Good school near melton keynes

[Reemelbadawi]

We are moving from Brighton college london to melton Keynes looking into private prep schools near melton Keynes for our 6 years boy for next year and found Swanbourne House! and akeley wood Any thoughts? Thank you

Hello everyone,

We are moving from Brighton college london to melton Keynes looking into private prep schools near melton Keynes for our 6 years boy for next year and found Swanbourne House! and akeley wood Any thoughts? Thank you

Not sure about Milton Keynes schools, but there are a lot of kids who get on arranged busses from MK to the Harpur Trust schools in Bedford (Bedford School and Bedford Modern School in the case of boys). Mileage-wise its not very far between MK and Bedford, but rush hour traffic means its a 45m-1hr journey so depends on whether your son would be comfortable with that.

Swanbourne House and Aykeley Wood are both good schools - very different.

Swanbourne House - more of a traditional prep school. Linked to Stowe school so a large percentage move on to there at 13. Not academically selective but has a full range of children including some top achievers and some with significant SEND. Great for the Arts. Lots of sport. Outdoorsy (fabulous grounds and woodland). Probably at the more expensive/prestigious end for Preps. Has some boarders and a Saturday enrichment programme from Year 5.

Aykeley Wood - much less traditionally 'posh'. All through 3 - 18. Often seen as a fall back for children who don't pass the 11+ but want to avoid certain secondary schools. Less expensive. Still has lots of Sport. Not academically selective but results are fine, I think. To be honest, I know less about it. The more expensive schools don't rate it that highly but that doesn't mean much - some can be needlessly snobby about it.

The only way is to go and see both, really.

Swanbourne House tops Akeley. It’s a lovely outdoorsy school. Polite kids. A really happy place. Good for children of all abilities (they have a separate scholarship form in the top years so the brighter kids are pushed on and prepared for scholarships). Lots of sport, great for music and drama. Wrap around care and super flexible.
my son loved it.