Recommendation for private school Winchester.

[Rema39]

Can anyone give their opinions/recommendations for a private school- primary in Winchester. (Girls- but can be co-ed) thank you!

There are relatively few to choose from in Winchester itself. St Swithuns or Princes Mead. Slightly further out you have Twyford. Where are you living and what sort of school are you looking for for your dd?

We are still unsure of where exactly in Winchester we will be living- but most likely in the city itself.
On paper- I'm probably torn between St Swithuns and Twyford?

I have no personal experience of either but know people with children at both, how old is your dd? How academic is she? I only ask as I have heard of a few examples of girls being effectively pushed out st Swithuns junior if the staff are unconvinced they will make the grade for the senior school.

I cannot recommend Prince's Mead enough, both my daughter's have attended this wonderful school and both have thrived. It is a warm, friendly and caring school with a family atmosphere where the teachers are not only excellent but also genuinely care for the children. The parents are engaged and involved. Both of my daughter's went from being extremely shy to confident in themselves thanks to the school environment. All children are given a chance to participate and shine and we have been thoroughly delighted with the school at all times (my eldest has now moved on, but my youngest is still at the school and extremely happy).
Hope that helps!

I have also heard good things about Princes Mead. The pastoral care apparently is excellent.

A mini resurrection of a thread, but I thought it might be useful to keep info together rather than make lots of new threads -

Please could anyone with girls at St Swithin's, Prince's mead, or Twyford share their impressions of their school's attention to pastoral care?

I am wondering too about things like:
Preparing my girls for life in the digital age; teaching resilience, attention to kindness.

Thanks.

Living in Winchester myself, I don't see much point in paying for private school. I know a number of people who switched to state secondary as choices are excellent.

A friends daughter went to St Swithuns and it was lovely.

However I think as above Winchester is an odd place in that Is be happy with my children at any of the comprehensives. I'm not overly sure that private would be worth it. Winchester is quite a different area to other areas I've lived. I'd love back in a flash!

Prince's Mead definitely
Twyford encourages over competitiveness
St Swithuns isn't very nurturing at all

If you have an alpha type child then they can do very well at Twyford. However if your child isn't in about the top 10 for any activity in their year then they may not get to do all the things that you/they want. This includes sports day where many children only get to take part in the tug of war at the end of the day! They value sporting achievement very highly, which goes one of two ways for the children. They have Saturday school from year 4 and you should check how long the school day is as it gets pretty late as they progress.

Prince's Mead prides itself on being a nurturing school, however it is smaller than Twyford and St. Swithuns, and some people feel it doesn't have the "badge" of Twyford. This I think is more an issue for the parents than the children. It only goes to year 6, no Saturday school. Pastoral care is very good.

St Swithuns has a good reputation at senior level, not so much at junior. It used to be the case that if your child went to the junior school then it was a bit of shoe in that they'd be accepted to the senior school. This is definitely no longer the case.

The state schools in Winchester are generally good, but you've still got about 30 kids in a class and the opportunities for sport/music/art are just not on a level with the independent schools I'm afraid.

Hope that helps.

My son is at Princes Mead. We love it. No Saturday school is a definite bonus!