Oldfield school in Bath

[ewallington]

Hello, I am from South Africa and emigrating to Bath in August. My daughters have been offered a place at Oldfield School and I would love to find out what the school is like from anyone with any experience. They come from an all girls school here in South Africa so it will be a change for it to be mixed, but hopefully a good one. My one daughter will go into year 7 and the other in year 8. Any stories (good or bad) would be gratefully received. It is not a definite they will go there so just collecting info at the moment.

I don’t have direct experience of Oldfield but it’s got a good reputation locally. You might want to check out the very active local Facebook group ‘Mums & More in Bath’ as I’m sure you’d get more responses there. I have kids at two other state secondaries (HGS and RAS) which are both great if you’re looking around. HGS is all girls. Good luck with your move, it’s a lovely place to live!

Thanks so much for your response. I would love to get them into HGS but I am currently on the waiting list. I put HGS down as my number one. Unfortunately due to Covid we have not been able to get ourselves an address in Bath yet so of course with an address only in SA most schools have rejected our place. However Oldfield have offered us a place. Do you have any tips on getting into HGS or is it just get an address in the catchment area? We are trying hard to do this but the property market in Bath seems to be booming and rentals are gone within the day they are put online. It’s crazy.

Yes it’s always been a popular place for people moving out of London to raise their kids but that’s definitely exploded since covid! If you’re able to keep their names on the waiting list for HGS while accepting the Oldfield place I’d definitely do that as things can change and people often don’t take up their place at the last minute, opt for private or move away etc. I know several people who in the past few years got a place off the waiting list last minute. And obviously once you get an address proximity to the school will affect where you are on the list. They offer 20% of their places in year 7 to girls outside the city centre so sometimes being in a village just outside the city can give you the edge over someone living just within the boundary IYSWIM. Good luck with it all!

Hi @ewallington

We are now in a similar situation to you in that moving to Bath from South Africa at the end of this year and looking at schools for our 11yo daughter who will start Year 7 when we get there.

I would love to know which school you ended up settling with and are your girls happy? I will be coming to Bath in April to meet the various schools but would love to gain insights from actual parents / local people who can assist.

Thanks

We ended up going private. We had some bad feedback about Oldfield and it was too late to get them into any other school so we decided to go private, They have been at Royal High since September 2021 and are very happy. It is actually quote a reasonable school compared to the other private schools and for us is affordable. I have heard that Oldfield is not great. There is a lot of bullying. One of the girls from Royal High came from Oldfield and she was extremely bullied. Having lived here now for nearly 2 years I can help a bit. In my humble opinion If you want to put your daughter in state school I would go for Ralph Allen. It is a brilliant co-ed state school which has a great reputation. I know lots of parents of kids that go they and they are lovely. Hayesfield remains the top state school for girls but I do worry slightly about bullying as it is all girls. However my girls do have a few friends for there and they are all lovely. It is incredibly hard to get them into these schools. my advice would be to rent a home within 1mile from the school, if not closer. This seems to be the only way. if you want to go private then I would suggest Royal High or Kingswood. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for getting back to me. Yeah I’m concerned re getting into a school. Also because we will likely need to rent a airbnb for the first 3 months while we wait for all of our furniture etc to arrive which may be not as close to Ralph Allen or Havesfield for easy acceptance. I have also be recommended to St Gregories and told that I don’t need to look past it based on being Catholic. I am coming for a visit end of April so will try meet with all of the schools and take it from there.

My daughter is currently in a private school here in SA and I am really hoping to move away from the “keep up with the jones’” culture and financial competition - hence the appeal for a state school which I am imagining to be a bit more integrated - but open to your thoughts.

Heaven knows where your information about Oldfield School has come from, but one of our reasons for choosing Oldfield was because of the positive culture and the absence of bullying. Beechen Cliff boys school is horrendous for bullying (and racism, for that matter) and Hayesfield also has a reputation for bullying. Oldfield is a lively school, mixed sex, more diversity than elsewhere, and a really nice feel. I can’t recommend it highly enough. One of the reasons Bathonians often opt against it is because its catchment area includes working class areas like Twerton (Horrors!) and takes pupils from East Bristol (Bristol! Aarrgghh!!!). Make no mistake, there is an awful lot of snobbery in Bath, and you see it most when it comes to choosing schools. Oldfield is great!