Private 11+ or 13+ boarding or day school Southern England please?

[bottomsup2]

Hi there, I hope you lovely people can help me out please? I'm beginning the search for my son's next school. I have some ideas myself and some from the prep school Head, but in my experience Mumsnetters are awesome at coming up with those I may have missed.

We're looking for:
11+ or 13+ school within 1.5 hours of Bournemouth - so Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Somerset, East Sussex, or Berkshire.
Boys only or co-ed
Day school if it's within 45 mins of Bournemouth; if it's further away it'll need to be boarding
My son is academically very capable, his first try at CATS here gave him a mean of 138.
He likes sport and likes to be in the school teams, but it doesn't have to be a school known for its sporting prowess. He excels at football so that would be a sport that the school would need to offer.

Sorry to hear of your situation, op Would Christ's Hospital be too far? I have heard fantastic things about their pastoral care, especially relating to parental death, and it's a diverse, quirky and caring school that might suit both your boys.

Thank you for the replies.

Haberdashery Aske - does anyone know anything about this school please?

Westwing - thank you so much for the insights. Really helpful, thank you. Bryanston I thought was far too academic for my SEN child. Any idea what their CAT scores need to be? Or their CE % to get in?

Walhampton is a prep.

Clayesmore - I am looking at this school, it looks great for SEN. Has anyone any direct experience of educating a child there please?

Bedes - I have rejected this one, it's too alternative for my DC, not enough structure.

Millfield - I have been told it is not very good pastorally.

Christ's Hospital - it's three hours away so too far.

Has anyone got any insights into Lord Wandsworth or King Edwards Witley please? Specifically with regards to whether they can successfully educate a bright child and a child who will be in the bottom sets?

I don't think you'd have many full boarders at Clayesmore. Nice school though. Not particularly academic.

Milton Abbey? Brilliant for SEN, good pastoral care, full boarding and definitely on the up after some lean years.

Bryanston - According to their website, students need to achieve a minimum of 50% in all subjects.

Prior to that, they sit the ISEB test. Those who pass are given a conditional offer, those who don't are put on whats called a 'developmental list'. This means Bryanston will keep the child on their list and continue liaising with the current school to keep abreast of how the child is developing academically.

Winners - thank you for that

Lancing?
Reeds in Cobham has Foundation places for children who have suffered a bereavement or loss www.reeds.surrey.sch.uk/Foundation-Bursaries-Overview
I am guessing Reading is to far but Leighton Park may be worth a look.

Oooh! I looked round Leighton Park and was very dissapointed. Not remotely inspiring, nervous HM, extremely nervous boy showing us round (no eye contact the entire time), poor Art dept. Honestly it just felt like a a very large primary school. BUT..their head of pastoral sounding quite sincere.

This is such a tricky situation for you. I have a little bit of knowledge of some of the schools you mention. I know King Edwards Southampton well, and although I think their pastoral care is very good, they are a rugby school, not a football school. I don't know how much that matters to you. There are some very academic children there, but also a number who are not particularly bright.

Bradfield is in a beautiful location, and is one of the few football playing boarding schools. I don't know anything about its pastoral care.

Another option is Cranleigh, which from what I hear has good pastoral care, as does Monkton Combe and Kingham Hill, although all three might be too far away.

Do PM me if you want to know more about King Edwards.

I forgot to say that the pastoral care at Reeds is excellent.

Sherborne boys good for footie

Bottomsup2 you are very welcome. Unfortunately I don't know anything about SEN at Bry. There are over 800 children so they must have SEN students. The admissions staff are very friendly, I think they would give you a steer. Mine found the 50% for CE benchmark quite easy, their CATs were from 118-130. I should say we never paid any attention to CATs scores, it was just something their prep school did and I had to look them up for you. The two children I know currently at King Edwards Southampton were both top set at our prep. I know nothing about King Eds Witley or Lord Wandsworth.

Please do take the nearness to school into consideration. When we were choosing a senior school I read threads where Happygardening kept mentioning it and I thought surely that is not a big consideration. Luckily we are an hour from ours and thank Heavens as we are back and forth. Whether it is you driving or the boys on the bus it really all adds to the wear and tear. Do visit your shortlist and see where you feel comfortable. It really is horses for courses. I hope you feel some relief and your burden eases when you have some plans in place.

Thank you Mary, I will look at Reeds. Might be a bit too far though.

Cranleigh is a bit too far, it's almost 2 hours door to door. Likewise Monkton which is a shame as that looks good on paper. I'm going to try to keep the schools closer to home if I can unless there's a school that can cater for both ends of the spectrum.

Sherbourne is possible for my eldest but the prep school head my eldest won't pass the entrance exam.

Reeds - any idea anyone what the CE % pass rate is / the CAT scores of their kids?

Bottomsup, I am so sorry that you've found yourself in this situation. I can't begin to imagine how painful this must be for you.

I don't have much experience of many boarding schools but have you looked at Duke of Yorks in Dover? I think it may tick many of the boxes you are looking for.

x

MadVixen - yes I have but it's a six hour return journey so it's too far :(

For the commute too and from school ask if they have buses going to a stop near you. My school had buses which we took for expat and half term which went 3/4 of the way. It was a game changer for my father who was a single parent to 3DC at two different schools in opposite directions and he worked overseas so would be flying home to collect us.

To not too. Darn phone.

Thank you super mum. I will do that

OP, I'm so sorry.

I have a distant friend whose child has SEN who is very happy at Bryanston. I believe he had to leave our own non-selective prep because he was deemed not quite up to the 11+, he went onto a gentler prep and then to Bryanston.

I will also chime in and say look at Reeds in Cobham. Fantastic pastoral care and a boarding school. Lovely sports facilities and not to big a school. Head is amazing too. They are on the up academically. I don't have a child there but looked at it for our DS. So sorry about your situation, I can only imagine how hard it must be.

Thank you Sazzy

i love bedales arty, no school uniform and student individuality reputation. i am very attracted to the unpretentious feel of the place with its own assessed courses and school farm and the fact that it was started as an alternative to the victorian public schools and has always been co ed. it has a great olivier theatre and oak panelled library.
However canford looks amazing too with its grounds, buildings. it looks like hogwarts and the fact that its 10 minutes from the beach, as well as trips to nearby splashdown, exmoor and monkey world. The academics, arts and sports look impressive. They have a festival of ideas day where they discuss questions like what is intelligence?The day students are very well looked after. i have three family members that went there and two of them ended up at oxford and one at durham.
But wellington offers such variety that makes it very appealing as well. with its top facilities and its arts festival. it seems to have the best academics, sports and arts opportunities around.
I prefer co ed as life is co ed and its nice for boys and girls to have friends of both sexes but thats just me.
i would say for location facilities go canford, opportunities facilities go wellington and for childs personal development and pastoral care go bedales but thats just me.
I am most likely considering canford for my son who is now 8 as the opportunities are great and in the sixth form they can go to work in an orphanage in africa for 2 weeks which looks fab. But also because we go for location. if we liverd near bedales or wellington we'd want to send our son there but we want day not boarding as children are only children once and we want to be a part of our kids lives and know whats going on with them. i have a friend who says she doesnt know what our daughters really like because shes at boarding school most of the time. you might have great facilities at boarding schools but you are spending the majority of time without the unconditional love of family around you. at canford you could get a great school with exceptional facilities. they have a great theatre and a lake but also a life outside school with family and friends. weekends on the beach. pretty idyllic.

i meant her daughter not our daughter

My friends dd lasted 2 weeks at Bedales. She said the other kids were predominantly awful, entitled and spoilt not sure what she was expecting but hey. She moved so where else and is very happy now

don't want to be rude Dolphin but have you read the whole thread.