St Mary's Shaftsbury, Knighton House, Leweston, Godolphin

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Any current parents able to offer views on the above for bright, anxious girl with ASD who needs small classes.

Better late than never, I suppose.
St. Mary’s Shaftesbury has closed down.
Leweston: nice school, great facilities, very nurturing
Godolphin: great school, nurturing, good at tailoring education around a child’s needs
Knighton House: hmmm... give it a miss. reputation struggling due to high pupil turnover to surrounding private schools, currently only about half full. Lockdown 1 provisions very poor, no online lessons, just sheets of work to be done. I doubt it will survive long. It’s recently sold it’s grounds etc to Bryanston & went co-Ed. Seems to be teetering on the edge. Head left suddenly. Teachers disinterested. No nurturing.

Hi, I have a friend whose daughter is on the ASD spectrum, and has anxiety issues, and they moved her to Godolphin in year 7 as a part-time boarder. She's been so happy there, it's been brilliant for supporting her needs. I don't know how it compares to the others, but I can imagine it would be a really good option for your daughter too.

Agree. I have a few friends with girls at Godolphin, some with extra needs, some not. Truly tailored education.

Thanks all.

Interesting what's happening at Knighton re the Head and taking boys. Finances didn't look great last summer but I considered we'd only need it to survive 2 years. I do hope it keeps going. Agree that lockdown provision wasn't great, looked into it. I wasn't impressed with the SEN provision either, for ASD.

Godolphin were reluctant to see us. Without covid might have been a different story.

Didn't end up viewing Lewiston as wanted all girls and not catholic.

Settled on Bruton School for Girls. Amazing for her. Fantastic pastoral care and great SEN provision. Lockdown teaching is full timetable online. So pleased. Hadn't even considered it when I wrote this post.

If you are looking for small and nurturing Knighton House is the one. Having had first hand experience of various private and state schools in Dorset, Knighton has a very special family feel. Traditional, outdoorsy, pony orientated and most importantly happy but not at the expense of excellent academic results. Forging strong links with Bryanston (this seems to be the way forward for many prep schools) the future looks secure and very exciting for Knighton.

DD was at Knighton House, it was an awful experience for her, the Head said all the right things but there was a disconnect between what was being said and what was actually happening. It is FAR from a nurturing school, far on the whole it's quite harsh and stale. There is a clear lack of respect for the children and the parents. The Head left suddenly, and as far as I know months later has not been replaced.

There was/is a big drive to offer bursaries and scholarships which is great, but this seems to be their only recruitment policy, which leads to some bums on seats but lack of income. Many families paying reduced fees but you need some parents paying full fees to supplement such a policy. It looks like selling off their assets and attempting to recruit boy's is the last throw of the dice.

There are many issues to be addressed, real issues with leadership, attitude towards parents, the whole environment has a negativity vibe.

I have friends with girls at Godolphin, they love it, Leweston good for sports, St Mary's Shaftsbury has closed down.

Oh gosh I have just realised this is an old thread !!!!