Considering a move to Burgess Hill Girls for Year 8

[SmallWhiteFluffyClouds]

My daughter has just finished y7 at a private school. Her year is very small (around 20 children in across 2 classes). She is struggling a bit because she hasn’t made a good friend in her year. She also feels that behaviour is not very good at her school.

I am looking at the possibility of Burgess Hill Girls as an alternative for sometime in y8, offering a bigger pool of possible friendships. Has anyone got any experience of it?

She is quiet and academically bright, and not sporty. She’s a bit alternative/quirky in her personality. It would be great to hear if it would be a good fit.

Bump - any experience gratefully received

What school is she at currently, how about prior’s field?

Actually might be a bit further than you planned but would fit the description of your daughter well if you were considering weekly boarding

Thank you for replying. She is at Farlington at present.

We aren’t really looking for boarding but I’ll take a look at Prior’s Field, I’ve not come across it before.

Hi, my dc is a little older than yours but we are leaving Farlington for the same reason. The year groups are getting ever smaller which is reducing opportunities. It is having a clear impact on the co-curricular offering and I am worried by the lack of trips etc. i am sure you’ve also heard the rumour about possible closure? The latest accounts show a £1m+ loss. Behaviour is terrible and it feels like they are not prepared to deal with it robustly - perhaps trying to keep hold of anyone who will pay them fees. I wish we had gone sooner but were (blindly?!) hoping things would improve. We visited a number of other schools and found most to be very accommodating. I won’t say where we are going but we hadn’t given our notice in time to Farlington and, despite highlighting all of the problems and broken promises they are holding us to ransom and charging us an additional term’s fees. The new school has said that they won’t charge fees for the first term so we are not paying twice.

@PinotInTheHills Thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate you sharing your experience. I’m glad it’s not just us feeling like this but I’m so disappointed in the way things are at the moment. It’s such a shame, the standards used to be so much better.

Best of luck to your child in their new school. It’s really nice to hear that they’ve given you the fees relief while the contract ends.

I'm glad I stumbled on this thread as both Farlington and BHG are on our list for consideration for senior school. We have have a couple more years to go but disappointed to hear that Farlington isn't what it once was as practically this is a great option for us. Really struggling with where else might be suitable as we're looking for somewhere smallish, not too competitive, strong pastoral etc.

If it's not too far from you, in East Sussex, have a look at Mayfield. It is catholic but welcomes all or no faith, is small, nurturing but strong on academics and the extra curricular offering is excellent - manly due to around 50% of the girls being borders. If you're trying to avoid the academic hot houses like Brighton for example then it's definitely worth a look.

@Wonderfulstuff It really is a tough one! Farlington is on paper the most logical and practical choice for us but we’re just not happy with how things are going.

@Pigsmightfly31 Mayfield sounds lovely but we are 30 mins west of Burgess Hill so it is too far.

I love Mayfield but we are on the West Sussex/Surrey border so I think we're too far out. Any other suggestions for a non selective (or non hot house at least) senior school for a bright but confident girl who is already a bit of a theatre geek gratefully received (as long as @SmallWhiteFluffyClouds doesn't mind!). Thanks :)

Lewes Old Grammar? May also be too far but would fit the bill.

@Wonderfulstuff I don’t mind at all, our daughters sound quite similar! All ideas are very welcome on this thread!

My daughter also going to PF achool!
we are very excited about it. They will be really big on transitioning.
Ms Ireland and Mrs Parker-Yeats have a good reputation at the school and more widely.
Can always have a look and see what you think. I hope it goes well for your daughter and I wouldn’t worry too much about a Yr 8 transition

@SmallWhiteFluffyClouds if you are concerned about small classes then note PF numbers are also decreasing, latest DfE numbers state 280. Lots of independent schools are struggling.

We moved our child from a school that we weren't happy with at the end of the first term this year, so I know how tough a choice it can be!

We moved to Cumnor House Sussex (https://www.indeparent.com/school/cumnor-house-sussex) and (so far) we couldn't be happier. It's a really nice culture, and we're already seeing some academic improvement after only 2 terms.

It looks like it's about 45 mins from Farlington, so maybe too far, but I'd give it a strong recommend.

Ignore that recommendation - you're looking for senior (but I still recommend Cumnor for anyone else watching this thread!)

@SmallWhiteFluffyClouds I have a friend with two daughters going through BH who have been very happy, one just leaving the other one still there. Seems like a lovely school.

[Post edited by MNHQ at poster's request]

@freddofrogsareyum That is really nice to hear, thank you for posting.

Our daughter is at burgess hill girls and loves it. We couldn’t be happier with the school

@teenagersandalittleone That sounds great, we will definitely have a look round. Thanks for replying!

I think rather than adding to unfounded rumours, you should speak to the school. Why do you think Farlington is closing - do you have any actual evidence? They belong to a large Educational Company, so maybe look at their accounts. They are also investing a lot of money over the Summer which the head highlighted in his end of term letter.
Everyone has different experiences of school, I recently moved my two children to Farlington from one of the schools mentioned and they are both much happier. You need to visit whichever school you are looking to move to and make up your own mind. It's hard enough for all the private schools currently without unfounded rumours.
On another note - I would love to know which school has given a place with no fees for a term - I would be more worried about that as that seems a very strange business decision! Reduced,yes, but free for a term?