Whitgift or Bromsgrove? Help please!

[JanaXX]

My son has been accepted to both schools to do the IB. We are Middle Eastern and live in the Middle East, and for a number of reasons were not able to visit the schools in person, and must now decide this week which offer to accept.

My son is very bright and predicted to do well. Not very sporty, more bookish but independent and confident (think Model United Nations, Debate, etc). His English is fluent (placed highest in English entrance exams among all IB applicants) and he is currently at a British International School so quite similar system, etc. He would be a full boarder in both cases and would fly home during holidays.
Both schools have similar IB results but other than that different pros and cons. We are looking for somewhere where he would be comfortable, develop his character and thrive. Finding it impossible to choose as we have not visited either school. Any thoughts, advice or first-hand experience would be very very welcome!

I don't have any experience of the school itself but I live near Bromsgrove - there always seem to be plenty of pupils around at the weekend (both on the school premises and in the town centre, which is just a few minutes walk from the school) and there are definitely a lot of international pupils.

I know teenagers in Worcestershire have a social life - I certainly did! Just feel that there is more going on on Croydon and the environs.

Absolutely not knocking Worcs (born and bred) just not the most exciting place to be a teenager IMO.

I’m on my second 6th form child and, tbh, neither have done a lot of socialising at weekends. I can’t imagine that being in a boarding house at W with only a few people about would be vastly different from being shut in their room with no other peers physically there. Of course they both had been through the school from age 11 and gathered friends along the way.

I imagine it is very important for younger children though.

I’m not sure that this is going to help you with your decision at all though!! There are so many factors and also so many ways to minimise them all or discount the differences.

Soupdragon I find the idea of a 17 /18 year old shut in their room at weekends rather sad, even more so for a teenager iin a new environment away from home.
Full boarding is not like that. A lot happens at weekends including just chatting with friends in each others' rooms in between periods of work or spontaneously going into town together.

My DS' school had occasional new sixth formers join. They rapidly became part of the group because they were sharing so much time together and immediately doing lots extra activities, particularly in the evenings and Saturdays.

I continue to be struck how strong and durable friendships between full boarders are, even between those who would otherwise have very little in common.

Take a look at St Clare's Hall in Oxford. It is an international school in a wonderful city with a great IB record. Most the students travel to and from international airports at the start and end of term, although there are some British students. It's a truly unique school - I was there in the 80s and loved it and some of my contemporaries have sent their kids there too in recent years and they've been happy and done very well.

St Clare's has much more of a university feel to it than a school like Whitgift that has 10 year olds running around.

www.stclares.ac.uk

Bromsgrove has a great sixth form boarding house with many expats in. It is a sporty school but at sixth form you can choose what and how much you do. Also has Saturday school and though not full boarding it has a healthy amount of people staying over the weekend especially in sixth form. It doesn't have compulsory exeats either which really helps when you are from overseas. I'm afraid I don't know about the other school you mention. PM me if you like

I find the idea of a 17 /18 year old shut in their room at weekends rather sad,

They are playing games with their friends. The noise is incredible.

Far better than hanging around parks drinking cider.

just chatting with friends in each others' rooms in between periods of work or spontaneously going into town together.

This is pretty much the same as DSs except the chatting happens over WiFi. Whenever I go into DS2’s room In particular he is usually in at least a 3 way conversation.

I regularly travel past Whitgift on my way into Croydon. By all accounts it's a good/nice school but it always strikes me as an odd choice for boarding as it's not in a particularly nice area. It's 5 minutes drive from Croydon town centre where i shop regularly. It's quite rough and feels dodgy after dark. There have been a few stabbings there in recent times (town centre). At night there would be fights/drunk people etc. There are better locations for a boarding school.

We have good friends with a daughter at Bromsgrove (she’s in the prep though), it’s a big school with plenty of boarders, and in a nice area. It is quite sporty but I suspect in 6th form there would be more choice about that.

Soupdragon I realise that computer games played over the internet are a way of socialising, I still find it rather sad that weekends are spent like that rather than some face to face contact. Perhaps because friends of your DSs
are some distance away?
Why would OP's son move to U.K. for that sort of socialising with fellow Whitgift boys?

Bromsgrove is a lovely school with fantastic modern facilities and whilst the town is a bit ordinary, it is a much nicer location than Croydon. The school runs as a boarding school but without an exeat. It is anout a third full boarders, a third flexi boarders and a third day pupils. The boarding houses are lovely and there is a beautiful brand new mixed house for 6th formers. It has a busy programme with most kids including day pupils in on Saturday for the activity programme. It is easy to get into Birmingham or surrounding areas such as Stratford if you want at weekends.

The head seems very inspirational and the pastoral care is supposed to be amazing. They take a broad academic intake but have a very good added value score. However academics at 6th form particularly is very strong due to a large intake at that stage. It is a very sporty school (supposed to be 4th strongest school in the country) so everyone is encouraged to play something even if not at a competitive level. There are lots of other activities on offer however if you aren’t sporty. They really encourage the children to be rounded and not just academic.

If you are in the Middle East I think you can fly direct to Birmingham airport from Dubai. It is a smaller airport to navigate so you can get in and out faster then Heathrow. Then Bromsgrove is only a short drive away (30 mins maximum). There is a large international contingent so I am sure that they will arrange regular transport.

I would be very happy to send a child there.

Bromsgrove is a good school, small town, pleasant, has markets, lots of pubs, parks etc but no cinema or nightclubs for youngsters. The school is 2 mins away from the town itself. Nearest cinema is either great Park, Rubery or WOrcester. Not far from Birmingham, nice town but does all shut at about 11.30pm.

Thanks for the wonderful feedback.....I think I know where I'm leaning :-)))

Having taught at Bromsgrove I can highly recommend it. The food, standard of accommodation and teaching is excellent. The site is beautiful. Lots of sports facilities and the boarding houses are well maintained. The extra tuition is also good. Very international and I would say they have about 1/3 of the 1600 students as borders. I can’t comment on the other school.

OP if you prefer Whitgift, I say go for it.
You know your DS the most and what you both want for him socially. 17 is a nice and mature age to enjoy all that London has to offer.
I worked at a central London college, and the boarders and day students mixed very well. The boarders could go out and experience the home life of a typical London family when visiting a mate for a day, some had sleepovers etc. The boarding house organised day or half day trips to all the London sites, theatres, etc. over the weekends. We tried to stick to the free/ cheap ones, and the college sometimes sponsored the more expensive ones like Harry Potter, Thorpe Park etc. We hosted international dinners with day students invited over the weekend. All these were optional of course, but we had a high turnout.

All in all, there is much more to do in London. Your son could also go out with mates to visit London over the weekends. At his age, if he is social or trying to be, I would choose Whitgift.

We have just decided on Bromsgrove for our DS for senior school but for day. When we were looking we didn’t hear any negative feedback about the school at all which we found unusual. There are usually some people with something negative to say about a school.

We liked the amazing facilities, the broad range of options and the inclusiveness of the school. It has a nice mix of British and international students. I recommend looking at their Twitter feed and You Tube channel to give you an idea of how much is going on in the school. I am not sure if I can help with any more information but PM me if you want.