I'm actually really upset to read a lot of the comments here. I have a daughter at Bedford Girls' School and I can't praise it highly enough.
I understand that people had a strong affiliation with either Dame Alice or the High School but the level to which this seems to have driven bad feeling and provoked rants on here is truly shocking.
I was not comfortable with the idea of my little girl attending either of the founding schools, although I understand both had their not inconsiderable merits. They just weren't for me. BGS, on the other hand, is the perfect fit for both my daughter and I and she is thriving.
I think it's terrible that grown women come onto a forum like this and seek to ruin the reputation of a school merely because they either resent the merger or have made a mistake in selecting the right school for their child.
The vast majority of pupils and parents absolutely adore BGS and its teachers. It is insulting to suggest that people who elect to send their daughters there are somehow letting their children down by doing so. It's also terrible to read things here which, at best, are ficticious rumours the posters have in all honesty believed and - at worst - down right fibs.
It is a great shame that the future of both the High School and Dame Alice was untennable and it must have very difficult for all those caught up in the merger innitially. However - had either have been financially viable - the merger would never have happened. The debt incurred by the High School for building the Sport and Performing Arts development is notorious and, while it may have been a terrific school, it was run into the ground by poor financial management. Equally, Dame Alice - in my opinion - was too stuffy and stuck in a rut. That doesn't mean it wasn't a good school for those it suited.
For me, BGS has provided me with the perfect opportunity for my daughter to be schooled in a progressive environment which reflects my view of a contemporary girls' education.
A school can't be right for everyone and - as parents - we are all very lucky to be able to afford choice.
I really do think it's unethical to try and damage the reputation of the school purely because it was formed through a merger. If you are that upset that the former schools were unsustainable then the new school is not the one to blame. Instead, it is surely the previous management who bear responsibility?
Either way, I would encourage prospective parents to visit the school and talk to the girls and the staff. I really can't praise it enough. The teaching is excellent, the curriculum is exciting and my daughter just adores attending. I am also very happy to put the record straight about the notion of them 'taking anyone in then asking them to leave' - that's simply not true as are very few negative statements of 'fact' here.
I'm sorry if that's too forthright but, like all parents, I love my children and the notion that I would dream of sending my daughter to the type of school negatively described here is an insult to us both.
As I say, go and see for yourself - that's the only way to really find out if somewhere's for you, isn't it? Much better than believing what a clearly bitter anonymous poster or two write on a forum!