talk to me about state boarding schools please

[MitchyInge]

am interested in Wymondham College, how difficult is it to get a place?

DS goes to a State Grammar that also takes boarders (he is a day boy).

I had never thought of my DC's boarding, but when we were talking about maybe having to move one day, DS said he would rather stay at his school (which he loves) as a boarder than try to find a new school as a day boy.

As he can chat to the boarders it removes prejudices and opens their mind to considering such things

(Didn't know they did State Boarding for Primary ages though).

is yr7 primary? we have a 3 tier system here, but 1st year at my old school was age 11 which is roughly equivalent I think?

Sorry - I read as age 7! Oops....

Mumoverseas, do you think being overseas has put you in an advantageous position re getting your dcs admitted into a state boarding school? Were you supported by your local school to apply?

Yr 7 is usually first year of state secondary. State boarding schools start at age 11 whereas independent boarding schools usually start at age 13. Ds's prep goes up to 11 so he will (hopefully) move on to state boarding for year 7.

Themasterandmargaritas,
No involvement at all with local school. DC 1 and 2 both went to a local prep school before they moved abroad for a few years. We were unimpressed with the British School abroad so decided to try to get DD out well before she started her GCSEs (DS was already studying for them so was stuck til he finished)
We simply contacted them in the November, interview in February and offered place immediately to start the following September. Must say we were suprised that we were offered the place there and then, had expected to have to wait a few weeks.

Not sure if being overseas had any bearing on it at all although I know a few people who have recent been offered places that are overseas.

Mollie DCs old prep school let them start boarding (weekly only) from age 8 which I thought was a little young

Thanks MO that's helpful. Dc are in british prep school out here but post year 8 the quality declines so a state boarding may be our answer. Did you visit a few before deciding?

Mitchy - just replying to your question re Wymondham College. Chance of getting a place- reasonable for boarding, (no chance for day, unless you live on doorstep/have sibling/get sport/music place).

Although it is a State school, they will interview your child to see whether boarding is right for them. BUT fees are abut 8000 a year (£2631 a term) so a bit over the 1000 you thought. Also, def no stables!

Merry are there must be lots of applications from people to board? Do they have to sit an exam as such? How do they 'decide' that your dd is right or not?

Themasterand, thats what we found. DC1 and 2 went to a British International school but it seriously went downhill the further up the school they went. The last year or so here we've felt we've been tied here due to DS being midway through GCSEs and there is a lot of uncertainty here so thought it best to get DD out sooner rather than later.

To be honest, we only looked at RAA for DD1 as had already looked at Cranbrook a few years before for DS. We were familiar with quite a few other private schools in our area back home but all very expensive

We were still undecided until we went and looked at RAA when DD had her interview but she loved it as it has excellent sports facilities and she is very sporty and missed all that when she was in the Middle East.

We have looked at a state boarding school for dd, she was supposed to be starting an indepdendent school with a view to board in secondary, coming home at weekends. We turned down the place but dd is keen to board and friends recommended the school. We were not overly impressed with the school but dd thought it was amazing.

Which one Morosky? Is it as easy as it seems to get a place then?

gosh where did I get my under £1k figures from?

possibility of bursary/scholarship maybe or cloud cuckoo land more like

although could pay off mortgage by then if I tighten my belt, but is big commitment to take on when life/£££ never all that certain

Themaster: be careful of assuming that getting a boarding place is easy. We are full ATM because a lot of parents are realising, in the credit crunch, that the cost of a SBS is very reasonable when compared to the independent sector.

No I am not assuming it is easy It's just Mumoverseas says she found it relatively easy for her dd and now Morosky said she turned down a place.

So what sort of criteria do they go on? Presumably there are some more popular than others... As we live overseas does that have a bearing?

Do state boarding schools do bursaries Mitchy?

I bet they do

there is always some pot of money somewhere for these things isn't there

We don't have any entry criteria for boarders, we are a comprehensive school. The only selection they make is
a) must have a UK or EU passport and
b) to ensure that they are suitable for boarding i.e. have the right temperament and character.

However, I don't think that we would suit your purposes as we are single-sex (boy).

Themasterandmargs -
What oshgosh said, basically. UK passport and an interview (chat really) just to cover expectations of boarding really. Of course, no child can really say whether they are going to like it until they have tried it. No exam - Wymondham is a state school. Having said that, I know of no one this year who didn't get the boarding place they wanted, (anecdotal. No statistics!) although they are popular. But more popular by far are the day places - which are v few and far between.

sorry or EU passport

Thanks,me and my dc are british so that element should be fine.

So basically it's a subjective assessment of whether the child is suitable for boarding and/or suitable for the school?

I'm utterly amazed then that these schools (boarding elements) are not massively oversubscribed.

Osh you are right, single sex boys wouldn't work for us

Not many people know about the concept of SBS and therefore don't even think about admissions. Also, we don't look like your average state school, we look more like an independent (old buildings, playing fields), so people make assumptions.

What about Hockeril?

Is that "accessible"?

Hockerill is over-subscribed and priority is given to the 'need' for boarding. E.g. parents abroad. Any places left after this are allocated randomly. I think the fees are approx £10,000 for full boarding. They do weekly and day boarding as well.

Meant to say that criteria is for year 7.

We have looked at Sexeys in Somerset as it is about 35 minsute drive from us. Getting in is not guaranteed.

I was not overimpressed with the school as I said, we have a few more years to decide so I will look again next year.