to be concerned about St Clare’s Ofsted report

[Alanamackree]

According to my dear friend Mrs Blyton, this is an excellent boarding school for girls. Am I being unreasonable to be concerned about rumors of rampant bullying, a French teacher who verbally abuses and humiliated her students, an unqualified substitute teacher and suggestions that the head may have covered up the attempted abduction of a student?

I’ve been considering Malory Towers as an alternative but I’m not sure that’s the best place for dd either.

Chalet School, lots of fresh air.

How can you be sure that they aren't a pole dancer at night to make up for their usually low pay?
Or, indeed, transgender?

St Trinians is an excellent school for young ladies.

We’ve just employed a fabulous new Scottish nanny - Mrs Doubtfire. She’s an older lady but lots of fun. Since then i’ve been able to spend lots of time with my glamorous new boyfriend. Shame about the children’s dead beat dad.

Have you considered Chilton Prep? The fees are extortionate but I’m sure your parents would pay provided you agree to dine with them every Friday night. They’re sticklers for punctuality-the English teacher won’t even accept the very valid excuse of hitting a deer with your car. However, you can get round that by dating him-it will piss off your parents, so bonus! If only you could stop thinking about the grumpy man who owns your local diner.....

Mrs Grabber and I think that St Custards has been the making of our dear boy. He even won a prize for raffia work.

What about Miss Macey's school in Wycombe? They have a wonderful passion for Shakespeare as seen in the Hamlet Club and their folk dancing club is excellent.

Lovewine - I hear Chilton has an excellent track record of getting girls into Ivy League Colleges but the pupils can be somewhat highly strung. Don’t let your children attend the High School in the local small town. I’ve heard even the girls that show a lot of spark and promise tend to have babies young and forego any sort of career.

Does anyone have any knowledge of Grange Hill?

Don’t talk to me about that fucking place. DS13 had three operations at London Eye Hospital before eventually losing his eye after some nasty piece of work threw a sausage on a fork at him. The sausage fell off and the fork went straight in. A whole life of depth perception gone for a stupid school lunch prank...

HOOT @ NotBadConsidering

It seems that a lot of us are losing sleep worrying about our dc’s educational prospects judging by the time stamps on these posts.

I’m not normally a fan of the American education system but I was quite taken with Sunnyde High which has a very impressive library and a dedicated school librarian. It’s such a pity they don’t take boarders.

Sunnyde? Sunnydale High.

If you're looking at American schools please steer clear of Riverdale High. It's a hot bed of criminal activity, gangs and general hooliganism. Murder is rife. My DN got accused (and jailed) for something he didn't even do! Then there are the relationship dramas. I don't even think the children learn anything of an academic nature there at all. It really is most concerning.

Well Dragon

I'm very glad she seems to suit your family - good nannies are hard to find.

All I would add (and this is in the strictest confidence, obviously, as I have no proof that Ms Practically-Perfect was responsible, it may just be a coincidence etc etc etc BUT

After she left, we noticed that a lot of personal items were also missing . . . television, standard lamps, a grand piano . . . I never thought to check her single piece of luggage (a carpet-bag), but now I can't help but wonder . . .

. . . there were a lot of sooty handprints on the bedsheets, too.

Sunnydale is also problematic as it now lies in a rather large crater. Personally, I find the whole hellmouth thing off-putting, too, but I understand that I may be contributing the snowflake generation by mentioning this small detail.

NotBadConsidering

PMSL!!!

There’s a boarding school in Devonshire that might suit your DD, OP. The entry requirements are quite restrictive, she would need to be fourteen, and called Margaret, but a full scholarship is available.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/4638756-fourteen-fourteens
It’s a very small school (fourteen pupils) so she’ll get loads of personal attention.

Of course, if she is a talented dancer there is always Sadlers Wells. She’ll move in illustrious circles and could even end up married to a world famous musician!

If your daughter's a serious reliable girl who takes school rules seriously she might get on quite well at Headstone Comprehensive. If she's more the artistic, free spirited type I'd avoid it.

I also wouldn't touch Waterloo Road Comp with a barge pole. My friend's DD went there and the teachers were completely dysfunctional. The Headmistress was a former prostitute and when she left was replaced by a woman whose older teenage daughter had run away with an older man while the younger one was known as the school bike - poor girl - and her son developed an eating disorder. The other teachers weren't much better - one was arrested for abducting a child, another for eloping with a student, another one left his wife for a fellow teacher who ended up being stabbed, I could go on.

I hate to disappoint you OP but St Clare's Boarding School doesn't actually exist anymore. All of the lovely fields and woodlands nearby were developed during the 60s and 70s and turned into housing estates and industrial parks. The whole area became quite unsuitable for an exclusive girls' school and the trustees sold the house and land to a developer in the late 70s.

He promptly set about demolishing the house and then sold all of the land on to the Government who built a large school to cater for the many young families who had moved into the area. Clarefield Comprehensive opened its doors in the early eighties - a large, modern building with a big carpark, a football pitch and a netball court. It's still going strong I believe.

If it’s a boarding school you’re after, what about Hailsham? The kids seem so happy and carefree there. Lots of painting, games etc.

Also, not wanting to derail with completely unrelated news, but DSis found out she had kidney failure last week and there’s a new kidney available for her already. It’s amazing how they come up so quickly. Just wanted to share some good news, in contrast to the bad news about our family earlier.

That's wonderful NotBad

Hoping for the best possible result for your DSis, NotBad. Great to hear your good news.

You could always consider a little school named Delderton. It really encourages unique characters and if you kind of know someone on the board, it’s likely you’d get a full scholarship.

They have international travel and a range of teaching staff. Apparently the drama is practically of a professional standard!

Their international ties foster friendships that last a lifetime and they are always willing to help the underdog xx

I'd agree with you about Headstone Comp, @lydiaatthebarre. It's just too big, and so easy for less academic children to get lost in the ranks. I'm sure that streaming like they do isn't healthy and it must lead to some children misbehaving just to get noticed in the crowds...

If it’s a boarding school you’re after, what about Hailsham? The kids seem so happy and carefree there. Lots of painting, games etc.

Also, not wanting to derail with completely unrelated news, but DSis found out she had kidney failure last week and there’s a new kidney available for her already. It’s amazing how they come up so quickly. Just wanted to share some good news, in contrast to the bad news about our family earlier.

Unrelated news, eh, NotBad? I had an interesting chat with a former member of staff there, one Miss Lucy, who suggested otherwise.