC one was those things PLUS original vision and inspiration. CC will be a very different place next year, I think.

Swampy, I moved my children from the state system because I felt that private schools could offer, together with a more consistently good education and smaller class sizes, much more in the way of extra curricular experience, especially sports, than either their state schools or I could. They all discovered things they could shine at, which boosted their confidence and which, in turn, helped their academic achievements(next rung down from Oxbridge, medicine). For the record, mine did experience bullying in the state sector (but that was not the reason for moving as it had been overcome by then - a painful but very empowering lesson in life).

Both these schools are so good and so similar - choose the one that's closer/more convenient.

At Dumpton now and its great!
Just hope that new cc head turns cc around quickly as half off cc are on waiting lists to come over!
Reception year this september is full to the brim at Dumpton ( 2 classes of 16). cc are down to one class of 14!

Hi my lovely mums!

Any more update on the decision regarding CC v D.

My daughter is due to be starting september i've put her name down for both.

Finding it very hard to make a decision - very concerned about the rumors of super strong religious views at cc.

Help!!!

Hi

We have recently moved out daughter to dumpton and are really happy , we looked at cc and various others but liked the feel of dumpton and i have to say have not been dissapointed , our daughter moved from another private schooll into yr 2 at the beginning of this term so i suppose we also have something to compare it too

hope this helps

I'm going to say it again since I was ignored last time - both these schools are SOOOOO similar and are both very good (neighbour's children at both). Castle Court has been in an unfortunate spasm lately, has to be said, but will be going great guns in September. BOTH are a bit heavy duty on the religion. The Good Schools Guide says about CC: "A kind, gentle school which inspires in parents admiration and affection in equal meaure - as good as they get." And about Dumpton: "Can't fault it." The competition between the schools does them both good, keeps them on their toes. Dumpton parents can be rather aggressively and unpleasantly anti-CC though - have no idea why this is.

I have to say amumm in 7 weeks i have not yet come across any parent who is ( rather aggressively and unpleasantly anti-CC )i have a very good friend who joined castle court a year ago and is very happy , although did feel the need to get involved in the religious side of things , so far we have not come across any strong pushy religous types !! we looked at both and liked both but went with our feeling at the time . I think in these circumstances when the schools are both good thats the only thing you can do ,Also a good friend knows the new head for cc and he is very very good so i think things will change there in the future ..............

My husband and I went to see Dumpton School today with our 10 year old son. The school is lovely and the Headmaster spent over 2 hours talking to us and explaining everything. Our son wants to start there immediately, however there are currently no spaces.

What I would like to know is - What more would we get for our money by sending our son to Dumpton/another Independent School than we get at a state school?

We are trying to weigh up the cost against the additional benefits.

Please help.

Yes, the costs are high, especially at Dumpton when you consider the fees of prep schools elsewhere. Our niece attends a prep in Surrey and it's considerably cheaper for ostensibly the same facilities (in fact they have an indoor pool which Dumpton doesn't). Then again, there are far more preps to choose from in Surrey so perhaps the element of greater competition has a bearing on fee structure...

There are lots of prep schools in our area, dumpton,castle court ,port regis, sandroyd,clayesmore,yarells to name a few and you will find they are all around the same price ,dumpton actually being one of the slightly lower ones .Just my opinion but what we have gained is small class sizes so the teachers having time to spend with your child ,facilities ,dumpton is about to make there pool indoor ie covering it and most of the others already have indoor pools ,but they are all different and all suit different children.We have found since being at dumpton only a term and a half nearly, her confidence has grown and grown and every day she comes home saying its brilliant !! now that is worth everything to me as a mother

Melx

I moved down here when I fell pregnant as it is a nice place to bring up a child. Now my son is 18months and I am looking at public schools and I can tell you that none of them are worth the amount of money they ask. I am talking in terms of what they offer. It is a disgrace and I am not sure how they have decided their fees structure. I went to Forres, Swanage and Wycliffe College, Stonehouse which is in the top 7% schools in the country (as of this year - not when I was there !! What Wycliffe offers is vast, with polo recently coming on board. It isn't about the sport, of the perception of elitism, it's about the huge variety of opportunity they offer to children. The fees for ex. at Wycliffe for year 3 is £2,355 a term, years 4 - 5 £2,805. In comparison to say Dumpton at £4155 from years 3 to 8 in relation to what they offer - there is no comparison. I am trying to find a job nearer Wycliffe now or finding somewhere to live closer to it and my work place of London. It's a shame that the public schools down here are so vastly overpriced.

btw I meant none of them down here are worth the amount of money they ask, not public schools in general.

But the thing is the state primary schools down here are so good.

The overwhelming majority of parents who live near Dumpton don't bother to even look at it as the there are several outstanding state first schools and a Catholic schools down the road and the middle school round the corner is good and it quite frankly for most of us here would seem like a waste of money. I know a few people who have had their elder children at Dumpton, had another child, met people at local toddler groups and decided to look at the state schools for the youngest then pulled the elder ones out to go into the state sector. Could be wrong but I believe Dumpton have been using the Middle School's pool until recently. The Head of one of the first schools is the most inspirational teacher I have ever met and my DS is incredibly lucky to have him. Dumpton fees are out of the reach of most local families so you get a really good mix of people in the state sector locally.

Dumpton's head has a lovely well behaved dog (she puts mine to shame) and they have DS's old nursery teacher as the TA in reception who is fabulous. I appreciate that probably help anyone in making a decision though!

Just bumping this one looking for any views on whether the new head a CC has made much of a difference yet and whether much has changed at D?

I can certainly comment on the Castle Court head. He's excellent. Very current and very motivational. The kids love him and his policies are working well. Highly recommended. Suggest that you simply meet him in person or try the kids for a day or two. Also check out the facilities, particularly for the seniors.

I have enjoyed the talk about the new head at Castle Court but my brother remembers him as a pupil at Dumpton. I believe he even completed a GAP year at Dumpton. I think both schools have great values and with the new head at CC now getting his feet under the table he has steadied the ship. I have recently visited both schools and enjoyed talking to the heads and hearing what they have to say. However, my final decision was very easy in the end - my daughter said the Dumpton pupils were all smiling. For me, I just liked the feel of the school. We recently moved back to the area and kept an open mind on what school to choose - my brother's comments had no influence - but my daughter summed it up nicely and it was decision made.