Sidcot School - North Somerset

[Carpark30]

Hi!

Can anyone share their experience of Sidcot School? It's a consideration for us, but I hear some mixed reviews which is concerning as we'd be making such a big financial sacrifice to access private education for our children.

What do you like about the school and what could be better?

For those who make a big financial sacrifice, do you feel it has been worthwhile?

I'm planning to visit the school myself soon but any personal experiences would be helpful.

Thank you!

Ultimately, it is down to the child and the support they have at home with their education. Unless your state option is not good, I wouldn’t do it in this day and age. Private schools are exceptionally squeezed by the VAT, NI etc and some are really, really struggling. I don’t know Sidcot’s financial situation, but I do know someone who got very mediocre exam results from there, despite being intelligent. Whether that was down to the school or the child, or both, I don’t know.

Thanks @uuuuu

I've heard similar! Unfortunately our catchment secondary is one of the worst performing in the County and has a lot of issues with behaviour. All other commutable performing schools are over subscribed or difficult to get in to for this reason.

Our child is the type that would do well anyway (very bright and driven) but I know environment and others attitudes and the overall culture at the school could hamper that significantly. I appreciate your input!

I teach in this area, not Sidcot, what schools are in your catchment? There's a fair bit of rumour/outdated opinions about some of the state schools, depending on what schools we're talking about some of the local ones do really well. if your child is already doing well it could well be there's a state school school that's appropriate and you could invest some money in extra curricular to make up the cultural capital shortfall that might occur.

My brother went there years ago and loved it. It was a very free style of school. I think teachers were called by their first names and there was a lot of encouragement to participate in activities. Don't know what it's like now.

@Disco2022 Thanks for the reply. Our only catchment is King Alfreds in Highbridge. We are rural, but that is the catchment (only just). Only 27% achieved a 5 or above in maths and English. Whilst academia isn't everything and we already invest heavily in extra curricular, we know a lot of people who have children who attended and disruptive behaviour is prominent. It also has the worst sports facilities I've come across (been to lots of schools for work). This is important to our child as this is where they excell. We also understand most subjects are now being taught in mixed abilities instead of ability sets, which a lot of parents locally are very unhappy with.

Appreciate private wouldn't be trouble free but we are hoping to place our child somewhere where there is a strong love for learning or at least an environment that supports it.

The cost of an equivalent house in a better catchment isn't much different than what secondary fees would be, and we do like our house and area for commuting ease for work. So it's a bit of a tough one!

We are at Sidcot and love it- we find the teachers attentive and responsive to individual child needs, facilities excellent, and value the strong ethos.

what is true, though, is that they don’t put a lot of pressure on children over grades. Your child will be encouraged and supported academically, and a number of children do very very well in exams and uni selection despite being nonselective, but as a school they do try to keep the bigger picture (lifelong passion, work ethic, mental health) in focus. If you value exam results above anything else and believe your child needs to feel stress in order to perform, then it probably isn’t the right school.

sports facilities and coaching are excellent, though again it isn’t a selective school so if dc does a team sport it will likely be a mix of ability, though I am less plugged into boys sports so some might be more competitive than others. My dc are not sporty at all, but I appreciate that they have the opportunity to be active every day. A really wide array of extracurriculars on offer to suit all interests

@NorSom thank you. This is really good to read. I'm pleased to hear your children are doing so well.