Cottesmore, Hand Cross, Brambletye or Ashdown House

[bangkokian]

We are sending our son to a UK boarding school Sept next year for year 3 entry (he will be 7, nearly 8 then) as a full time boarder.

We have shortlisted and he has been accepted into all of the above 4 schools which all seems very good hence we chose them.

I am wondering if there are any personal experiences or preferences anyone can share to help us make our minds up which one to choose.

We chose these schools as we love the Susses countryside and after the smog of Bangkok fresh air was top priority along with good sports facilities, strong academic record and good facilities for music, drama and art.

Our son is a real all rounder - smart, very sporty and loves art and music so all are important.

Equally important are good boarding facilities with lots of kids there over weekends as he will be full time.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Lily

^refering to the schools in your initial post.

Final update on visits from us after a busy day today at Ludgrove and Cothill House.

Ludgrove - lovely small school with a very Home Counties feel. Well mannered children who will be well prepared for top senior public schools. For us it lacked warmth but maybe they just didn't want any more applications.

Cothill House - very similar to Ludgrove and almost the twin school in that the heads are good friends and compare numbers into Eton. Overall though far warmer and with a more caring head who spent far more time. Only negative is no sports hall and small indoor pool compared to other places but a great school.

We have narrowed it down to Hazlegrove or Cothill who have both offered definite places to year 4. Both are great schools bit quite different in our view.

Hazlegrove has everything except with strong ties to Kings Bruton not the best bet to Eton of other similar senior public schools. Warm, caring, great curriculum and facilities.

Cothill - cannot compare to Hazlegroce all round but has such strong links to Eton, Radley, Hartow, etc it is s compelling choice for that route.

We would love to hear if our assessment is correct and we are wracking our brains as to whether the Eton connection outweighs the other benefits of Hazlegrove.

Primaryteach87 - interesting as Brambletye is our last visit tomorrow. We were sceptical as it seems to not have a strong boarding element at weekends.

So you have any opinion of Hazlegrove, Ludgrove or Cothill?

No, I haven't got experience of those.

I don't know much about the boarding aspect so that may be a deciding factor but the pupils were genuinely lovely to each other and kind way beyond 'normal'!

Primaryteach87

Thanks. We are looking forward to seeing Brambletye tomorrow. Have to agree about Handcross. We had a really bad experience before we even got there hence we cancelled immediately. Something very wrong.

My brother went to Hazlegrove and LOVED every second. It was a while ago now, but although some went to Bruton, many didn't. Lots went on to Sherborne, Millfield, a couple to Eton and my brother was going to Ampleforth but distance was an issue to ended up further south....so I wouldn't get too hung up on the Bruton thing.....

Aurorasan if your DS is very bright and may need to access the harder scholarship type curriculum to keep him interested then another school you should be aware of is Horris Hill.

Final update to everyone from the trip.

Visited Brambltye yesterday and was very impressed.

Good facilities in beautiful setting and very nice new head.

Hard decision now...

Narrowed it down to Hazlegrove or Brambletye and can't decide which!

Seems Brambletye will have better connections to senior Home Counties schools but maybe not.

So we seem to be down to two great schools albeit with different styles and locations. I think we marginally favour Hazlegrove for the warmth and overall caring environment - we had a sleepover and met more staff - but then we are tempted by the setting, seemingly more senior school connections and maybe hugger academic standards of Brambletye.

Since our DS was assessed in two schools as being around 11-12 years old across the board rather than his actual age of 7.5 it's clear he will be very strong academically and maybe we should aim very high for him (as well as seeking all the nurturing sport, drama etc).

All experiences and comments really welcome...

Good luck deciding. In general, however clever children are they only 'perform' well when they feel safe and happy. So if both are good acdemically, I would go with the one you feel he will be most cared for at. Good luck deciding!!

Just a short note to say that Hazlegrove I hear has it's strengths but I've also heard it doesn't tackle bullying in the playground which would worry me. I think the current head lacks focus but perhaps a change of leadership might solve this.

We have a friend who's children both very much enjoyed Brambletye. I hope this helps and I am sure there are many children who enjoy both schools.

Hi Aurorasan - I'm rather late to this and you've probably chosen - but if not, did you look at Perrott Hill on the Somerset/Dorset border? It's a bit of a hidden gem (I live a few miles away and didn't realise it was there until last year!) - my two now go there and love it. We heard about it when they ran a really cool children's literary festival this year. Very much a family-oriented place and the boarding seems to go down well (my son is really desperate to board next year when he's old enough, but we only live down the road!!). Might be worth a look...