Bristol Grammar School and Clifton High School - where to live?

[nononsencemum]

Hi it seems like the decision to move from London to Bristol has been sealed. We will be moving in summer in time for September and have three children: dd will start Y7, ds Y5 and ds Y3. We have absolutely fallen in love with both Bristol Grammar and Clifton High (don't ask which one are we going to choose, no idea!) but not quite sure whether we can afford the private schooling for all three just yet.
So the plan is for dd go independent and the boys will hopefully join her at 11+.
And so what is the best place to live within an easy max 25-30 min commute from any of the above secondaries AND has a good primary our sons could go into as well?
We don't have any preferences as to south, west, north etc as have hardly any idea about the locality I am afraid.
Also if there are any parents from the above two secondaries - where do you live and where would you recommend to live? The usual criteria like easy commute balanced with a good sense of community and easy access to town would be our main criteria. The house budget is around £600K. Thank you so much for all your help!

Thank you EarSlaps some brilliant points in there! I have not heard of Red Maids School but looked it up and it looks lovely. We will most definitely take our daughter there when touring the schools in a couple of months.

Does Red Maids school has as good reputation as Clifton High and BGS? I have not mentioned but dd has a very slight dislexia (in my opinion, has not been formally diagnosed) but I guess all private schools will perform tests at the beginning of the school year and address it accordingly with some extra support. Red Maids is looking very nurturing which could suit her as she is more of a 'quiet confidence' type of girl ;-).

Thanks for the houses tip - we were planning to sell just before leaving London and rent for a few months before buying something in Bristol. Not too bothered about the postcode snobbery (as you nicely put it ;-)) as have enough of it going on in London ;-) but would certainly like to cut down on the commuting time so there will be a fine balance to strike on this one...

QEH also looking great (for ds's secondary) although it is even further than Bristol Grammar which may be an issue.

The nice thing about sending all three to the same co-ed school, apart from the obvious reason of having to deal with one school only, is that they offer siblings discounts (CHS 7% and 15% accordingly) which comes to £1K per term (it certainly does act as an incentive ;-)).

You would use the same bus to get to either QEH or BGS from Westbury O T or Henleaze and they are both a few minutes walk in different directions.

I think QEH and Red Maids offer a sibling discount if you have children at both. I have a friend whose dc's are at both and she says they arrange a number of activities between them, such as skiing, choir, theatre productions etc.

You wont necessarily have to send the younger children to a private school, there are lots of very good state primary schools in Bristol. Whilst many of them are massively oversubscribed for Reception places further up the school places do become available (although getting a space in the right year groups for 2 children at the same school might be tricky). Other good schools in that area are St Johns, Colstons, Sefton park (bit further away, St Andrews way), Christchurch (lots of children leave to go private around Year 4/5), Hotwells. Lots of parents move their kids to BGS in Year 4 or 5 (not sure which as we didn't do it) so that their children get an almost guaranteed place in the senior school.

Oh dear how hard is to get to BGS or Clifton High or Red Maids? To be honest I was kind of assuming that it is not as competitive as in here and that dd after putting in some work will get a place.

She is in the top set (but not the highest flyer in the class) for Maths and English in her local primary (Ofsted outstanding and fairly academic) and had some private tuitions (2hrs/ week) covering Eng, Maths, VR and NVR for the last year (Y5).

I am now beginning to worry than she may not get a place in any of our secondary school choices in Bristol if the competition if so stiff (to add on to my 'Bag of Worries' ;-0).

Don't worry, for the private schools it is only BGS that can be hard to get in to. If DD is in top set Maths & English she should be fine everywhere else. If she is probably better off in a more 'nurturing' school then BGS probably isn't the best school for her anyway. Don't forget that Bristol also has very good state secondary schools around Westbury/Henleaze/Clifton. As I think others have mentioned there is the Free School, Redland Green, Cotham and Bristol Cathedral. Although living near the first 3 is essential if you want to get in because they operate a catchment area. Cathedral has no catchment but is massively oversubscribed so it is pot luck if you get a place there (unless DD is a chorister or musically gifted)

It was on the news last night that Bristol has moved from being the worst performing education authority at GCSE to number 21, in the last 10 years

Colston's Girls' would be another state option for your DD, still oversubscribed but easier to get into than Cathedral as no male siblings.

Red Maids' is a lovely school - I have friends with girls there and they are all very happy.

Sorry to be negative but you're extremely unlikely to get 2 places at elmlea unless you are really really lucky. And to get those places you will need to live as near to the school as possible. Some children do leave at y2 but this year only 1 or 2 places became available for y3. You may get a y5 place as some do leave at the end of y4 to go private but again last year it was only 1 or 2.

Will you be working in central bristol?

No time to write anymore right now but please do pm if you have any other questions.

Thank you Queenc. I was hoping that there will be more places available at Elmlea than one or two er year especially that one of the mums has written in the earlier post that there are currently some spaces there in the higher years.

My younger will be starting Y3 and the older Y5 (funny as these happen to be the years where vacancies arise most often ;-)). I really do like Elmlea, it remains me of their current school and would be a perfect fit for both.

And yes, both dh and myself will be working in central Bristol (ds in Temple) so a bus or car commute for us.

All - is BGS not a very nurturing one (as per one of the post above)? So far on paper both dd and myself like BGS the most. Both academically and extra-curriculum looks great and I really like the fact that it is truly co-ed and all three could eventually go there. The size is also a plus for us as their current primary has some 600 pupils so used to a bigger school already.

DD needs a 'gently push' to be stretch her academically (she is very able but can be a bit of a 'day dreamer') and is more on a quiet side ('quietly confident' but able to stand up her own ground). I think she may thrive best in a highly academic but nurturing school. A typical 'hot house' environment is not for her.

As such is BGS a right fit for her do you think?

I might get shot down for saying this, but IMHO yes BGS is more of a 'hot house'. It is a great school, one of the best in Bristol, but it is an 'ambitious' school with lots of pushy parents. Obviously not all. Their results are good for a reason.
Clifton High is seen as a much more nurturing school. It was an all girls school once upon a time, which is why there are more girls, but I believe the balance is shifting.
Red maids and Redland High are also well regarded, but all girls. Likewise QEH but all boys.

Of course this may make your choice even harder, and may not be in the right area for you but have you also looked at Colstons Collegiate school? A very well regarded co-ed independent school just not so central. Bristol is very confusing because there are several schools with Colston in the name! Not to be confused with Colston Primary and Colston Girls!

It's second hand info, but friends with dyslexic dds have been well supported at Clifton High and Redmaids.
Clifton college (co-ed) also has a higher than average number of dyslexic children (which is one reason why it's results don't look as great as BGS).
At the end of the day though would recommend going to visit schools and asking about this issue (this will be a good check if their attitude is positive or negative.) Schools that look great on paper may just be good at marketing!
I wouldn't assume any school will test for dyslexia though they may not. The Bristol Dyslexia Centre in Clifton may also be a good place to look for (and ask for) advice and support.

I certainly will - thank you catslife!

On a slightly different note - is it customary in Bristol to sign children up for extra tuition in Y4/Y5 primary to boost their chances to do well at 11plus exams?

Everyone does it in here but I was thinking whether it is also a case in Bristol as would need to look for something for my older ds at some stage.

PS I just bought a subscription to The Good School Guide and after a very informative read I concluded (based purely on their reports) that the Red Maids School would be the best for for my dd! ;-) While BGS would be perfect for my Maths-obsessed ds! ;-)

I know it is 'on paper' only but it will be interesting to confront these during the actual visit of the schools.

Tutors. No, I would say most Y4/5s don't have extra tutoring. The only ones that tend to are the children trying to get in to BGS as that is the only truly selective school. Children that are struggling in a certain area, like maths or English might, but most children at that age don't do extra tutoring outside school. We are more laid back here in Bristol!

..which is precisely what we need! ;-) thank you tumpymummy!

We had our DD tutored for Redland High and friends had their daughters tutored for Red Maids' and BGS. I've heard anecdotally that it is easier to get into Redland High but don't know if this is true. We ended up going state as we got our first choice though.

Based on first hand information that I have on offers made last week for Sept intake, I would say that QEH is definitely the most academically selective for boys and in fact I know of a child below average who has had a BGS offer - unfortunately this has therefore put off other parents from selecting it and all the truly bright are accepting QEH offers instead. I wonder if it is just an anomaly or if in fact they cannot be quite as selective as they once were.

Another warning re traffic, I've known it to take me nearly an hour to get from the train station to Clifton before now; that was on a Saturday mid-afternoon.

I can thoroughly recommend The Red Maids' School. It is selective but so is BGS. I have one very academic and clever DD and one who is clever but less academic and both have thrived at Red Maids. There is a 5% discount for siblings at QEH and Red Maids.

We also live in a lovely village outside of Bristol and the travel in takes about 30 mins in rush hour and 20 mins out of rush hour. Some of my friends living in Clifton take that long to get across the city so it is swings and roundabouts! :-) Bristol is a wonderful city and we love living in a village in the countryside with all the city has to offer on our doorstep! Good Luck.

It seems like it is going to be a toss up between BGS for all three or Red Maids for dd and QEH/ Bristol Grammar for dss in the end.

Interesting info jo164 - thank you. I would definitely like to choose a highly academic school esp for my middle ds (fresh after the parents evening yesterday - 'you are very lucky indeed to have such a bright child' said his teacher ;-). I love the way she presented it - nothing to do with us ;-) - teaching modesty is yet another great virtue of their current primary! ;-)). But at the same time he is very (!) gentle and sensitive and caring so naturing environment is a must! And so if a 'departure of Alfa boys' to QEH is going to benefit BGS in the way that the school becomes more inclusive and caring then it is actually a positive thing to us...

newpup may I ask where about do you live and what are the primary schools like in your village? The main thing which stops me from living in a countryside (which I think we may like esp the children! ;-)) are the state primaries. From my research all outstanding primaries seem to be located in WoT, Henleaze, Reedland, Bishopston etc and it is really important to us that our two younger boys maintain the same level of primary school education.

Thank you! x

Also what is Backwell/ Nailsea area like both for families and commute to central Bristol (dh) and the Red Maids (dd). There are some lovely primaries in there. thanks

Backwell, Nailsea and Portishead are all worth a look OP.

Backwell and Portishead in particular have outstanding secondary schools (although you sound set on going private?).

Communte from Portishead to W-on-T is about 15 minutes. To central Bristol, half an hour. Depends what time you travel though. Lots of people do these communtes, and the train is coming to Portishead in the next few years.

Primary schools in Backwell, Nailsea and Portishead are all v good.

I wouldn't rule out primaries that are recent ofsted 'good' rather than 'outstanding' without having a bit more of a look, it's often very marginal - especially if it means you can live in a village setting that you might like better. It's often easier to get school places too. I have found it easier to settle, make friends and be part of the community in a village on the outskirts than when I previously lived in town. Villages on the outskirts are often on a bus route into the central private secondaries - this shows where from.

Looking at primaries, I really wouldn't put much store by whether Ofsted deems a school 'good' or 'outstanding' - it won't tell you how YOUR child will get on in that school - look round them, get a feel for them, and then choose the one you love.

A bit late to this, but wondered if I could help with answering any questions. We live in one of the houses that are just into BS10, on the fringes of BS9. We moved from London 4 years ago and love where we are. We moved to be near a particular school and our children have ended up at Cathedral Primary, which will lead them directly into the Secondary School. I'm also a Secondary teacher - any questions, please fire away!

Thank you AalyaSecura and LilyBolero I kind of agree, it sounds a bit superficial to be 'judging' the schools by its Ofsted grade while there is so much more to a school than this however I am just trying to use some kind of criteria to thin things out and find my way in what it currently seems a little like a maze walk...

There are so many inner city and village primaries out there and we cannot possibly look at/ visit them all - we will only be coming to Bristol for a couple of days on two/ three occasions. We then need to decide where we want to rent (a short let to get to know the area)/ or buy straight away but as we will be re-locating end of June we need to be fairly precise as to what primary school we are aiming for.

So as far as I agree with 'getting a feel for them' approach it may prove too tricky logisticswise for us to do it I am afraid...

I really like Elmlea but the chances of getting two places in two different years are rather slim (especially as it is a very popular school in the area) and hence why I started to look a bit further afield (but perhaps not as far as Portishead).