Independent schools New Forest - opinions?

[NewForestMummy1]

Hello

We are currently considering independent schools for our son. Does anyone have opinions/data/links to independent reviews for any of the New Forest independent schools (including Ballard School and Durlston Court school)? Its really hard to judge schools based on a single visit!

Thanks so much!

Hello. It all depends what you want, different schools offer different things. I've been scanning the local market myself. I've heard that Ballard is a decent school, caring head but that recently quite a lot of rough lads have joined which has influenced the atmosphere for the worst, so I've heard (from a parent with a child currently there).They appear to have good GCSE results but I think they achieve that by limiting numbers of GCSEs taken (around 8). Durlston good, rather "trad" and only goes to 13 so you'd have to change just before GCSEs. Not ideal, I've always thought that is potentially disruptive. Works for plenty of families though. Moyles Court School near Ringwood is small and non-selective, good pupil-teacher ratios. Lovely site, established head who has made some good changes, introducing IGCSEs to avoid Gove's influence. They are currently advertising a new academic stream though they also have a good reputation for helping children with dyslexia. Some people are wary of that but the last inspection praised the Gifted and Talented strategy. I know a couple of families who have children there and they are very happy. HCS and BCS are run by the same group and feel rather large and corporate to me. Feels like lots of money has been thrown at these schools but HCS has small sixth form numbers, not a good sign. BCS seems to have taken in a lot of local students, has a great sports academy program and apparently has pushed up class sizes (causing some concern amongst some parents - classroom behavior). In the end, all these schools seems successful in their own ways so it depends what you want and your gut feel when you visit.

Hi there. Thanks for your message. What are BCS and HCS? I'm sad about Ballard- that was the one I had my hopes on because the fees are less than Durlston. The ring wood one is cheaper again though. It always makes me wonder why!!

In addition to the above, what is "trad"?! Sorry if I'm being dim!

Sorry
HCS - Hampshire Collegiate School
BCS - Bournemouth Collegiate School
"trad" = traditional...purely my (individual, bound to be biased) take on it though eg. academic hothousing, big on team sport ie. if you're in the teams great, if you're not, not so great (socially, self-esteem, peer recognition issues).
The Ringwood one - Moyles Court - differs from the other two in that it offers boarding as well as day school places. Since boarding fees are around double the day fees, I interpret that they can afford the day fees to be slightly less compared to schools without boarding. I know they've just built new tennis courts and had another building project last summer (making a splash of it in the local press.....someone from Team GB 2012 Olympics came to open the courts, I think I read).
What I heard about Ballard is just from one parent I know there, so that should be taken into account. Probably not fair to write a school off for the sake of one comment! She is very switched on though and has lived in the area for a long time.
It is a minefield choosing a school, such a huge investment!!! I still think it is worth it, given the lottery of the state sector.Mine are still young enough that I don't need to decide just yet but I'm looking/asking around and will do visits and ask for taster days to help make my decision when the time comes. Worth looking up when the schools you are interested have their taster days and going along. They are all advertising in the local press.

There is also King Edwards in Southampton, which has a good reputation.

Hello,

We have decided to go for Walhampton which may be worth a look?