Anyone considering The Royal School Hindhead for 2013 Yr7 intake?

[2boysandagirl]

Anyone have any experience of the Royal school? Considering it for my son next year and would appreciate comments from anyone who knows more about it or who currently has girls there. Other possibility is churcher's college but found this to be quite pressured.......maybe i'm wrong? help please!!

Yes, we have had 2 DDs go through the Senior school, and we found it to be excellent. The focus is very much on helping each individual child to reach their potential. They encourage them to work hard of course, and they get some great results from a mixed-ability intake, but it's not highly pressured. Both my DDs also developed strong interest in the Sciences whilst there, and are/will be studying it at A level. DD1 got straight A*/As at GCSE and DD2 looks like she may do too. There is good provision for sports, music and activities. Both girls did /are doing D of E as well.

I have a DS too, and we will definitely be looking at The Royal for him for Year 7 (few years out yet).

Hope that helps...

Thanks. I got that impression from the open evening and like that it is not pushy and non selective yet still gets the results. I guess i'm just concerned how many boys will be joining next year. Our other option is Churcher's but my concern there is the pressured environment and the size of the school.

Well, it's difficult to know, but there is a real shortage of good day schools for boys in this area, and so there is definitely a need I think. Many of DDs' friends' brothers ended up going much further afield or boarding, as there were no other options. I have also heard that due to the lack of other schools Churcher's is hard to get into, and that they, understandably, prioritise their Junior School applicants, and as you say has a different feel.

So as well as brothers of existing pupils, they should get some interest from parents wanting to move from state to private at 11, as that hasn't been easy previously. The should also get some boys from the local prep schools at 11, and others again at 13 - so it should soon grow.

We're considering The Royal for Sept 2013 (moving from Switzerland) for DD (age 8) and DS (age 6). I have a friend with daughters in the senior school and she has been extremely happy. The Junior School head was very impressive and the children loved the school on first visit. Will do "taster" day next week. Would be very happy to hear if you're moving ahead 2boysandagirl...

You have mentioned Churcher's several times. Just to say Was parents we are very pleased with the school. Our DS has been there for 18 months. It is academic, sporty, musical, good drama and lots of outdoor expeditions/trips. They produce well rounded kids. We have found so far: lovely kids, good teachers, caring environment and friendly parents. Difficult to get into because it is so good. Our son was at a fab prep school in Guildford and we moved at +11 to secure his place (they only take a few at +13 because they fill up easily at +11). We could not be happier. But of course it all depends on your child and what make them tick. :))

I came across this thread when I was searching info about The Royal School ( boys ) Hindhead as we were considering it as an option for our son at age 13. We were impressed by what they offer and although it is in the early stages ( there was only year 8 ) we decided to go ahead and send him earlier, at age 11. The reason being is that we felt they were really interested in finding out about our child and what interested him and how they could help him to developer his natural talents. They valued him for who He is.

He absolutely loved his taster session and the staff made us as parents feel very welcome and part of the family even before we made our minds up. Let me add it wasn't because they wanted our business, I'm sure they did but they were never pushy and gave us lots of time to make our minds up.

He has only been there a week so far but I already know that we have made the right choice. The year 8 boys have welcomed the year 7's and my son has made lots of new friends, is more confident and can't wait to go to school each morning. I will update this post when he has been there a couple of months as I know I was looking for info from parents when we were first looking. At present I can't wait for our younger son to be able to join as the school grows.

Hi just jumping on this thread. Great to hear these comments about the. Royal school my dd and ds will hopefully be joining this year. I'm wondering where would be the best place to live looking at Hindhead and Haslemere. What is the traffic like in the mornings for getting to school and around? Would it be easier to travel from Hindhead over the A3 to the school or up from southern Haslemere? Any comments really appreciated, thanks.

The Royal has a very useful bus service from lots of local towns and villages as well as a collect and deliver service to Haslemere station to both sites. Morning traffic in Haslemere and Hindhead is generally fine and nothing like bigger towns nearby. The Hindhead tunnel has removed much of the non-local traffic which has definitely helped.

If you intend to use the train to London then being in walking distance of Haslemere station might be useful, but really the choice is probably down to finding the house that you like and whether you want village or town life/amenities. Liphook - just up the A3 - is another possible house search area as the junior school is close to the Hindhead exit.

Good luck with the house search