Clifton High School or Bristol Grammar School

[pinkhibiscus]

Hi,I'm not yet a Bristol local, but hope to be one soon, so I hope you don't mind my posting here!

We will be relocating to Bristol in the summer and I need to find schools for my two boys(9 and 7).
I am considering Clifton High School or Bristol Grammar School. We have visits booked for after half term but I wondered if anyone with real life experience could give me an idea about the schools. (e.g.Is BGS very academic? I know they would have to sit an entrance exam). Unfortunately I don't know any one locally to ask. Any input would be very much appreciated. Thanks

No advice I'm afraid as DS only 4 but I can give advice on where to live etc if you need that

Thanks puss Do you have any idea what Coombe Dingle is like? I have been spending too much time looking at houses on line and it seems like prices are reasonable there with more space.

I know a lot of areas but not Coombe Dingle believe it or not! So you may need to put out another shout for that! Have googled it though it I think it will be pretty far from Clifton

If you don't mind me asking, what is your budget and what are you looking for in a house? We are looking atm also so I'm always on Rightmove or similar!

Coombe Dingle is nice leafy suburbia - so yes, you get more house and garden for your money than Clifton, Redland etc. (I don't live round there but know people who do.) The posher bit is the roads off Coombe Lane, around the playing fields (used by Clifton High School and the university); it gets less posh the further you go along Grove Road or Sylvan Way.

Downside is very limited public transport and not much in the way of local amenities within walking distance - closest would probably be local shops on Stoke Lane, which are OK, one or two cafes there as well, but not much else. Westbury Village is a little busier and has a nice community feel, but still mainly basic shops (and nice charity shops...). But you are close-ish to some good green spaces (Kingsweston Down, Blaise Castle estate, Canford Park which has public tennis courts).

That area is a big black hole as far as state schools are concerned - not really in the catchment area for anything, primary or secondary - so a lot of people round there send children to private schools, which almost certainly means driving them into town in the rush hour. There may be some school buses with routes going through that area, but that would probably mean very early starts in the morning. Or you might find people to car-pool with once you get started at school.

Basically, if you are happy to be fairly car-dependent, then yes it is probably a nice area to live in.

Thanks for comments.
Puss: we are moving in August so it will make sense to rent first. Really would be looking for 4 bed with a garden 'big enough for a football goal and trampoline'(boys request). Budget around 450k.
Exexpat: 'leafy suburbia' certainly sounds nice. Maybe we will look to rent around there and see how it goes. Its always difficult making a big move, hopefully all will go well.

My hubby is a Head of Department in a local Boarding School and strongly believes BGS is more academic than Clifton High - whilst the background of the kids at Clifton High are from wealthier backgrounds and therefore some of the fanfare around the school is grander, the results at BGS are far far better. Strange as Clifton High is dearer, but try not to get caught up thinking that means anything
Hope that helps!
Suburban places you might like to consider (which aren't too far from either school - bus routes/car journey) = Bitton? Longwell Green (Bath Road area) - both areas are in the East of the City.
If you're looking for something closer, Westbury-on-Trym / Henleaze are very nice areas and although in the city has a suburban feel about it - houses probably in your price range.
Emersons Green also worth looking at - though large housing estate - might suit you depends on what you like
Good luck!

Thanks Babychamski. We are visiting both CHS and BGS next week, so we will see. Desperately looking for somewhere to rent as well!

My two (dd age 9 and ds age 7) have been at CHS for 3 years and are really happy. It is fantastic and the class sizes are small (dd 13, ds 20). The ethos is great and the teachers are really appropachable - I see them every day when I drop off / collect and always have a chat. The head of Junior school is brilliant and really inspires the children. Academically there is no focus on results across the group but the teachers know the children so well they stretch each child / help as necessary.

I always think that BGS is too big, and parents there have said that they never see the tutor, but then others love it and a couple recently moved there from CHS to be in a bigger school - depends what you want for your child.

Your boys sound the same age as my 2 - Year 4 and 3?

There is somewhere to rent on Old Sneed Avenue which is a good place to be in Stoke Bishop with a little local run of shops and near the biger Stoke LAne shops polus 10 mins away from Cribbs Causeway shopping sntre and on a bus route to town. Also the park and ride bus goes in from just down the road. Westbury Park and Redland are also popular. Coombe Dingle is lovely too - and near Blaise castle for dogs?

When are you visiting CHS?

Hi arcticwind. Yes, my boys are similar ages to your two, mine are currently in years 4 and 2. We are visiting CHS on Wednesday, the boys will have a taster day and we will attend the open day.

Thanks for the tip about the Stoke Bishop house, unfortunately not available until September and we need to have moved by then.

Hey ho, we keep looking... there seems to be loads of student properties available and not many "family" houses. Is this usual for Bristol or just the wrong time of year?

wrong time of year I think, there were quite a few around last April when my mother got one - have you seen this one? It is empty now ..

Have fun Wed, I will tell dd to look out for your boy if he is put in her class (she is the noisy red head) Had not realised there was an open day

Once you have been if you need any more info feel free to give me a shout, and if you do decide on CHS maybe we can get together over the hols with a group of the year 4's so he knows them beforehand (a couple of whom have a year 2 sibling too)

Or this one Shame there are no pictures..

Don't know what your budget is but this looks nice redland

Could I butt in?? Are any of you local to West Bishopston or Westbury Park?
Which area do you think is better for families? I like the houses in the western bit of bishopstone very much, but wonder if it feels a bit less access to green space there?

Also, I've seen houses to buy/rent in Manor Park, but wondered if it's a bit student-let land up there as it seems quite densely populated - what do you think?

I would choose BGS over CHS, I have known several families unhappy with that school, whereas BGS has a much better reputation, not just academically. Have you considered QEH? Boys only, but less sporty and pressurised perhaps than BGS. Or Clifton College prep is very good but more expensive.

Best areas to look at are Henleaze, Westbury on Trym, Stoke Bishop if you want a decent garden, Westbury Park is a bit cramped and less likely to have off street parking etc, and Redland even more so.

West Bishopston and Westbury Park are not far apart and pretty similar really. In my honest opinion, and hope I don't offend anyone, Westbury Park is posher and West Bishopston more lentil weaving....Both nice areas though. Manor Park would probably be a mixture of students and families - it is close to the new Redland Green school which has made family homes incredibly sought after.

Clifton High school has fully co-educational Junior department but the secondary school used to be all girls. They do take boys now but believe they may be taught separately for some lessons. Bristol Grammar school is fully co-educational but is definitely more academic being close to the University and the City centre. Clifton College public school is all boys and also has thriving Junior department. It is less academic but more expensive in terms of fees. There are plans to convert St Ursulas school to an all boys academy in future but am unsure if this will be ready for September. Could be worth a look round.

Quick correction to crazymum's post above - Clifton College is mixed all the way through and has been for ages (but you are right about the less academic/more expensive thing). St Ursula's plans keep changing (see other thread on local) but it now looks like the boys' academy plan is off. The only all-boys one in Bristol is QEH which is a great school but very popular at the moment, and I have heard the junior school is full.

Think I agree with most of the posters above about areas to live. The house arcticwind linked to in Abbots Leigh is a really nice area to live in if you are into the outdoors - you are sandwiched between Leigh Woods and Ashton Court. Abbots Leigh also has a great community spirit (fortnightly markets, other village events), and plenty of people from there have children at CHS, BGS etc. Only drawback is getting in to Bristol by car at peak times - it's close, but there are huge tailbacks of cars waiting to cross the suspension bridge every morning, and the way through the Cumberland Basin at the bottom of the hill can get pretty congested too, particularly if the bridge swings. It's not a bad cycle ride to Clifton village and the schools, though, and I know people who park on the Leigh Woods side of the bridge and walk over every morning.

By the way, pinkhibiscus, you haven't mentioned whether you are looking at any state primaries. You may just be looking at the private ones by choice, but if you are assuming that all the decent state primaries won't have space for your two boys, you could be pleasantly surprised: nearly all the good primaries in Bristol are oversubscribed at KS1, but several of them have quite an outflow to the independent sector in KS2, so places do come up. It could be worth trying schools like Westbury Park, Christ Church and St John's (last two both in Clifton). They should know by now what spaces they are likely to have in September.

You would need to have an actual address in Bristol before they could confirm a place for you, but if you knew which school you were likely to be going to, that might make house-hunting easier. You wouldn't even need to be in the school's normal 'catchment area' - that really only applies when you are competing for places in reception.

Thanks for all the posts. Just back from a few days in Bristol(without laptop, so no MN-ing. We visited CHS and BGS and the boys did the entrance tests.

arcticwind : thank for your kind offer. Don't know if my son was in your DDs class, but we were shown round the school by a delightful year 6 girl. She was certainly a great advert for the school!

runoutofideas : if we went for that second redland house, we may have to live on air!

exexpat : you are right. I have heard so much about oversubscribed Bristol schools and I felt that getting two places in a not dreadful school would be akin to winning the lottery. Maybe I will look into the state options. There is also this dreadful business of address first before anyone will give any info.

is clifton the one with girls only at senior shcool?
if so dont touch with a barge pole

Pink - you should be able to at least get info about places before you have an address - I know I did, as I was moving back from overseas and was back here for about a week a couple of months before the move during which time I had to find schools and somewhere to live. I got my mother to check with the council and they said to check directly with the schools, so she rang round the shortlist of schools I gave her to find which ones might have places, and they were all happy for me to go and look round before I had an address in Bristol.

So definitely worth a try before signing on the dotted line for the private schools - if you find somewhere you like, it would give you a few more years to save up for secondary fees....

Hi
I am moving from mumbai to bristol..i need guidance in choosing school for my 14 year old daughter..looking for a school in which indian crowd is also there.

You might do better starting your own thread. Where will you be living? Will you want private schooling or state schooling?

looking for good boarding school for my daughter for year 10.i want mix international crowd.