6th form-Brighton/Epsom/Wellington

[Nextstep123]

Any experiences of 6th form entry selection for boy to Brighton College, Epsom or Wellington College. County cricketer,A band academically but not got great reports for effort as leaves everything to the last minute ! Very strong maths, weaker English. Wants to study A level Maths, Economics or Business + 1 tbc (maybe geography). Will board.

I don’t know the schools in enough detail to comment but Epsom 6th form has a fantastic value added.

I can only say ours transferred from state and loved Wellington but it was about five years ago now. Very welcoming, great fun, good ethos. The current master James Dahl was head of admission at the time and lovely.

Thanks CherryPavlova. In your time did you find it was cool to work and be clever or is it still about the cool kids and sport ? We are looking to move from a non selective independent school where it is not cool to be clever ! Very annoying and my son now not nearly the high performer he used to be or could be. I need him to get a push to meet his potential !

@CherryPavlova have you considered Winchester College. It's a fantastic school where academics are taken very seriously. Maths teaching is excellent and expectations are very high. Pastoral care is second to none .

TwoflewovertheCuckoo I don’t need schools now. Mine are all into adulthood. My eldest lives in Winchester and is friends with a couple of staff. The boys we’ve met seem very nice but our preference would never have been single sex.
NextStep123 Our experience is having come from a comprehensive to Welly. Definitely more academic focus than the comp but definitely more focus on sports too. It’s definitely selective, but then all on your list are. I think it was a two day exam, assessment process but that in scholarship assessment so we could accept the very generous bursary.
What impressed us most was the sense of fun and wide interest range that was supported. Sport was huge but so were music and performing arts. Our daughter had a dance scholarship to enable her to continue training alongside academic study. There was a choice of IB or A levels or a combination of both.
We were advised to not go into sixth form house but join an all age house as this gave a wider network in the early days. It worked for ours. I think we had about a fortnight of calls where they were a bit ‘rabbit in head lights’ but everyone was very kind and within a fortnight they spoke the same language and were off to friends houses at weekends.
They earned a little street card from having been in a comprehensive as the perception was that state schools were completely wild and dangerous places. I suspect there were a few works of fiction told.

Apologies @CherryPavolva my comment should have been addressed to @Nextstep123.

@twoflewovertheCuckoo I need a good level of sport as County cricketer and A team rugby and hockey and lives for sport ! Winchester seems too hardcore academic. I want a mix but I guess it is trying to get the right mix ! We are at Millfield at the moment and it is all about sport although some do focus and get great results, my experience is it just isn’t cool to be seen as a hard worker. To nice him out of Millfield will take a special place as I don’t think he wants to leave ! We want a great chance of academic success !

@Nextstep123 I understand , they don't play rugby at Winchester so that wouldn't suit your son. There are many sporty boys at Winchester but academics are definitely given priority. They are building a fantastic new sports facility and now award sports scholarships but the lack of rugby would be a problem. It suits my son as he has no interest in sports whatsoever and prefers to spend his time in the maths and various debating and political societies.. Perhaps Eton might be a good fit for your son ?

Rugby is excellent at Welly. A real strength. Academically and socially it’s streets ahead of Millfield.
Go and look at the place. It convinced us it was OK to send our children privately despite a firm, lifelong commitment to comprehensive education for all.

I’d avoid Brighton like the plague, all very glossy from the outside but the reality appalling in many respects. Results aren’t everything.

Oh Gosh, that doesn't sound good Fruitsaladjelly! It's one of our options for DD. Could you elaborate?

@Fruitsaladjelly would love to have a clue as to what you are referring to. Going to open day this Saturday so would be useful to be ‘tuned in’ to areas of concern. Thanks

I would love to hear about Wellington and Brighton, also consider for my DD in future 6th form.

@fruitsaladandjelly thank you for sharing you experiences. Doesn’t sound much different from our current well marketed machine of a school but we don’t get the academics. Really hard to navigate the challenges of today’s kids. I recently was told of a lot of incidents of drugs at in Surrey day schools. Hard to know what is the current generation and what is the school. I shall be looking for the ‘unsaid’ cultural feel on Saturday. Many thanks indeed. Good luck to you.

You won’t find it even if you look, even when I was there as a parent I was convinced that my kid was the problem, and then other problem kids hit your radar so it must just my kid, and that kid, oh and that one and that one and that one....the school is great just not these kids. When I came away and found a good school and it was all put into sharp focus. What I do know is they market the sixth form pretty hard because they loose so many kids after gcse which isn’t much talked about but I think says quite a lot.

@FruitsaladjellyFruitsaladjelly - thank you so much for sharing your experience. It must have been hard on your family. We too are going to the Open day in brighton on Sat to see their new sport and science building and to listen to the head. I have heard so many different opinions on BC, so not sure why they differ so much. Culling, poor pastoral care and pressure to get A/A etc is quite common feedback. But equally, lots of people commented otherwise, that kids were happy, nobody get 'culled' before GCSE if not on track to get the A/A. I wonder why this is the case.

I’m aware I sound like a complete nut job with an axe to grind and if I were reading this I’d be rolling my eyes

thank you again. I am glad the other school is working well for your DS. We'll go to open morning and try to speak to the head.

@Fruitsaladjelly insights from parents with experience are invaluable. We all know Open Days do not give the full story!!

Thanks for sharing experiences. This is really worrying to hear. We shall proceed with caution. Best wishes to all.

I can honestly say mine were never pressured into ‘upping their game’. They made friends who I suspect will be lifelong friends despite joining the houses late. We aren’t poor but certainly aren’t in the same league as some of the friends families; that didn’t mean ours weren’t accepted or even expected to provide at the same level. Some friends were fabulously wealthy others just quite well off.
I can honestly say that all the youngsters they bought home or who we met at the various house events were delightful company. They had great fun doing some of the planned official events and a few unplanned ‘off piste’ self directed events.

@Fruitsaladjelly thank you - you don't sound unhinged at all - what you say sounds really pretty measured. That's very helpful info for me - I was already wobbly about Brighton and what you say pushes all of the buttons that I was worried about.

The school that your DS has moved to sounds great. Is it in Sussex too...? And if so, would you mind sharing its name..?