Roedean or Royal High School Bath

[BavariaBlue]

Dear all, I am writing to you from Munich, Germany and I would love to ask you "local mums" for your support please!

I have twin girls and both have expressed their wish to spend a term in a UK boarding school. We are currently in the process of preparations and have started to look at potential schools with the help of an agency. The girls will come for the summer term 2023 and will be in grade 8 or 9 (13,5 years old by that time, I am not familiar with the grade system there). Not all schools do accept applications for one term (and especially the summer one), hence our choices are limited of course, but still there is bit to chose from.

This specific question now is for the one girl who has made up her mind to go to an all-girls school in each case. We had a look at the list provided by the agency and really like Roedean and RHB. If neither of both schools will accept our application we will have closer look at the other schools and I may approach you again :-)

But for the time being it is these both schools we think about.
Roedean looks extremely nice of course - as you can imagine living in the center of continental Europe the sea is far and living close to it for a term would definitely be a highlight. The school is much more expensive than the RHB, but it would be ok for a term. The only thing I am concerned about is that the other girls there could be from really rich families and my daughter would feel kind of left out. We are not poor, but we are no company-owners or aristocrats either (I am a lawyer and my husband works in banking). It is really hard to judge from here what kind of girls go there. Would I need to buy new shoes, a new mobile phone etc for her to fit in? My daughter attends grammar school here and I guess academically she would fit in. She is not so much interested in music, more in drama and most definitely in sports. Unfortunately she has never done any of the typical UK sports such as Lacrosse, Netball or Cricket...in fact she does kickboxing and would love to do cross-country which also isn't done here.
She is a very sensible, sensitive, friendly, helpful, but not extremely loud girl (but not shy either) - rather the Sally Hope type if you have read Malory Towers.
So...what do you think, would she fit it? I know it is only for one term, but I want her to have good experience, not a horrible one.

On the other hand there is the Royal High School Bath. I have not been able to find any threads about this school at all. Obviously it is not one of the famous schools everybody talks about :-) But maybe this would be the better choice then? Maybe more "normal" people there? Plus we have good friends in the Bristol area. Plus it is significantly cheaper as well.

It would be really interesting to get some local insight, I don't want to rely on the agency alone. Thanks in advance and many greetings from Munich!

Quite a lot of my daughter's friends from prep school go to Roedean. They are not a super-rich crowd at all: Most are from families much like your own - professional parents (doctors, lawyers, academics, teachers) who are often making some financial sacrifice to cover the fees. From what I hear there are some very wealthy girls there, but they don't dominate.

Most of them love it and the parents seem pretty happy with it too. I hope they are able to offer you a term - what fun!

Thanks a lot, PenceyPrep, this really sounds promising. I kind of envy the girls, I would have given everything to be able to go to such a school back then, but no chance at all back then :-) But the next best of doing it yourself is letting your kids doing it :-)

Roedean would be fun for a term. It's a quintessential English boarding school.

Dilettante73 yes, would be great, we will see whether she will get accepted! I am afraid she won’t be keen on coming back :-)

Would either school take them for a term? Do your daughters speak English well? You might want to talk with an educational consultant or firm which could recommend schools that would take them for a term. Both schools require lots of uniform which would be quite expensive for one term.

Ericaequites: Thanks! We are cooperating with an educational consultancy in the UK and they have shortlisted both schools as “in general accepting short-term applications”. Whether they would accept our girl for that specific term is currently being clarified. If not we will look at the other schools on the list. English-wise we are safe, due to several reasons the kids have a much higher command of the language than normally would be expected of kids of that age (but not perfect of course, they will surely benefit from the experience). And uniform-wise you are right, quite a bit of additional costs…well, either we could get them second-hand or we would need to bite the bullet and buy them new (and maybe sell them later), this we accept as part of the exercise. In fact, the uniforms are one of the things the girls are extremely fond of as we don’t have it in Germany. But interesting to know that the amount of necessary uniforms varies from school to school, I wasn’t aware of that!

Check what sports are offered in summer. Athletics, tennis and rounders tend to be popular in girls settings.

Thanks LIZS. To be honest, I am struggling to check this out, not that I haven't tried, but the school home pages always list the sports they offer in general but somehow don't mention when they offer it :-) But athletics would be ok, she likes running. Rounders again is one of the things she never has done, I could image she wouldn't hit the ball once...

Live in Bath but don’t have kids at Royal High. They definitely play cricket & tennis in the summer( have had matches against them) and have an outdoor pool. There are not masses of boarders but I think it would be a welcoming school for a term, Bath is a nice city to live in too.

@BavariaBlue
There are a number of European boarders at RHB, and one term boarders
Bath mum here
Would highly recommend- it’s a happy school!

I don't know anyone who escaped from Roedean unscathed! I would never.

Oh, for a term? Meh, maybe then. I still think I'd go with Bath though. Nicer area to visit imo.

Soundofshuna: Thanks, I have been to Bath in the mid 80s, we were on a pupil exchange with Clevedon and did many trips, one of them to Bath. Yes, it is a nice city and the school also looks very nice!

@FrugalFrancine Thanks! But why unscathed, what happened to the kids?

@SailingandSauvignon
Thanks, sounds good! I also think the school looks very nice. Roedean has not yet responded, but RHB has as well as Badminton. Let‘s see how the test will go, my daughter is really bright and they don’t ask difficult things, but lately she started to get overexcited in Maths test :-(

[quote BavariaBlue]@FrugalFrancine Thanks! But why unscathed, what happened to the kids?[/quote]
Every person I know who went to Roedean which is quite a lot, was a bit traumatised by it. Most had drug problems in later life and at least one has had years of therapy which she directly attributes to her years at Roedean. Put me off it completely

@FrugalFrancine thanks, that‘s interesting! But we’re they able to specify what exactly were the problems? Too much pressure, mean teachers, lack of nice girls…?

I think it was the social pressure and for some of them, the feeling of abandonment. I don't think any of them were particularly high achievers academically, but all bright enough. The pressure was more about making connections, protecting their image etc rather than about getting certain exam results

Roedean is a wonderful school, DD is extremely happy there as are her. friends.
Doesn’t sound like you went to the school yourself @FrugalFrancine or have any knowledge of the current offer yourself.

@SailingandSauvignon the school is wonderful, inclusive and welcoming

Many private schools have big annual exams in the summer term, that wouldn’t be fun for your DDs and other girls might be studying a lot which, if so, could be boring!

If you’re daughter gets a the chance to go to Roedean, grab it with both hands. It really is a wonderful school. Girls who come for a short time are looked after and helped to integrate into their year group. My daughter is still good friends with one girl who came for a year from Europe. The setting at all times of year is spectacular but you cannot beat the sweeping views of hills and sea in summer. It is a positive, warm, outward looking school with many overseas students and is culturally diverse and inclusive . The quality of education is outstanding without feeling unduly pressurised . Whichever school you choose, I hope your daughter has an enriching, wonderful time

Years ago Queenswood School at Brookmans Park near Potters Bar would take 1 term boarders. I would enquire.

They also used to do a termly exchange in y9 where girls would go off to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and short stays in Canada. Their girls would board at Q and parents would host them at weekends. I don’t think they do it now but they might be amenable if they have space.

I hope you picked Roedean!

Hi, if you chose the Royal High in Bath I can help you with the uniform (unless they have changed it since 2019)

Hi there, thanks a lot, indeed my daughter will join RHS in April next year for the summer term :-) And indeed she will need a uniform, at least whatever is needed for the summer and I was already wondering whether we will need to buy everything new for just three months. The problem may be that she is very tall (by April 23 probably 1.65m).