Good state or private school near York

[Beachturtle]

Please help! I am totally overwhelmed with internet research, and there's nothing like hearing real opinions.

So please does anyone have a personal recommendation for a secondary school that would suit a very bright, borderline ASD (diagnosed) boy who is excellent at maths, crazy about science, reluctant to write but has great ideas and large vocabulary, is awful at football but not totally unsporty, friendly, sometimes over sensitive, always willing to try?!

We have just found out that we will be moving next year to the area, as he starts yr 7 and as we live miles away now I'm relying on internet research and there's only so much you can go by a school's own opinion of itself! Thank you

Bump

St Peters would be your top choice privately ( well St Olaves for a yr7 boy) yes there is lots of sport but there is a large variety and certainly would fit on the academics. Personally don't rate Bootham, and the unmentionable up at thorpe underwood need remain just that.
State wise Fulford is still an excellent state achool but catchment area small. Don't really know much about the others, friends kids have done well at Manors but are quite self confident types.

Pocklington School is a great independent.

Manor CE Academy, Fulford and Millthorpe are good states.

Thank you! RosiePosie I get you say no more on that, definitely not on the list!

Would you mind saying what in particular isn't great about Bootham?

Echo the suggestion of St Peter's

Underwhelming results, but more importantly I know too many kids who have been unhappy there, all with bullying issues and it has never seemed that Bootham have really tried at all to sort them out. 3 of the kids i know left because of that, 2 stayed but were not terribly happy.

Why don't you rate Bootham? I have heard better things about Bootham than St Peters, especially for people who might not find it totally easy to conform in all areas.

Pock is nice I think - I used to live near it and the kids were decent.

X post.

Agree pock is nice, never really think of it as a York school.
All the kids i kniw there are happy and when i have visited for away matches there is a lovely atmosphere.

Bootham and St Peter's are completely incomparable. I've known kids leave one for the other (although no cases of unresolved bullying) as they were unhappy at the other school but many more parents and kids happy with both. Both do very well by their brightest pupils, although bootham has a wider range of abilities and more able to accommodate SEN I do believe hence a wider range of results. Really you'd need to visit to get a sense of the individual ethoses as neither are suited to everyone. Personally I would prefer the ethos of Bootham for my DC but it's not something that appeals to everyone (very driven by the students, they do not spoon feed which - again IMO - some parents believe is what they are paying for with private).

State wise, I've heard good things about Huntington and All Saints and mixed about manor and Fulford. Main criticisms of the latter have been of an "exam factory" ethos. My DC went to our local school outside the city so no personal experience however.

It's also best to think about this in relation to where you want to be living. Crossing york on a morning is a nightmare so unless you're choosing the local school you'd need to factor in a potentially long journey to school coupled with that fact that york private schools have v long days for pupils (until 5/6 every evening I believe).

Re state, Huntington, Fulford and Manor have more suburban catchments whereas All Saints, Millthorpe, Jo Ro and Archbishop Holgate's all cover some of the more "desirable" city centre areas.

Sorry this post has gone on and on! I guess the upshot is that there are lots of really good schools in york so best (if you can) to have a look around and see which best suit your family and what kind of lifestyle you want to live. I would have loved to have raised my family in central York, it is a great environment for young people.

I think Bootham is better for your quirky kids. St Peters quite unforgiving in that respect.

Fulford is the epitome of up itself middle class York and poor pastorally. Manor has good results and a state of the art building as does Jo Ro. Neither are brilliant at catering for additiinal needs though although JoRo does try - it's just that some of the inflexible discipline policies pose an obstacle for some children. Archbishop Holgate has a really mixed intake and a fantastic pastoral system and the results are very good. I know several people who have moved from All Saints due to bullying. Millthorpe is a rich school environment in many ways and very big on science and also has truly innovative ways of listening to students and working with them. Canon Lee is a bit of a mess but due to turn around with a lot of expert input and is also a nice small school with a proper community feel. Huntington has had a couple of years of disappointing results but is still mad popular. Its pastoral care is a bit ropey.

I have to disagree with AnneGromit on the subject of Manor's treatment of kids with additional needs.

I used to work there - it's support system is one of the best I've seen, in any school.

You need to choose based on your child and even personal experiences may not assist (no two children are alike).
Having said that, I will add my two pennies, based on viewing Bootham, Peters and Cundall.
I have two friends in the same boat and we have all, independently, chosen Bootham.
This decision is based on what we perceive is the best for 'our' child.

Bootham seems like a 'normal' school, it has a good ethos and it comes across as though it will do its best for all. It looks like it is less selective than Peters, so by definition the average results won't be as good (they are still good though). It is a smaller school than Peters so won't get as many sporty types to make as many 'great' teams. There is still plenty of sport done, and they have many talented individuals.

Cundall seems similar, and comes across as more suitable for those with additional needs. Good for hockey and rugby.

Peters seems more pushy, academically, possibly too much for certain children. One quote to a friend, when they viewed, was they would be lucky to attend a school like that (the family would need the school more than the school needs them kind of attitude) - put them right off.

If you wanted to live out a bit then Ryedale (State) is a possibility.
Note that Manor and All Saints are religious so you'd need to check the admissions requirements before digging into them too much.

Cundall is good for rugby in the prep section, however the OP was asking about secondary schools and due to its very small size they don't do any rugby in years 9-11.

Actually, they do have U16/15 teams.
Anyway, I don't think the OP will be selecting based on the presence or lack of a certain team.

However, the relevant point there is that Cundall hasn't always offered gcse's so some leave after prep to go elsewhere, and would need to do A levels elsewhere regardless.

@AnneGrommit i'm considering Fulford for my kid, too. Could you tell me more about why Fulford is poor pastoral ?Archbishop Holgate also my consideration. we're searching house nearby in their catchment area, i found more house options (within our budget) nearby AH. thx for your help !

Esten, this thread was started 3 years ago, so you may not get a response.
That said, both my nephews go to Fulford (year 13 and year 10) and have been very happy and done well there, with no issues, re pastoral care.

thank you, got it !