Priors Field vs Tormead 2020

[Meadowood]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can give me up to date views on Priors Field vs Tormead (previous threads seem to be 1-2 years old). My daughter has a place at both, and current head teacher says PF, but we are torn. DD is mill-of-the-road on academics and very into art/music/drama. My husband is very into the academics and worried that she won't be brought on academically by PF but I understand that this might be an outdated view. There is just a part of me that says we'd be mad to pass up the place at TM for PF but I am just very confused at this point as to what to do. Thanks in advance for any views.

Remember your child and your money. Prep school heads can have all sorts of other priorities. Not sure how you can decide until the new head at Tormead is announced.

It would be very unusual to choose PF over Tormead. Full stop.

We are making a similar decision between Prior’s Field and a couple of other options which are considered more ‘academic’ but also a bit more pressured.

Our daughter is very capable academically, but is a sensitive soul and we are leaning towards PF on the basis that we think she will be most happy there (and therefore most successful).

It’s such a personal thing, but we are really trying to focus on getting it right for our daughter, rather than doing what everyone else might expect us to do.

Good luck with your decision!

My daughter is at Tormead ( if you couldn’t guess from my username!) . We love the school, it suits our girl. I only have secondhand info about Priors field , but I believe it to be a very nice school too and those my daughter knows who are there are very happy.
There is a lot of school snobbery in the Guildford area amongst a certain type of pushy parent. You should ignore all of that, the only thing that matters is which school your daughter will be happiest at and thrive at. We went with our heart with Tormead because when we looked around I could see how our daughter would fit it, likeminded , academic but nurturing. We would have considered Priors field too but it was not convenient to get to for us. We did not get that same feeling from the other Guildford schools , which may well be perfect for others.
I know this doesn’t really help but i would go with your instinct, you know your daughter . The academics are secondary, there at equally bright girls at all these schools , some have a higher bar to get in so of course they do better in their results, that doesn’t make them better.

@pizzabou27 Looks like they did the other day, got an email through about new Tormead Head.
www.tormeadschool.org.uk/2020/02/25/letter-from-chair-of-governors-announcing-new-head-from-september-2020/

I don't know much about Tormead currently. Only outdated views. Latymer Upper (where new head is coming from) is a really fab, balanced, down to earth school with great academics and modern, well thought out pastoral care.

I know of teachers who teach or taught at PF and it is a lovely nurturing school but it can be quite chaotic and disorganised. Lastest head doesn't have great reviews - impersonal, not that inspiring and let things slip sadly. But I always liked the ethos there and feel like it could fill such a hole in the market...Just not sure if it does it well at the moment!

Thank you for all of your very helpful views. They are all much appreciated, and hopefully will help guide others in the future in such a tough decision.

I know this is a post from earlier in the year, but I also know many potential school parents use mumsnet archives for research, so wanted to add my two cents. I have a child at one of those ‘academic’ Guildford schools and a daughter at PF. Please research the results of the schools carefully. The old view of PF not being as ‘academic’ is simply no longer really relevant. Very similar results - better in some subjects too.
The main difference is the environment as far as I’m concerned. PF is a country boarding school environment (whether you board or not) which if you’re not familiar with, will not seem to match the feel of a town day school where you’ll also have to treck to off-site sports facilities.
Choose the school that suits your child and gets good results. They all do. No school is 100% and I know just as many people who removed children from other schools, including Tormead and St Cats - it’s about finding a fit for your child.