Royal Alexandra and Albert School

[Cato2014]

I want to send my DD to RAAS to study year 10 next year. I want to know about this school. I want to know atmosphere of the school.

Thanks all of you. We just look for state boarding school because the fee of independent school is too expensive. We can't affort it.

I am looking at another school is Steyning Grammar school.

Cato, get on the phone and call every state boarding school on your list and ask them about the possibility of a place for your DD - whether they are likely to have a vacancy/have one now (and if they do have one now, I would move quickly and take it, even mid year), and if so, how far up the priority list you would be. This way you will know where you stand with each one, and whether it is going to be feasible or not. Schools should be honest with you on the criteria for getting a boarding place, and how likely you would be to be offered a place. If this is a no-no, I would look at some independent schools that are known to be generous with bursaries (eg Christ's Hospital) and see if this is going to work for you financially. Good luck!

Thanks I have sent out the applications to most of the state boarding school. The vacancy of most of them is full. RAAS has already offered my daughter year 10 for entry Sept 2015 after interview. I am struggle whether we should accept this offer or not.

You need to talk to the school and find out as much as you can about your dd's yeargroup. Has she had a chance to meet them at all? The head at RAAS talks about how he takes some children who are better suited for boarding due to their difficult home circumstances. Many children will essentially be day pupils rather than boarders, and there will be very few overseas boarders. It will therefore possibly have quite a different intake and therefore different challenges from other UK boarding schools who will often select academically (RAAS is not allowed to select on academic ability).

thanks i will apply another state boarding school. skegness grammar school, wymondham but i don't know whether they will offer a place to my daughter or not

So are you discounting RAAS now? How long will they hold the offer for ? Where would you fly into for Skegness or Wynmondham, at least RAAS is 15 min s from Gatwick and 45 from Heathrow? The transfer to a hub airport is something you need to consider and the local area. Most state boarding schools have a high proportion of flexi/day pupils. Check what their ratio is and how many are actually full boarders rather than are local enough to leave at weekends.

We are still struggling on selecting RAAS. We think RAAS is good school. However most important is that I do not know any students in HK who studying this school and no comments about this school. I know more about Skegness and Wymondham because they have agency in HK. Furthermore, Skegness is a grammar school, they have higher academic level. They hold the place to us until mid of Nov.

If Skegness does 11+ selection it probably has a waiting list or day and boarding places. Chances of a year 10 place coming up and your dd being first in line, assuming she met the academic level, are pretty slim., very few move at that stage.

It is a state boarding school that means that many of the boarders are forces children. Others will be placed by local authorities and may have their own issues. This is something glossed over. Other boarders will be kids who go home at weekends. They received unsatisfactory for their boarding so will have had to pull out the stops to improve so I imagine they have. The head talks the talk.... The grounds are lovely but open to the public. The accommodation is not great. Personally, I wouldn't board a child there when I was abroad. I think you'd be far better off looking at Woldingham.

op can't afford private school fees hence looking at state boarding options.

Do you means Wymondham is not good because it is a boarding school? Private school is too expensive we can't afford.

I'm a bit confused - why is it so important that your dd goes to boarding school in the UK - can she not stay in her home country?

It really doesn't sound like you can afford even state boarding that easily and I'm not sure why you think the best option for your dd is to send her halfway round the world at a critical point in her educational and emotional development

I certainly wouldn't be choosing a school that I'd never seen based on Internet reports

Think Flapping is referring specifically to RAAS although same may well be said of other state boarding schools , or were you responding to something I had said ?

Hi there we have a DS at RAAS year 7 he started boarding this year and loves it. It is a great school.

First thing to dispel. Yes there is no selective entrance exam but that does not mean all the kids are thick. My DS passed entrance to a local well known London indie but chose RAAS. As a none educationally selective school it will therefore have children of all abilities which will reflect in their GCSE'S and A level results which are above an average state school but below a selective grammar or indie which is to be expected.

It has a good smattering of kids from HK, my son shares a dorm with one, plus children from army bases eg Germany and lots of children whose parents are in UK but they want to board. The school is full boarding in the sense that roughly 50% are boarders. Loads to do at weekend.

It is an unashamedly Anglican Christian school, has a church and chapel but not overly religious. It's is strict on behaviour in classes and in the school in general. The sports facilities and range of extra activities are too numerous to mention.

There is lots of homework but both borders and day pupils get structured prep time. My son loves it and is really happy we let him got here. We love it because of the accesss to the amazing facilities like a independent school but the more down to earth mix of mixed abiility children which for us was more reflective of real life plus my DS is incredibly competitive and here we felt he would be in the top sets for some subjects and lower sets for others which has proved to the case. In a school full of extremly bright children we felt he might not achieve that and thus may not get as pushed/ motivated to maintain his top place as he is here.

Finally what sold us on the school in the end was the passion and enthusiasm about the school from the children themselves and the teachers. After my sons interview and they told him he could get a place he was literally running around the headmasters office shouting yes I'm coming to this school...

Hope that helps.

Just re read some of the other posts. Cato you should come and look at the school and others to make sure this would be the right place for your DD, you definitely can't send a child halfway across the world based on a prospectus.

Boarding at RAAS suits a certain type of child, outgoing, loves activities, sociable. I don't think it suits a shy loner type but then I don't think boarding at any school suits that type of child.

Ofsted have never reviewed the boarding facilities, that is not in their mandate. The school scored good with some outstanding elements based on the new stricter criteria.

The boarding facilities are not run down quite the opposite, the boarding facilities are purpose built houses at one end of the site close to the main school. Every house has 2,3 and 4 bed dorms, a large sitting room used by the kids, with x box, tv, books, piano, a large classroom with around 40 computers and desks used for prep, a Skype room, a large games room containing table tennis, pool table, etc etc plus all the usual showers, towel rooms, boot roms etc. they are not 5* luxury but they are all clean, well kept. Because the houses are effectively on campus right outside for the kids to use 24x7 are the astro turf sports pitches, indoor swimming pool, outdoor gym, indoor gym, horse riding school, tennis courts etc etc . There is a purpose built 6 form center with their own study rooms.

The head master is definitely like marmite. I am not a fan however I did like his ethos of take the whole child and bring out the best they can be across all dimensions, social, ethical and educational.

Lots of children stay at weekends and there are lots of subsidised trips, activities for them to do on Sundays if they want ( Saturday there is morning school and most boarders seem to go to the local town for coffee shopping in the afternoon)

Finally the most surprising thing for us is apparently according to my 11 year old foodie DS the food is delicious. We had told him tales of DH and I boarding experience of cold overcooked cabbage, spam fritters etc but not here. On Sunday's if we have DS with us he has insisted we take him back early so he can have his school Sunday roast dinner !!

My dad went to RAAS many years ago from the age of 6 to 14 & then went to Stenying Grammar after getting expelled from RAAS. He recalled how terrible the boarding conditions were & how the pupils always got into trouble for swimming in the on-site lake, but he was genuinely happy there (let's ignore the constant breaking of the rules which caused him to be expelled!)

Steyning Grammar may NOT be a good choice for your child as it only has a very small boarding community. It would be better for them to have other pupils to hang about with at the weekends. Steyning does have a solid academic reputation, but schools are more than academics & the facilities, staff & pastoral care will be vitally important especially when you are considering boarding. You have to be fairly robust to cope with boarding. My son had an idealised image of it & he soon realised it was not the same as how he imagined it! In the end he resented being away from home even though he was home most weekends. While everyone was incredibly supportive it was not the same as being with the family 24/7. My son felt he gained enormously from this experience & wouldn't hesitate in letting his own children board. Hopefully that's a long way off! Also please remember that there will be extra costs on top of the boarding fees, plus of course the airfares each term. A British education really isn't worth it if you are going to struggle with the cost.

Wishing you all the best with your & your daughter's ultimate decision.

thanks
finally we select Wymondham college because more students from HK and they also recommend this is a very school. On the other hand, they offer year 9 to my D and entry Jan 2015. Therefore, I am busy to prepare the trip. Thank you very much from all of you.

Don't bother. The academics are ok, but the boarding is rubbish. They have a drug problem and let the children leave the premises randomly, without parents permission and without any adult supervision. My son went there, and it turned out to be the worst decision i ever made. The headmaster is such a passive-aggressive bully.

Ofsted reported your boarding facilities as 'inadequate' in 2011 and a questionable 'good' in 2014. Do not deceive potential parents by putting out wrong information.

I understood it had recently had a good Ofsted and satisfaction report for boarding. Most secondary schools allow pupils out on their own .

Hi is your son still at RAAS? We are considering it for our 14 year old and would welcome some advice?