Aldwickbury vs Beechwood Park Schools

[Amywmcg]

Hello, we are considering these 2 schools for our son and would be really grateful to hear from parents of children at these schools. From visiting the schools they both seem excellent but Beechwood seems to be the more academic of the two. We are leaning towards Aldwickbury as we liked the fact that the boys do sport every day, but is the academic progress good there as well? Thank you in advance for any insights!

Anyone? 😊

They are both well thought of in the area and send kids to similar schools at both 11+ and 13. Your only real decision should be co-Ed vs single sex.

Hi - I have the same question - Aldwickbury vs Beechwood. How is Aldwickbury academically? The impression I'm getting is Beechwood is academic and Aldwickbury is more sporty. We have a sporty boy who I'm sure would thrive at Aldwickbury but we also want to make sure he's reaching his potential academically too.

Any thoughts appreciated!

I would say they are both all rounder type schools, from what I've heard. I don't know as much about BWP, but Aldwickbury seems pretty open to boys of all abilities. So I agree with Zodlebud, it's more a question of co-ed or boys only. And I guess location and geographical spread of friends etc, and overall ethos. I think Aldwickbury is pretty traditional. Are you set on an independent school? Depending on where you live, as you probably already know there are some outstanding state primaries with a strong academic focus in St A and Harpenden, that also send pupils to the same selective independent schools at 11+.

@TriTriTriAgain thanks for your reply. All useful points. And you’re right, there are good state primaries, just the one we’re has been pretty average at best and the good ones are full up. Sports provision and general rounded confidence-building are the other things we’re hoping either of these might do well on. Thanks again.

I have friends with children at both schools. From what I can gather, it is difficult to assess which is more 'academic' because of the tutoring that goes on in respect of entrance tests (so it's difficult to say whether it's the school or the tutor!). Aldwickbury parents say that Aldwickbury is open to all abilities and does place emphasis on sport.

Children develop academically at different ages and so it's actually the flow of information from school to home that's very important. Beechwood parents seem to be happy with the general flow of information between school and parents, particularly in relation to the curriculum. Aldwickbury parents, less so.

Beechwood parents can decide whether their child does homework at home or school. Aldwickbury is a prep school and so all homework is done at school. This can make for a long day in the middle and upper school. It also means that Aldwickbury parents have a more 'hands off' experience as they don't get an idea of what their boys are studying or which standard as they never see what prep is set. The long day also means that there is very little opportunity for outside school activities and more importantly, less time help your child if they are struggling with something academically.

In light of the above, maybe find out from both schools, the systems they have in place for passing on academic and sporting information to parents. Is detailed curriculum information given to parents? Is it online? Do parents get to see what homework/prep has been set for their child in each subject? How are the children set for various subjects, particularly Maths, English and Science? Do all the children sit the same end of unit exams and sit them at the same time? Ie: is there a genuine attempt at meritocracy and a chance to move up if the school has a streaming/setting system in place? Are parents told which year exams are important for final setting for entrance exams? What kind of reward system is in place? Are house points rewarded equally for sport, extra-curricular and academics or is it for mainly sport? If one school does more sport than the other, then how do they make up for lost time in terms of academics? Finally, look at the senior destination schools.

@Flipflopjane. thanks a lot for the input here - lots of things I had not really considered, so thank you for opening my mind to these points. Much appreciated.