Beechwood Park vs Bedford

[Pol771]

Our son is currently in year 2 in a local state primary. We’re moving him to a private prep for KS2 start, year 3.
Narrowed it down to Beechwood (co-ed 3-13) and Bedford (boys- 7+ all the way through).
I loved both. Maybe a slight lean towards Bedford, but Bedford will require a house move which isn’t ideal BUT as he’d be there from 7 all the way through, we’d do it for the right school. Beechwood has a new head who came across very well in the open day, really sold the dream.

Also Beechwood we’d have the choice of school for 13+ whereas with Bedford we’re committing the whole way through.

Wanted to get any advice ‘on the ground’ at these two schools currently. Pros/cons or any need to knows!

thank you.

If you went to Beechwood Park, what would you do after 13?

I have friends whose DC are there and very happy with it. Most girls peel off at 11 after the 11+ so it’s boy-heavy Y-7-8, that’s all the intel I have

Thank you. It really depends on how he succeeds, but knowing what we know now, probably Bedford or Hailybury.

Both are excellent schools and I have close friends with children at both - all exceptionally happy.

I personally don’t like all through schools as children change. What might feel right now might be different at 11 / 13 / 16. They can also be rather stifling having the same pool of people to choose friends from for so long. Also I think the change to a new school can be really good for building a child’s confidence.

BP has great success rates for next schools and does send a lot of boys to Bedford. Given you’d need to move house for Bedford I’m just not sure it’s worth it at this point in his education - I’m not sure what you gain other than closing doors for later on down the line?

That’s incredibly helpful, thank you. Very true, Beechwood certainly provides more options and he’s still so young, we can’t really tell what he’s going to want/need. Thanks for your time responding.

As your son is in in year 2, it's very early to commit to an all-through (all boys) school. I would stick with Beechwood Park and see how he progresses as he gets older. What suits him now may be quite different when he's either 11 or 13 - and at that stage what you'd prefer for him might also be quite different. BP are great at guiding parents towards the best suitable next school for each child. Although as others have said, it can thin out towards years 7/8. Once he's 13 there is always the train up to Bedford (I'm guessing you're in the Harpenden/St Albans area) which many boys enjoy taking for a bit of additional independence. Happy to chat more if you want to PM me!

DS’s sports team played Bedford not long ago, The boys were described as racist thugs by DS and one of his team mates was racially abused by a parent no less… Hopefully it’s an isolated incident but think about what sort of values you want DC to have and who the parents will be that you mix with. He has played at independent schools all over the SE and never has this happened before, even when playing other non-diverse teams.