Feedback/thoughts on blue coats Shiplake and Berkshire secondary schools

[Bluestarx3]

Hello everyone,

We’re looking at secondary schools for DS Y7 2023 entry and quite keen on blue coats and Shiplake but appreciate they’re very different. Would love some current reviews and thoughts on these schools (also looking at Leighton Park but is v different!) if anyone has?

DS is academic and sporty so bluecoats seems right move however aware it’s very competitive to get in and quite pressured?. Wondering what the pastoral care is like as heard mixed things… Shiplake I’ve heard is more nurturing and sporty but not v academic (so the total opposite to blue coats!). Wonder how they’re pushed if anyone has experience of it?

Not closed to other schools but these are the preferred as close by and not hugely keen on a big journey for DS but might do if there’s another school we’re not aware of..

DS also has two younger brothers so in an ideal world they’d go to same school but it’s not a deal breaker and main priority is DS1! 😬

TIA! 🙏🏼

Bump

Shiplake I’ve heard is more nurturing and sporty but not v academic

This is exactly what I've heard too about Shiplake, but from a very satisfied parent of a Y9 boy there now.

The other obvious ones to consider in your vicinity are Pangbourne, Bradfield and Wellington, though the latter two are 13+ entry, have you already had a look at those and ruled them out?

Thanks. More keen on Y7 as his current school is lovely but not challenging with sports and think he could do with stepping up into a bigger school. We're going to look at Abingdon also for Y7 but think it's quite difficult to get into? Pangbourne again I've heard is nice but not academic and think prefer Shiplake as it's closer.. Shiplake I think is preferred as ticks a lot of boxes with nurturing and sporty aspect, it's just how they challenge them.. Also going co-ed next year will undoubtedly create a bit of a wobble..

Everyone will have a different experience so don't expect to get a clear answer from any school but appreciate any feedback anyone has 😁

Pangbourne is a bit more academic than Shiplake, it's a lovely school.

Yes I was about to say the same, I thought Pangbourne was more academic than Shiplake, not less.

If you'd go as far afield as Abingdon then I'd look at Teddies as well, another 13+ but great school.

If you do go for a 13+ place then for Y7-8 would you consider 2 years in a prep? Moulsford/Cothill/Summerfields/Caldicott might give a sporty academic boy a good couple of years run-in.

If you have three boys I would move to the Piggott catchment and save up for the help they will need with property & uni. Both schools are good but all secondaries are much of a muchness and it depends on the teachers. Don’t get distracted by the gloss of the private schools…

We're going to apply to Piggott as is a major consideration with three! But also keen on looking at all options so can weigh everything up and what's right for them.
Suspect Abingdon will be too far but maybe worth looking at Pangbourne as a comparison to Shiplake.. though also bit further away. I looked at Shiplake's results and they were higher than Pangbourne's last I saw so favoured that (and Shiplake's rowing and sports facilities)..
Would love to be a fly on the wall for the day of every school to see what it's like everywhere!

If you're open to state and the boys are very academic then there's Reading School to consider as well.

Piggott's results are actually better than any of the schools mentioned. So are Maiden Erlegh's. I mean that in terms of Value Added as well as numbers attaining top grades at GCSE and A-level.

Both schools get more high prior attainers (students coming into the schools with high SATs marks) than any of those independents- which is really interesting. They're pretty much on a level with Kendrick and Reading boys in terms of the number of bright kids starting out there. But then they do good things with those kids to keep them at the top end, while also boosting all of their others.

It's a little bit awkward for many of the independents. BUT, pupil attainment is also not the only reason you choose a school. If your child is into computing I'd check out Bluecoats particularly because they're doing really interesting things and, obviously, Shiplake for sports.

To be honest, they're all great. You can't go wrong. Though I'd be factoring in the river and crossing sonning bridge!

Full disclosure:

My child got offered a place in one of the schools mentioned in this thread, but I turned it down because I honestly can't see the benefits of the school outweighing the fees, while also balancing out the fact that we have two of the best comprehensives in the country on our doorstep. I am not the only parent I know who has done the same.

And, I've also taught in two of the schools mentioned. On that basis I have loads of respect for all of them, and truly believe you have to do what's right for your child- who we don't know. It's very individual.

Thanks @Curioushorse, really appreciate your POV on this especially given you've taught in one of the mentioned schools 😁

We looked at shiplake and pangbourne last year alongside others in Oxfordshire/north bucks (we are oxford area)

Both seemed lovely schools for the middling child in terms of academics and for those who need a more caring environment than the super selective provide. They are a bit far from us though we did apply to pangbourne and ds has been offered a place. Just deciding between offers at the moment.

Abingdon were very unwelcoming of our ds with ASD, actively worked hard to avoid us applying, but we have lots of friends with neuro typical, bright boys there who are very happy. Good for academic, sporty, emotionally robust.

St edwards has got very competitive recently and much more academic. Great school but you would need some back ups.

Do look at all your options though, including state.

@ChocolateHoneycomb I've never come across an independent school where the provision for SEND students is as good as it is in the state sector. They may say it is, but actually they can just afford to spend more time answering parental questions- which isn't the same thing. It's not regulated, and most private schools are just not going to be at the forefront of new research and developments, because they don't need to be. I've seen some very expensive, high profile schools where it's frankly embarrassing.

However, with ASD kids, they may benefit hugely from just being in a smaller environment- which could definitely be worth paying for.

Controversially, my favourite school in the local area for ASD provision, is Bulmershe. The staff there are excellent, and have individual clear programmes for all their kids- which are followed. Luckley House has done some good things, if small and private is useful. Those would be the ones I've been most impressed by locally.

Argh. @ChocolateHoneycomb just seen you're not that local. Ignore everything I said!

@Curioushorse our experience has been that SEND supportiveness is very variable, both in state and independent! Ds was falling apart in the state sector where his extra needs were just not enough to be catered for in such a stretched system, whereas he has thrived in a small, nurturing prep school. You have to suss out the schools very carefully though. I think if a child needs more than minor adaptations (eg ds finds structure, predictability, fixed time music lessons, wearing a shirt with Velcro initially before buttons helpful but has never needed 1:1 or specialist support) then state is often better.
Our local comprehensives are huge, have quite challenging catchment areas and I think ds would drown there.

@Bluestarx3
I forgot to add, multiple schools cause logistics nightmares. Of course age causes it to happen, but it can be unnecessarily complex. I would give at least a micro thought to his younger siblings. We had dc at two primaries (DS1 at private as I referred too, ds2 in state) for 3 years and drop offs/collections can clash, different inset days, different holidays occasionally etc.

Thanks @ChocolateHoneycomb ! Yes that's also another factor we have thought of...there's one and then a further three academic years between all dc so definitely makes me lean towards schools closer by! And that means it might not necessarily be the 'best' school he ends up in but think we would prioritise an easier life spending more time together at weekends than traipsing up and down the M40 😆

@Curioushorse if you don't mind me asking, do you have any experience or knowledge on how Shiplake stretches more academic children, given it's not known as being an academic school?

Hi @Bluestarx3 yes, I have an idea. And, like all the schools mentioned, it would do a good job. They do have some very able students, and they do get those students into great universities. However, the majority of their students are more middle ability, though diligent. So the problem is if you've got a very bright child there, you're relying on that child to take the opportunities given and push themselves to a large extent. What you're not going to get as much of is the natural competition provided by a similarly bright friendship group.

It is a good school, and definitely has a very 'happy' feel- which you don't get everywhere.

@Bluestarx3 I didn't answer your question fully- because I can only speak with confidence about my own subject area, and I'm not sure I want to give that away! However, I have seen students from Shiplake at what would be classified as 'pushing the most able' type events, and they not only showed their strengths, but showed that they'd been taught and encouraged well in that extra-curricular academic skill.

It’s really worth going back to this comment now, because if you check actual GCSE results it is clear your comment is not even remotely true.
(Compare Piggott to Reading Grammar or Reading Blue Coat)
I’m not saying Piggott is not a good school - it certainly is - but there’s no point simply making things up.

@Dearydear hullo! Is this to me?

Remember firstly that this thread was started last year, so you're probably looking at a completely different set of results.

But secondly you're probably not comparing like for like. If you look at the top end of Piggott academically, you will find that those students are attaining similar results to the grammar schools.

Their progress 8 score is unbelievably good. That is the real indicator of an amazing school. Anything above 0 is impressive- but they're 0.7 for this year! That means that students going there attain, on average, 0.7 of a grade higher for each GCSE than they would in an average school. Maiden Erlegh is around that too.

I've no clue what Reading Bluecoat has done- but it is also an excellent school (honestly. They all are!). It will be tricky to measure progress 8 because they won't have the starting data, and don't have the requirements of state schools to stick to GCSEs rather than iGCSEs (which are easier). What they've got on the website is fairly meaningless, therefore. It's the sort of thing that looks vaguely impressive to parents without giving the context. It isn't impressive for all students to have got 7+ for example, if they only entered students for the ones they knew they were going to attain that grade in- or if the students would have had target grades of 8 in the state sector.

It's a very fortunate area to live in. I rate all the local schools- private and state.

Sure - but you didn’t specify a year, and nor did you specify that you were only talking about Piggott’s ‘top end’ which interestingly you don’t define - are you talking only about their top 5- 10 students, for instance? Even so, I don’t see how that can be true when at the selective schools students are achieving 11 or more 9s.
this is what you actually said:

‘Piggott's results are actually better than any of the schools mentioned. So are Maiden Erlegh's.’ - clearly not true, in any year recently so please do specify which one?

‘ I mean that in terms of Value Added as well as numbers attaining top grades at GCSE and A-level.’ - how are you calculating Value Add for schools which don’t publish theirs, and what numbers are you looking at?

‘Both schools get more high prior attainers (students coming into the schools with high SATs marks) than any of those independents- which is really interesting’ - how on earth do you possibly know that when independent school students don’t even sit SATs? Might that be why??

This very clearly does not tally up with what you’re now saying - and it also categorically is not true that their results are just better or that it is embarrassing for the other schools.

Again, I like Piggott and would certainly consider it for my children (going secondary soon) - but untruths are not necessary.

You now also claim IGCSEs are easier than GCSEs. It would be fascinating to see your references as I can show you many academic works which strongly refute that. For one thing, the coursework which bumps up many GCSE results does not exist with IGCSE courses, which are often entirely exam dependent.