Griffin House / Bucks primaries

[JustbemoreMargo]

Wondering if anyone has any experience of Griffin House School in Little Kimble? We are looking for a nurturing prep school with smallish class sizes for our daughter, but don't know anyone who has had children there (we are relative new comers to the area), so would love to hear from any current / recent parents.

We are also looking at Crown House / Pipers Corner / Godstowe, but Griffin would be logistically the easiest. I am just a little concerned it won't be as strong academically or as well resourced as Pipers or Godstowe (which is reflected in the fees of course!), but have also heard some negative things about Pipers so currently a bit unsure. We also have a younger son (who is a few years off school still) but we are open minded regarding co Ed vs single sex schools so it is not a deal breaker if we had them at different schools.
Thankyou in advance!

Hoping someone may have some insights to share...

Griffin House has a very very good reputation locally. Very pastoral but quite basic in their activities eg use local public pool for swimming lessons. Small class sizes with no entrance exams.

Crown House is now under the same umbrella company as GH on the outskirts of High Wycombe with limited parking and for activities such as PE they (I believe) use The Rye which is the public park across the A40.

I’m happy to be corrected on that.

Pipers now I would be cautious of. You only have to read the feedback on here to see the decline.

Godstowe is a completely different league altogether. You need @tizerorfizz for info on this educational setting.

@JustbemoreMargo My DD2 went to Griffin (Ladymede) before Godstowe. So
I'm not a recent parent. You need to ask yourself what you really want out of a school. DD2 then went to Godstowe which is entirely different.

Pipers Corner prep largely feeds Pipers Corner. So attracts single minded parents.

Griffin is great for early years and KS1. After that it’s very limiting. My DD1 went state and did far more than Griffin was offering. Sport is very compromised there and it’s very small so music and friendships are limited. In our day the boys just left! I think 4 of DDs cohort were there in Y6. That’s just not enough.

It is therefore really important to know what you want for 11 plus. Continuation at Pipers, grammar, secondary modern or private elsewhere.

The school you haven’t mentioned is Gateway which is more of an 11 plus crammer but is co Ed. Plus Heatherton and The Beacon at Amersham.

Godstowe is completely different. Some girls will go to grammars at 11 but many stay to 13. Boarding is the goal of many.

The small class sizes at Griffin House can actually be problematic if the personality balance is off. I know of two people who have moved their children to other schools because of class dynamics.

A small cohort can always end up like this. You only need one or two problems and it makes a huge difference to everyone. Many parents I knew wanted subjects taught by specialists for ks2 and facilities to match. So art, sport, science, music, maths, languages had specialist teachers. Much more expensive but a proper prep offers this. DD2 liked the first couple of years at Griffin but by y1 was needing more.

Thankyou all for your replies, lots of food for thought.
Yes I can appreciate that small classes could be a problem if there were personality clashes.

For those with experience at Godstowe recommend it?

@JustbemoreMargo Absolutely. I’m a bit out of date now. You would need to be clear about leaving at 11 or 13. Lots more money there as many DDs will go boarding. It has everything. Girls go there from a wider area though. You can drive miles for playdates. You cannot compare Godstowe and Griffin: totally different experiences.

Thankyou for this. Lots to think about!

Also will have to look into Heatherton, Beacon and Gateway - they had not really been on our radar at all

@JustbemoreMargo DD started at Godstowe this year, and we are very happy with the move. To me it feels like a lively, thriving, ambitious place, but without too much pushiness… but I can’t say if that is still the case in the upper years!
I heard that there was an unusually large exodus at 11+ this summer, though I don’t know why…
We also looked at Pipers, and though I did like it in many respects, in the end I thought Godstowe the better fit for DD - and the recent feedback on MN has been rather concerning.

@TeaandHobnobs There was a big exodus at 11 when DD was there. We took the view that DD would join her sister in y7 at the same boarding school. Cheaper to stay at Godstowe but lots of her friends were doing exactly the same. So it wasn’t finance driven, more child driven. You might also find more are leaving for grammars or Pipers. They won’t get into either at 13. 13 is becoming more unusual for girls school entry too. 11 is standard. Co Ed is obviously 13 but not everyone wants that, so they leave at 11. In our day, the school didn’t ramp anything up for entrance exams if you went at 11 apart from Bucks 11 plus. Thats why destination choices matter.

Thankyou this is very helpful re: Godstowe
Glad it doesn't seem to 'pushy'

Thanks for clarifying re: leaving at 11 vs 13
It's a while away but important to be aware of

We’ve got friends with a son at Griffin House. I think it’s quite gentle but they aren’t that impressed with the academics.

We are looking at Gateway - liked the head and it seems nice and nurturing and also gets good results. Doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Godstowe etc but also doesn’t have the price tag…

It’s an 11 plus crammer! Everyone knows that about The Gateway. Godstowe is not really about the 11 plus. If you are looking at £45,000 pa boarding schools you don’t want The Gateway or Griffin House. You want a prep that delivers for a boarding future. Parents pay for that and it’s got so much more than other local schools can offer including specialist teaching. Look at the pool and music facilities. Of course Godstowe costs more but it’s mostly serving a different market.

its horses for courses though and when you get to KS2, and the nurturing stage is well and truly gone, parents thoughts at The Gateway are only about 11 plus. For many it was there from day 1 and that’s why dc is there. No one wants their boy at the local secondary modern. It’s high stakes when you are paying for 11 plus success.

That is a bit of a concern re: Griffin academic results
Will have to look at Gateway too - Thankyou

Thankyou that's good to know
I'm not unhappy if they have a focus on the 11+ as it's good to have that option
While a boarding secondary may be something we need later, it is not for certain.
In what way would Gateway / Griffin be unsuitable for children going on to board later? (Sorry it's not obvious to me... unless you mean academically

its horses for courses though and when you get to KS2, and the nurturing stage is well and truly gone, parents thoughts at The Gateway are only about 11 plus. For many it was there from day 1 and that’s why dc is there. No one wants their boy at the local secondary modern. It’s high stakes when you are paying for 11 plus success.

How recent is your knowledge of The Gateway@TizerorFizz? I personally know several DC currently there and this sounds nothing like their parents or how those parents talk about the school environment. They are open-minded and possibly thinking boarding school later on. There seems to be a breadth of abilities and no more than normal Bucks attention level to 11+. The parents I know there are pretty chilled. My own DD went to another of the preps you mentioned before moving to WA. My direct experience was that prep was much more of a hothouse crammer for boarding schools, with far less chilled parents!

Very very few boys will go boarding directly from the Gateway. It’s not known for its KS 3 provision or prep for a decent boarding schools. Girls who leave at 11 for boarding could go from there but I’ve not come across one. In Bucks it’s all about the 11 plus at the cheaper schools. What is their destination list? Yes, my DC are older but the 11 plus is the focus of the parents or why go there?

You are making a lot of assumptions. I know boys who have gone to boarding school after a couple of years at schools like Chesham prep as an interim stage. Berko is also an option for those years. In those particular cases the parents just didn't like the vibe of either the Beacon or Davenies (nothing about money, both dual City salary families). The boys have ended up at very decent boarding schools. It's not always financial means that drive decisions. I think you know the price tag of WA where we sent my DD and I sometimes think her younger years could have been more fun in a less pushy school. I believe she would have got into WA anyway as she is exceptionally academic but, if she hadn't, well there are other schools.

Depending on where you’re located, consider Ashfold.
Children from there either move at 11 or 13 depending on where they go, they send to Harrow, Cheltenham Ladies, as well as Oxford independents, also to the Aylesbury grammars, Waddesdon and Lord Williams

Well maybe but they are not going directly from The Gateway so no assumptions at all!

2023 destinations are 52% Bucks grammars, 20% Bucks secondaries non selective, 28% private day. So Pipers, Royal Masonic, Berko and no Chesham Prep and no The Beacon for prep for boarding at 13. 72% of leavers went to state schools at 11. No doubt a few do stay but it’s hardly a KS3 powerhouse when compared to preps elsewhere. It’s not the case that many board after The Gateway. It’s a tiny minority. Always has been. None to Wycombe Abbey or any very selective school anywhere. So definitely horses for courses.

I have met loads of pushy parents who choose it because they think it guarantees a grammar. There are 20% going to secondary moderns so clearly they aren’t very well off and dc are not that bright. Clearly their local primary would have been just fine.

Well you are using quite negative language describing the school as an '11+ crammer' 'Parents' thoughts at the Gateway are only about 11+' etc and that is quite the projection. Yes it has a decent hit rate at 11+ but so do schools like the Beacon. A significant number of Beacon boys go to DCGS or Berko at 11. There are other prep schools, without naming names, where the parents are far pushier and sharper elbowed than Gateway parents although that aspiration may be directed to a different type of school(boarding) and/or specific scholarships. They are no more pleasant environments than the pushiest 11+ focused school in my view. It just all sounds a bit sniffy but maybe you just don't like state grammars. I personally have no skin in the game now but I think people who are looking for advice regarding sending their DC to such schools benefit from a balanced view.