Pre prep and prep in dorset , castle court/dumpton or Knighton house ?

[mel38]

does anybody have any opinions on the above schools abd there differences ? obviously i know knighton is all girls for prep so is it ok to send a boy there for pre prep ?

please help a confused mum x

Did you go to look at the schools? What was your verdict?

Just getting back into discussions now back into school routine. You have probably got everything sorted now but just in case I thought I would add my pennies worth! Castle Court and Dumpton both feed through to Canford and infact other schools including Bryanston, Clayesmore etc so no real differernce there. Castle Court had a reputation for being overly religious, but since the new Head arrived everything is back in proportion and the school has a fabulous atmosphere. Children helping muck out pigs, look after the chickens, cuddle the guinea pigs, play in the woods - a load were mountain biking the other day, sail in the pirate ship and ride the train..... as well as achieving academically, seeming to have great musical outlets and now a new dance studio has arrived. My son is non plused (must learn to spell!) but friends with daughters are thrilled!! Also the new Director of Sport seems great - think he was an olympic level coach - so all in all watch this space. I am really pleased .... love to get your feedback on everywhere else you looked and where you ended up!

I'm curious too! What did you decide?

Well here goes will be totally honest. We were already at Dumpton our daughter has just spent 18 months there ! The reason i asked about it to be compared was so that we didnt end up sending her to a school that was the same , not to say it was all bad just not for us , but we didnt want to move and find ourselves in the same situation.

So we looked at Castle Court and Knighton House , Castle court felt really lovely ,everybody seemed very happy, the new headmaster has a fantastic outlook on how a school should be and certainly believes that happy children thrive and children should be allowed to be children, cuddlies on desks lots of laughter and skipping etc. Knighton house is also a very nice school has ponies, does lots of things outdoors but had a very different feel , probably because its a boarding school, not really sure ....Anyway i am rambling , our daughter went for trial days at both she did Castle Court first and then Knighton House , she absolutely loved her day at Castle Court and could not stop talking about it so much so she didnt want to go to the other but we explained that we had to do it as she may like it better ! She had a lovely day but in her eyes there was no competition and before we even got to the car from knighton she said she wanted to go to castle court, this was friday and she started Castle Ccourt on the monday..............Amelias words after the trial day at Castle Court were all the girls play with each other nobody is left out they are all very nice friendly girls, all 15 of them ! , ...........We are absolutely over the moon the school is fabulous, the parents are so friendly the atmosphere is just lovely every day and our 3 year old really loves it to. I am actually enjoying pick up time :-) Its early days yet but i cant see a reason why things would change ...

Hi everyone - just wanted to provide an update (I was on the other thread). DS adores Castle Court and so do we. The head is fantastic - he is EVERYWHERE - he interacts with the children and parents and listens and enacts, all a head should be. When it snowed he was in the middle of the playground organising a snowman competition. The teaching standards are very high - discipline gentle but present....they seem to spot any problems or potential problems immediately. It's just great, we are really happy with everything.

Mel38 - glad CC is working out well for you too. Is it very different to Dumpton? I'm not asking you to criticise - just wondered as in the other thread we were trying to work out the main differences between the schools.

Hello, just been reading your past threads with great interest. We are facing choices regarding all these schools, any information or updates on how things are going would be most appreciated?

Just thought I'd mention that my dd goes to a small state primary school in the same area and absolutely loves it; small, friendly, HT knows alll the children personally and interacts with them, teaching standards are high, parents are so friendly, 9 in her year group ... you don't have to earn a high salary to get an excellent education in North Dorset. (Admittedly, we have had to buy our own guinea pigs; school can only offer a hamster.)

Dumpton doesn't offer boarding so if that's an issue it is worth thinking about.
Knighton House is sweet but quite small and quirky. Port Regis - poor kids are burnt out by 13! Sandroyd is nice but boarding only in years 7 and 8.

There are some fabulous state options in the area also remember!

Hi All, been reading past threads with great interest and would be soo grateful for any updated thoughts on comparisons between Dumpton and Castlecourt. Mel38 and Doggus loved reading your comments and would be great to hear how your children are getting on. Was really impressed with both schools, maybe more so by CC. Lovely atmosphere.

Does anybody have any feedback, good or bad, on Forres Sandal Manor prep, especially from the parents of daughters there?