Independent schools near Bishops Stortford

[RockinSockBunnies]

We're likely to be moving to East Hertfordshire in 2010. DD will be at the end of Year 4/beginning Year 5 when we move.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of either Bishop's Stortford College, or St Hugh's (prep school to St Edmund's) near Ware at either prep or senior school level?

I've had a look around St Hugh's and it seems lovely, very caring atmosphere. I'm off to look around Bishop's Stortford College in the New Year.

I'd be very grateful for any feedback on either school, or any information on any other independent schools in the area. Thank you

I know people with children at both and they are happy with them as far as I know.
Heath Mount is supposed to very good. My bosses children go there and a colleagues DIL works there and it is supposed to be a lovely school.

Thank you very much for that. Heath Mount is one that I hadn't come across so will check it out.

Bumping for any other views?

I was a pupil at Heath Mount, albeit a long time ago!! It certainly used to be an excellent prep school, although I believe it may have gone a little down in recent years.

St Hugh's (and the senior school, St Edmunds) are Catholic schools - I don't know if that is a plus or a minus for you!!

You mention schools in Bishops Stortford and Ware which are quite a distance apart for small children - where exactly will you be moving too - it may be worth looking at schools in West Essex (e.g. Felsted prep) or elsewhere in Herts - Lockers Park is a very good prep school in Hemel and Kingshott in Hitchin is also good.

Howe Green House is on the Herts/Essex border but is a few miles away from Ware.

Friends' children quite happy there

There is also The Friends' School at Saffron Walden which I think is 3-18.

Howe Green is 3-11

I live on the Herts / Essex border and to be honest there are state schools which are just as good at primary level, plus excellent secondaries in Bishops Stortford, such as Hockerill.

Hi all! Thank you very much for the comments so far.

Scogliera - It's early days at the moment but we'll probably be living in Bishops Stortford itself as I'll be commuting to the City each day. I've had a look at some of the Essex schools so I'm certainly looking in both counties!

Lizipads - I've looked at the league tables and the state schools look brilliant. But I might need DD to board at some stage in the future and if she's going to be moving schools into Yr 5, I don't really want to be moving her again two years later. Whereas if she went into a prep school that fed straight into the senior school with the same people and on the same campus, I feel the transition may not be too difficult

If you are going to be in Stortford itself, then I would definitely look at Felsted as an alternative to Bishops Stortford College. Its fully coed from 4-18 and is a very nice, friendly school that has good facilities and gets pretty decent academic results.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that both I and my sister went there (me in '80s, her in '90s) and we both thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Ifg your child needs to board but not til secondary age, you should use that as a reason to get into Hockerill Anglo-European College in Stortford - it's one of their criteria for entry at 11. And it's a state school.

Lizipads - Hockerill looks brilliant - but I had the impression you either had to live virtually next door to the school or have your child at a feeder school to stand a chance of getting in.

I'll certain look at the admissions criteria again a little more closely, because it looks excellent.

Many thanks again.

Be warned - even if you tick 'possible future boarder' on the admission form they are WAY oversubscribed every year with people doing the same. Good luck!

Bishops Stortford College is a really nice school - I guess I'm biased because I used to work there and DH still works there, but we plan to send DS there when he is old enough. The junior boarding house has a really nice family atmosphere and they really encourage flexi boarding if you want DD to get used to boarding gradually. They also have good arrangement for extended care where parents are commuting. There are great resources for sport/music/drama/art. If you have specific questions I can try to answer them ...

Thank you everyone!

babypringle - I'm planning on calling Bishops Stortford College tomorrow to arrange a tour of the prep and senior schools. It's slightly tricky trying to plan ahead at the moment but so far as I know at present, there's a strong possibility that I will be working abroad for six months when DD is 10/11, so I'm looking for a school for her to join around the end of Yr4, beginning of Yr5, that offers boarding in Yr 6 should we need it.

What's the interaction like between boarders and day pupils at the school? I used to board at an independent school when I was younger and the boarders and day girls lived very different lives and didn't really socialise and awful lot. I'm concerned that if DD did board for 6 months, would she have difficulty re-integrating with day pupils again once I returned from being abroad and she started again as a day pupil?

I'm impressed with the academic results at Bishops Stortford College - they're higher than those as St Edmund's in Ware. Is the environment very academic (i.e. pushy)? DD is certainly capable academically, but she also loves dance, drama, art and music, so I wouldn't think she'd be happy in an environment that was solely results-oriented.

Do the boys and girls mix well at the school? Is it a friendly atmosphere? (I guess I'll be able to ascertain this to a certain extent when I look around but it's nice to see what others think).

The only drawback so far as I can see is the fact that there is school on Saturdays. I worry that my DD won't have any time to herself and to relax. Is the Saturday school mandatory (even for weekly boarders) and is it mainly lessons or sports that occur on Saturdays?

Thank you again

Rockin - I worked in the junior boarding house, and in my opinion there was a good level of interaction between boarders and day pupils. The boarding house is called Grimwade. All pupils are members of a house, and there are some day pupils who are members of Grimwade so that helps the mix. Boarders have the option of returning to the house at breaks but they do not have to. The form groups within each year are roughly streamed on ability so pupils mix that way too. There is a lot of flexi-boarding whereby children board for 2 or 3 nights per week so that helps blur the boundaries as well (I think some parents have worked out that boarding on a Friday night is cheaper than a babysitter lol)!

I didn't find the atmosphere pushy, I attended a far pushier girls day school. Whilst there are entry tests etc there is good learning support department for children with dyslexia etc. The school has invested a lot recently into facilities such as a new pool, the junior school art room was built approx 7 years ago and is really nice, the drama department seems to put on increasingly impressive productions and a new senior school art centre is being built at the moment. In the junior school there used to be a rolling programme of extra-curricular activities, I'm not sure what happens at present. The ethos seems to be helping children excel at whatever they enjoy, rather than just pushing exam results.

The college went co-ed over ten years ago and I think boys and girls are well integrated now. Boys and girls do sport apart from swimming separately from y5 (girls mainly do hockey sept-dec, netball jan-easter and rounders in the summer term), but otherwise are taught together. I've always found it to have a friendly atmosphere. In the boarding house the houseparents and their children live in a house attached to the boarding house which creates a nice family atmosphere. Because the junior and senior schools are on the same site the transition between the two seems easier.

Sadly, Saturday school is mandatory - sometimes I wish DH didn't have to go to work. The routine is lessons until lunch followed by sport in the afternoon. The children all seem to adapt to it really quickly. (btw, Hockerill has Saturday school as well). If boarders are there at the weekend I think they have a film on Saturday evening, then an organised activity for part of the day like bowling, swimming etc but plenty of free time too.

There are exeat weekends about once a month (no Saturday school) so by the time you include half terms there are not so many school Saturdays.

Hope that helps and please ask if there is anything else you think of!

I can recommend Friends School in Saffron Walden, very caring supportive atmosphere. lots of art, music, drama and sport. In my opinion it is not 'academic' in the traditional sense, however, they get good results considering that a lot of the intake are children who have been moved there from the state schools (the state school in SW are virtually all 'outstanding') who are not 'academic' kids (ie. we moved my ds there because he is hearing impaired and was really struggling in a state school - he rocketed up and achieved high sats after 1 year there).
From what I hear, BSC is more academic (also known people to move their children from Felsted for being too pushy/stressful).

Hi

Both my boys are at St. Hughes. I have a 6 year old in year 2 and 4 year old in nursery who has been full time since before his 3rd birthday. As a secondary teacher in a non private school (but having taught in a private school for 8 years previously) I was interested to read many of the comments. Firstly my boys are exceptionally happy at St. Hughes and have a large number of friends. They are able children and love the warm, welcoming atmosphere very reassuring. We also live in Bishop's Stortford and frequently meet up with other parents and children, so that they can play with their friends. I have thought about leving BS at some point, however the boys are so well adjusted and happy at St. Hughes that that would discourage me from leaving the area in the near future. Furthermore the teachers seem to know my children and really know them, which I know does not happen everywhere. It may be that Hockerill and The College have better results (according to one mum) but having a working knowledge of many of the schools locally, such comments really irritate me as 1)does it really matter, particularly if your child is happy and been challenged at an individual level? 2)although St.Eds and St. Hughes are academic schools, they also focus on the child as a whole and 3) all data can be skewed. If students are entered for exams, their results will be published however if weak students (and you need to ask yourself the question-do weak students get entered for all the exams and we all know that league tables are now the order of the day) are not entered, well then of course they will not perform poorley and as such only good results will be recorded. Anyway, I am more concerned that my children are educated in small groups with the value systems that I grew up with. I am not catholic but fully support and agree with the values that St. Hughes promotes. Both my boys are lively, confident, well adjusted children. They are happy with children their own age but they can also fit in with whatever the situation dictates-this is in part due to the ethos and expectation of St. Hughes.

Hi

I'm not sure if you've already made your decision by now, but I've just seen this discussion.

I can add my experience of having three children at St Hugh's. We moved our three children at the age of 4, 6 and 9 to St Hugh's from a good state school. They stayed there a year and we realised early on it wasn't the right school. We found that the majority of children are happy at St Hugh's, but it isn't a very academic school. That isn't a problem if that suits your child and if you are planning to go to St Edmund's, but if you want to move to a more academic senior school then St Hugh's won't prepare you, and you will probably need to get a tutor to prepare for other school's exams.

I found that the teachers took a long time to get to know my children, and the children found they were repeating work they had already covered in the state school. The standard of behaviour is not as good as it could be either. We moved to Kingshott school in Hitchin, and behaviour is excellent there, as it was at the state school. I would highly recommend Kingshott, although it is probably a bit too far for you.

Hi Guys,

I am looking at this school for my daugther. If she does, she will start in their prep class and was wondering if any of you would recommend it. Thanks