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Private school

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Headington Rye Oxford

31 replies

PanicStationsEveryone · 29/04/2026 16:24

Unforseen circumstances might be taking DH to Oxford Area for work. Just doing some pre-lim research to get ahead of the game. DS in pre prep and DD will be in year 7.

This school seems to fit (at least for DS for a few years whilst we settle) for both kids.

Any feedback on the school from current parents and past. Normal stuff - pastoral care, is it a happy place to be, teachers/head good, whats the prep like as well.

Sorry it so broad! TIA.

OP posts:
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HopefulYankee · 04/05/2026 20:31

I toured Oxford High many years ago. It seemed like a very good school but I thought the facilities at Headington were better. It’s bigger and everything is “on campus”.

oxfordbumble · 04/05/2026 22:16

PanicStationsEveryone · 04/05/2026 20:02

Makes one sense! That how I viewed it. OK cool. So the older kids all moved to the senior school buildings and the prep schools all remained on the rye campus next door?

What happened to the headington junior school, did they sell it off?

On boarding, which id forgotten about, is it mostly day or split quite well? Are there.lots of local friends for kids or are they all international al boarders?

They still own the old prep school site. I heard it's being used for sixth form events at the moment. I'm not sure what the longer term plan is for it.

The website says that about a quarter of the senior school is boarding. But I suspect that this isn't an even spread and that the proportion of boarders is much higher at the upper end than in Year 7. I get the impression that most boarders are international but that's anecdotal not from any official stats.

oxfordbumble · 04/05/2026 22:30

We have looked round both Headington and OHS. We also know people with kids at both. Both are great schools.

Oxford High is more academic, as you'll see if you delve into their stats. Back in the days when more academics could afford to live in north Oxford and send their children private, it was where Oxford dons sent their daughters, and this reputation for being academic still lingers. Headington does well and there are very able kids there, but when you look at the results, there is slightly more of a tail and a smaller proportion getting the absolutely top grades. It's extremely subjective whether that matters to you.

OHS used to have a reputation as a bit of a hot-house for this reason, but there is a lot more emphasis on pastoral care now and the current head seems really hot on this. (Responding to previous posts, our friends with kids at Headington have nothing bad to say about the pastoral care there either and describe it as a supportive school.)

Headington's facilities are undoubtedly better. OHS has good facilities but Headington's are extraordinary, especially for sport and art. And Headington takes sport very seriously for those who are keen.

Don't under-estimate how difficult it is to get around Oxford, and how much that might matter to your choice of school. Traffic is very bad, many routes through town are blocked to private cars, and this will get worse once the congestion charge points get replaced by bus filters. Local bus connections between residential parts of the city are poor and usually involve getting a bus into town, walking across town, and getting another bus out again. Cycling is a possibility but it depends on your risk tolerance. The schools have a private bus service, but only right after school, so if you aren't walkable or can't pick them up, then going by bus means they can't do clubs (which is a shame since both school have loads of extra curriculars). In other words, if you're choosing between Headington and Oxford High, exactly which part of town you are planning to live in might make quite a big difference (especially as you also have another child to get to school).

Rainia · 27/05/2026 20:12

Knickerbockerglory75 · 02/05/2026 09:01

The head at MCS is leaving. Not heard anything about the head at HR.

The head of Headington is leaving July 2027

Rainia · 27/05/2026 20:24

jeaux90 · 04/05/2026 16:40

My daughter started life at Rye and loved it. She was in her GCSE year during the merger which was a shitshow. The two schools are like chalk and cheese culture wise. Their pastoral care during this time was terrible and bullying is a big problem. They have a male teaching there that larps as a women which I find gaslighting for the girls. I moved my DD as soon as I could after her GCSE year. There SEN department is awful, they only care about getting extra time for maintenance of their high exam results.

Yes that teacher you were talking about apparently said to her class that she was a communist😬
My DD is in Y10 and said the reverend from rye told her class that homosexual people were mentally ill, and shouted at the girls for ‘being disrespectful’ when they tried to stand up to her!

The merge with rye was awful, you’re right. DD had just gone into Y9 at that point and became seriously depressed due to the giant culture change and lack of care (she has ASD and ADHD), and they tried to kick her out of the school multiple times because they said it was ‘bad for their publicity’! She is still at the school now, but is much quieter than she was before.

jeaux90 · 28/05/2026 08:14

@Rainia I am so sorry your DD has a similar experience to mine there. I really liked Shiplake over in Henley for my DD sixth form and also LVS but in the end we went with a small state sixth form college. Just so you know though if you are in Oxford the Oxford City college has a great SEN department, my
DD is transferring there in September so something to consider longer term

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