Super indecisive!

[Galouce]

Hello!
So, I've been looking on these threads for quite some time now but sometimes you just can't get the answers you're looking for...so I decided to join! :)
My DD is going to boarding school for VI form and we've got 4 schools that she'd end up going to (We did have Glenalmond and Roedean, but there was a few complications). She's not ridiculously sporty but she is willing to play it i.e hockey, lacrosse, tennis and equestrian. She does like riding quite a bit, but not at any comp level and she's willing to try polo, if the opportunity arrises. I wouldn't say she's an absolute swot with her head in a text book 24/7 but she's quite intelligent, so obviously I wouldn't want her to go to a hot-house or something of the likes. I don't mind if the school is uber-posh but I wouldn't want her to feel excluded; she's not stuck up by any means, but she is very well spoken, so perhaps it wouldn't matter...3/4 of these schools are all girls, which didn't worry me much, but I have a bit of an issue with it being a bit 'catty'...So if any of these girls schools have any interaction with any near-by boys schools', do mention it, she feels like it could get a bit heated with it being all girls (bless her!) Anyway, the schools are; Cheltenham College, Westonbirt School, Heathfield School (the one nr Ascot, not the other one with the same name) and Farlington school!
Thank you! :)

The gossip on the block is that Westonbirt has financial difficulties this may be untrue but you should check it out. Most of the boarders are Chinese again this might be fine for you. It?s certainly not in the same league as CLC either academically or in terms of being a well-known name and as far as I?m aware there are no independent boy senior schools very locally to it.

HG think the OP means Cheltenham College as opposed to CLC as she mentioned one is co ed.
If your DD is entering in the sixth form I would check how many new sixth formers there will be and what they do to integrate them into the current year group as they could have been together since age 11.
You don't mention where you live but do check what it means to be a full boarder at the schools you have short listed. Some full boarders are allowed out each week end over night whereas others you are only allowed out on exeat weekends. It depends on your personal circumstances as to what you require for your DD.
My DD was at an all girls boarding school from 13 to 18. She didn't find it any more catty than her friends at coed schools. Sadly catty girls can be found everywhere!

I was a sixth form boarder and, whilst it's important to have people around at the weekend if she's a full boarder, it's also important that she is allowed out at weekends. There's nothing worse than not being able to enjoy your time in sixth form because you're never allowed out of school!

Absolutely bamboozled But there is a difference between girls going home each weekend and leaving vey small numbers in the boarding house to girls being allowed out of school to go shopping, have a coffee and meet friends etc.

Westonbirt is rather rural the nearest resonable sized town is Cirencester but I'm not sure that there is much there to interest an older teenager. Bath, Cheltenham and of course Bristol are all within doable driving distance but not up exactly up the road. On the other hand the well regarded and well known Beaufort Polo Club is only a stones throw away as is the Beaufort hunt and the VWH.
goinggetstough the op said "So if any of these girls schools" so I assumed she meant CLC but you may be right.

Ah right, it never occurred to me how rural Westonbirt actually is! I guess in VI form they get a lot more independence but do you think they'd allow them into say Bath, Chelt or Bristol? Maybe if there was a group of them and perhaps an adult? She will be a full boarder and I doubt she'll come back on Exeat weekends as we don't currently live in the South anymore, so the trains back and forth for her wouldn't be the best thing. GGT - you're very right, catty girls can be found everywhere as she and I know too well! I just didn't want to put her in a school that has a bit of a rep for it as I know Uppingham was another choice but I heard a lot about the cliches the girls form, and apparently they're quite snooty, but I guess the latter is subjective as to who you speak to.
I didn't mean CLC, but Cheltenham College, the co-ed boarding school! :)
By girls schools, I was referring to the other 3! Ahha. :-)

I completely agree goinggetstough, you need a reasonable weekend community. However IMO it is equally important that students have the freedom to stay at a friends on a saturday night, for example, otherwise (again only my opinion) it is very hard to integrate with the non boarding community in the school.

Where abouts are you Galouce? Are there schools nearer home she's interested in?

I'm sure they are allowed into Bath etc. but there is no public transport to any of these places on a weekend. The nearest station is kenble not exactly a main line I not sure where you nearest main line would be all are quite a distance Bristol/Bath/Swindon? I would also really thoroughly check how many full boarders there actually are at Westonbirt because from what I understand the majority are day children; literally say "exactly how many are in all weekend?" and if it bothers you "what nationality are those who are in?" because when I see them all look Chinese to me

Kemble not kenble!

I'm in Yorkshire! We had a fair look around the area, she's pretty set on boarding (new experience, that type of thing) We had a look at a few, but didn't fancy them that much to be honest. Queen Ethelburgas was recommended to us a number of times and we've often got booklets through our door about it, but through own research, it didn't seem as good as it was making out to be...Although, I know it's got a fantastic equestrian centre, which I'm sure my DD would of loved!

We're Yorkshire too, personally QE wouldn't be top of my list! I would however suggest Ampleforth as I gather they have a fair few full boarders what with being out in the sticks, as well as Queen Mary's for the equestrian side of things.

Bamboozled - we had a look at Ampleforth, but it's very religious isn't it? A factor that had me eliminate a few other schools, namely Stonyhurst. But I've heard it does very well academically? (someone once referred to it as the Eton of the north I believe) QM is only up to being 16, but it's a lovely school.

HG - Yeah, I thought about that, I didn't want her to have to be on her own on a few weekends if say even international friends stayed at a friends place. It wouldn't be very nice if she was on her own or something of that kind. I never realised there was a lot of day girls there, that really puts it into a different perspective...I'm not so bothered if there is a lot of Chinese girls there, but I have noticed it! Haha!

Sorry missed that about QM! Not sure about religion at Ampleforth, or academics but it looks like it has great facilities. The other place to consider is schools in York.

Really? I always thought it was quite keen on religion? Seems like a great school though! Had a look around schools in York, the only one I liked was St. Peter's, but DD wasn't too sure. The overall location isn't a problem in itself, it's just I would hate for her to be out-in-the-sticks and a problem arrise, i.e awful weather, can't get home for something. My father works in London (lives in Yorkshire with me and my mother) and Gloucester is only around a 2h drive, whereas Surrey and Berks are only under an hour...There's always some family she can stay with if she couldn't get home. Anything on Heathfield or Farlington?

Ampleforth is not "terribly religious" we've friends with DC's there who are nominally RC. They really like it its supposed to be a very nice school with high standards of pastoral care. But its very very "out in the sticks."
IME 1 1/2 hours one way is the maximum you should consider driving otherwise you miss out on too many things going on.

Cheltenham College - as opposed to CLC - is probably the least good of the 3 private schools in the town (academically speaking). Dean Close and of course CLC are better thought of. Mixed, but very clear that it is a boy's school with girls added, very traditional. Quite posh (definitely more a private school selling itself on social advantage than one maximising academic advantage), 6th form girls do a very good line in manes of deliberately messy flicky hair. Sport has a very high profile and seems to have more prestige attached to it than academic results do. In town, and pupils very 'visible' at least in that area of town so it is definitely not isolated, and lots of boarding (not all overseas) so lots going on at weekends.

(Caveat: Am an outsider looking in, with an old boy as a husband, so see a lot of how they choose to present themselves rather than understanding it from the current inside perspective)

TW2K - Is it really? It seems to do quite well in some of the A Level table results, regarding UCAS and results and what not. I remember there being a thread before on here about CC, Dean Close was mentioned as being more regarded but it seemed to be a 50/50 debate...Is it a good school overall?

Galouce,

Interesting. I've been back through the results for several years and agree that it seems to be a 50:50ish CC / DC split on the A level results thing - which definitely doesn't reflect their local reputations as DC is held in higher regard academically, musically and for drama. A very sporty child would be very well catered for in either but CC probably gives it higher status. CC is regarded as 'posher' I suppose, and is more of a 'classic boarding school - I know of perfectly 'normal' people who send their children to DC as day pupils but know no-one who sends their children to CC.

It depends what you mean by a good school. Its results are less good than CLC or the local grammar schools (as would be expected) but also behind the best local comprehensives. It offers very wide sporting opportunties. There have been no reported suicides in the last few years, unlike another independent school in the town. Locally the normal approach with bright children is to send them to private primaries to coach them for entrance to the grammars, so some of the brightest local children who might otherwise be in a private secondary actually use the state grammars instead.

As I say, you would need the view of someone actually there at the moment rather than someone viewing it from the outside - hope someone comes along soon.

Ah, thanks for that! DD is split on sport (doesn't really bother her that much, although, she would look to be on a team at school) She's more into the theatre side of things, quite musical. I haven't really taken a good look at Dean Close, but I'll have a look now. You say that CC results are less so than local comprehensives? That's quite concerning...But then again, don't Chelt have some of the best state schools in the country? - As do I, it'd be great to hear from someone who's had a first hand experience themselves, especially if their DC go there!

Westonbirt is an amazing school and is much better then any other secondary school in the country and I know someone in basically every school and have been to a few myself. Westonbirt is friendly and it feels like a 2nd family. It hasn't got as many foreign students as lots of schools and the girls we do have are really friendly and kind. Westonbirt is not in finical difficulty, and I would definitely recommend it.