Sunningdale school or Papplewick school

[jharringford]

We are looking for prep boarding schools and we are between Sunningdale or Papplewick. Our boy loves football, but we also want a good academic school. Is the firts time in boarding so we'd like a family environment.

Any recomendations?

Thank you

Current Sunningdale parent here so maybe not the most impartial but utterly thrilled with it. It is certainly academically rigorous and will stretch the very bright, but it also offers plenty of sport and other extra curricular too. Being competitive is encouraged (in a healthy way) yet the support is there for weak areas. Tom Dawson is a completely brilliant headmaster and the pastoral staff are simply wonderful. All that said, I am sure a Papplewick parent will be along in a moment to say it is great too and I am sure they are right! In the end I would trust your instincts. PM me if you want more details on Sunningdale but sending DS there was one of the best decisions ever.

FlossieTheCat, Thanks I'm really interested in Sunningdale as I've heard that it's really like a family environment.

Yes I will PM you soon so I'd like to know more about it.

Any reviews of Papplewick?

@Xiaoxiong is your lady for Papplewick. I also have a thread asking for views on the school which she commented on if you search. We're registered to start in a couple of years.

@Jellycat1, Thank you so much

I PMed you as well OP but Papplewick and Sunningdale are both great schools, I don't think you have a bad choice there!! Take what Flossie said about Sunningdale and that's basically what I would say about Papplewick Once you visit them both you'll have an idea of which one would be a better fit for your son. Good luck!

@Xiaoxiong Thank you for your opinion.

Hello, I find myself in the same position this year. Papplewick or Sunningdale or Elstree. Trying to make a tough decision. Any feedback will help pls. Curious about which you decided on and why and how has it been so far. Thank you in advance.

Elstree is quite an outlier there. Coed and not much emphasis on boarding I don't think. Also possibly different destination schools.
Where will you be based? Will your son be looking to board straight away? What year would he be starting in? Any thoughts about where you'd like to aim for senior?

Sorry should have tagged you @MJ0404
Elstree is fairly far away from Papplewick and Sunningdale so I assume you're looking for boarding straight away if you're choosing between the three - or are you relocating? Have you been to visit the schools? They're very different. All great but very different. I wouldn't put a day boy into Sunningdale as it's very much a boarding prep. I wouldn't put a boarder into Elstree unless they have more boarders than I think they do. What's your DS like / interested in?

Thanks @Legoninjago1 for your response. We visited all three and we have kind of ruled out Elstree. We are between Sunningdale and papplewick and from our visit leaning more towards sunningdale as it has slightly better facilities, plus academic rigor and boys seemed happy. Am hoping to get more real time parent of a boy feedback.

We are looking for our son to be day upto year 7 at least. Our aspiration is to ulyimately produce a happy, kind , well behaved boy. So we are looking for the right environment , with a rigorous yet tailored academic opportunity. Our future senior school choices are winchester, Westminster school or eton, fingers crossed, if suitable for DS when the time comes.

I hope this gives a good background. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Ah ok. What year is he now? Just wondering how long he'd be a day boy as Sunningdale only has a handful - less than 10 when I looked.. Everyone else boards.
Papplewick would tick your boxes academically.

@Legoninjago1 thank you. He is currently in year 2 and we are looking for Sept 24 start year 3. Yes papplewick did tick academic box however I didn't see much facilities and we are looking more all round. Academic plus extra curricular side as well, if that makes sense

Ah interesting. I can't think of anything Sunningdale has that Papplewick doesn't (more fields perhaps) but maybe I'm biased as mine are at Papplewick and we absolutely love it! There is definitely everything you could possibly want for an all rounder. Sunningdale is a lovely school too though. I just didn't want mine being day boys in a boarding school and Papplewick's boarding model is perfect for us.

@Legoninjago1 thank you