Royal Hospital School Ipswich

[Weekend1]

Hi everyone
I am lucky enough to have been offered a bursary for my DD to attend RHS as boarder in the sixth form. She has only ever been to a state school. I was wondering whether anyone has had their child attend the RHS on a bursary and what their experience was like. I have heard all sorts of horror stories about 'bursary kids' being targetted/bullied. I am keen for an insight into the experience of other bursary families.

@Soma - yes, very friendly atmosphere, and as far as I know girls don't have any specific problems. My son has a wide circle of friends of both sexes and that seems to be the norm.
As far as Prince Andrew is concerned, the school has pretty much distanced itself from him since all the publicity. He's no longer mentioned explicitly on official lists, and i don't imagine there are any plans for him to visit again in the future!
The staff turnover thing is a difficult one - it does seem a bit higher than normal at the moment, but you would expect some turnover every year in a staff of that size - and many of the recent/current vacancies are for September. There are many members of staff who have been there for many years, and also a good number of newer, younger staff, so it feels like a good mix. I don't think I'd be too concerned, especially as they don't seem to have any trouble making good appointments.

I agree with everything @IcedWater has said - it's a unique place, fabulous if it works for you but not necessarily everyone's cup of tea.
She's also right about the fact that it helps if your child has something specific s/he's interested in, as those things definitely contribute to their social circle. So, yes, if he or she is sporty, musical, arty or whatever, and plans to get involved (and why wouldn't you?) then that helps enormously. My son was the only one from his primary school, and didn't know a soul when he started in Y7, but it doesn't seem to have ever been a problem.

@IcedWater and @usedtobeboss3, thank you, thank you, thank you! Are some houses better than others? Which one would suit a girl, either day or boarder? Which one would suit a boy?

My DC still loves the "comfort" dogs either when I mentioned that they were sniffer dogs - lol.

@Soma, I think we were at cross purposes regarding dogs lol. The dogs in house are comfort dogs. The sniffer dogs are from an outside company that occasionally come in to combat drugs being brought into RHS making them comforting for parents!

@icedwater haha! My bad.

As far as houses are concerned, all Year 7s go into Blake. Then in Y8 day puplis go into Drake or Raleigh - both co-ed and very similar. Cornwallis is for flexi-boarding boys, and all the other houses are boarding. They stay in those houses until the end of Y12, when everyone goes into Nelson for Y13. Not so sure about any differences bewtween boarding houses, as my son is a day boy - my understanding is that they're pretty similar, but I could be wrong. Certainly similar in a practcial sense...

@Soma, if you are looking at schools at the moment you may find this site interesting, it has all sorts of different rankings for independent and boarding schools

www.best-schools.co.uk/uk-school-league-tables/list-of-league-tables/

@IcedWater, thanks for the link. I'd forgotten about Best Schools. I guess we're looking at RHS for all the other / extra things it can offer, over and above the academics. What does your DS say about all the extra-curricular stuff? Are the external speakers any good / inspiring?

@Soma, we are generally too frazzled to attend external speakers unless they are directly relevant to us. Things like how to deal with adolescence as a parent, or information about drugs. These are always welcome.

RHS have a good website which I’m sure you have seen. Like all schools they have had to cancel everything at the moment because of the horrid Coronavirus, but this link will give you a flavour of what they had lined up for March (see cancelled events)

www.royalhospitalschool.org/coronavirus

@IcedWater - wow! I can't imagine having to deal with or having to reschedule so many activities! I particularly liked the sound of the cultural trip to Florida & West Indies...

RHS used to have a reputation for being less academic than some of the other local private schools, but I think that is changing. It's worth remembering that it's much less academically selective than many, and its intake is much more 'comprehensive' - which of course affects results. My son is academically able (and there are many high achievers), but there's never been any sense that he isn't challenged, or that expectations aren't high.
As far as extra curricular activities are concerned, there is far more going on than anyone could ever take advantage of! There are trips and opportunities galore, and the biggest challenge is choosing and prioritising activities for the best use of their time.

@Soma that's exciting news!

DD2 would love to be heading there for Y7 in September but we can't afford it, more's the pity.

I went there and loved it. Your son will have the time of his life

@Soma thank you. Unfortunately, DH and I are both teachers so our salaries mean we're not eligible for any kind of bursary and that's unlikely to change.

@SE13Mummy, hats off to you and your DH!

@Soma - that's brilliant; you won't regret it. My son is missing it hugely and desperate to go back - whenever that might be...

RHS, can be an okay school. i must admit it doesn't have the best pupil care in place, the punishments are harsh and they don't try and the help the student before removing them from the school. I have heard a lot of children are diagnosed with a mental health issue whilst there such as depression or anxiety due to the stress and bullying.