Help! Which boarding school?

[Realjournal123]

My daughter has been accepted into sixth form, to two quite different boarding schools. One being Hurtwood House and the other being Wellington College. She's very academic and at the same time very sociable and girly. We get the feeling Wellington can be quite tough both academically and pastorally, whereas Hurtwood seems more welcoming and friendly. She has been quite cosseted and can be a little shy. We are finding it very hard to decide as Wellington does seem to hold more prestige. Her top subjects are maths, physics and English. Can anyone PLEASE help us and give their personal opinions re these two schools if they have personal experience of them. Thanks.

Prestige? I would ignore that. Go with the school you feel is right for your child. Frankly, who will care where she was at school!

What were your impressions when you visited them both with your daughter?

Prestige? For what or to impress who? It’s not one of the “hard to get into” names.

I know a number of girls who went to Hurtwood and let’s just say that although my DD would probably be a good fit, it won’t be one I’d ever consider - especially at the price.

But you need to find the right school for your DD’s interests and personality.

elfonshelf -Thanks for your reply. Why is Hurtwood not one you'd consider, apart from the price. Can I ask what you know about it?

Actually Hurtwood get very good results. However it is arty. That appeared to us to be its usp so Physics, Maths and English might be a little strange there. Its fiendishly expensive.

We looked at Wellington and found the rhetoric of the school odd. They apeared welcoming of all but then only wanted the very academic. They pushed the IB so hard and we met pupils who wished they had not done it. As DD did not want it, we decided the school was not for us - I guess it might have changed now. However you obviously liked it so I would look at where the best results are for her subjects. That is really what you are paying for.

As a cosseted child I wonder if Wellington is a bit boisterous? These schools are very different.

I know a number of girls who were there in the last 3-4 years.

None of them achieved particularly good results - nor did they get anywhere on the performing arts front. You can get better training and access to opportunities for a fraction of the cost elsewhere.

On the other hand they seemed to spend a lot of time focusing on their Instagram accounts and ahem “extracurricular” activities.

It came across a bit like a finishing school for very wealthy, arty kids - with brains and talents but not much intention of applying themselves.

I’m sure there are probably lots of children there who are the complete opposite, but I haven’t encountered them yet.

Avoid Kingham Hill School. In my humble opinion Kingham Hill School is a farce of a school. Or at least the appearance they put forward for our consideration as doting parents is rather farcical.
Initially I thought my decision to send my child there was a wisely informed and a good choice. Indeed they seemed to be very caring and on the face of it they had pretty decent facilities. But as terms passed and stories were regaled I discovered that quite a lot is rather fake. Open days for instance; parents receive an email saying it is compulsory for all children to attend school for the three Saturday open days that the school has each year as part of its intake marketing. As the school doesn’t operate a 6 day week, unlike many independent schools, kids populate various areas of the school trying to act like Saturday school is quite usual and no big thing. In essence however the children have no idea what they’re doing there or where to go - ‘do we fill the lecture hall of the library sir?’
I gather that Potential Kingham buyers, for that read Parents are escorted around by members of the lower 6th. It turns out that the upper 6th, because they will be leaving imminently, proved to be rather too honest in telling potential fee payers exactly what they thought of the school. I gather the disparaging remarks went down rather badly when the teachers found out, unsurprisingly!
On open days the head teachers dress the school up to look rather amazing, much to the consternation and surprise of the students who have been ferried in to look joyful, educated and over the moon that their giving up their weekend to put on a pageant show. ‘Dad, today they put a mannequin in the theology classroom dressed in traditional Jewish clothing!’ They also installed a petting zoo outside one of the day boarding houses, with a real life donkey ‘This is where the children can pet the animals’ they said. The fact that it has never been there before and probably won’t be on Monday is neither here nor there.
No doubt great store is placed on the amazing swimming pool and gymnasium on the parents tour - I understand that The kids don’t generally use the swimming pool as the school operate it as a private club for the local residents. In fairness I think there is a swim club if you don’t mind getting your little darling to the school at the unearthly hour of six something in the morning.
And don’t let the CCF assault course fool you. I gather It is seldom used, other than for decoration. Similarly the climbing wall that has had the blocks removed to stop it being used.
The school does have a bar though, where I gather the headmaster holds court as the landlord. I think it’s to encourage the parents who have driven there to unwind over a Harveys Bristol Cream, have a bit of a gossip whilst the landlord listens in before swaying towards their 4x4 to take their little darling home. It’s really rather preposterous in truth. Whilst I’m all for a chin wag I think a cafe might be more appropriate and if the head wants an insight maybe a touch of honesty might be better.

School sports are woeful and the discipline crazily Victorian and harsh.
Sports day is mid week and parents aren’t really encouraged to attend. The classrooms that you don’t see on open day are archaic. The IT facilities awful - children are not encouraged in IT as there are no facilities or teaching staff for that. I believe they have a handful of chrome tablets but DD hasn’t used one of them in years. The head teacher is pretty invisible.

The A level exam results look good because not many kids get to do them - I think a bit of off rolling occurs. The list goes on. In my opinion the teaching staff are not great and a huge amount of them are very young and at worst ‘gap students’. It’s shocking now I know the truth. My DD is leaving this year thankfully.

@dipsydog I dont think the op asked about your daughters school

Full disclosure: I don't know very much about Hurtwood House apart from the fact that a couple of good friends went there - one is now a radio presenter, another a musician. They were both very happy there.

However, we do have a child at Wellington, and we've been massively impressed by the performing arts side of things. The school has a brand new 1200 seater state of the art performing arts centre - the Annenberg - which it's putting to good use, plus its old 300 seater theatre. Last year: an excellent West Side Story, a very moving Blue Stockings and a frankly extraordinary Little Shop of Horrors by the lower school; this term: Sweeney Todd, and I am David. On top of that, lots of studio productions, Shakespeare, and heaps of different dance companies of different shapes and sizes, including a highly competitive acrobatic dance troupe, and they all seem to attract boys and girls in equal numbers. It's overwhelming, tbh. If I were you, I'd go and see a production or two at each school. That will give you some idea of the standard and quality of the arts provision and help you make your mind up.
In terms of the pupil experience, we've found it to be a very kind and supportive school, with solid pastoral care, and full of energy and passion. My son's friends are all into different things - sport/arts/academics - and none seems to be cooler than the rest. It's just about getting stuck in and having a go. My instinct is that if your child is into sciences, I would lean towards a good school with solid arts provision, rather than a performing arts school where the academics may be secondary, but as I say, I don't know Hurtwood House, so can't comment.
Good luck!

An outstanding musician at my dd school chose Wellington over other boarding schools (who were rather fighting over her), so I would assume that the performing arts side of Wellington is pretty strong. But when it comes to boarding especially, I would just go with gut feeling. Visit several times and go with the school your dd feels happiest about.

I don't know anything about Wellington but Hurtwood I know is very focussed on the arts although I believe they get a high number of foreign students who study more Maths and sciences. When I last visited a couple of years ago I was very unimpressed where they taught Maths - in old damp little huts. I know the actual teaching is more important but to me it showed just where their priorities were especially with such high fees.