Boarding Options For V Bright and Sporty DD

[blondiemoose]

Starting to put short list together for senior schools to visit. Our preference would be boarding for the pros of enabling lots of time for sport, music, clubs etc rather than commuting. DD loves school and wants to be involved in everything going.

She is v bright, (reading three years above average for her age, maths takes no effort etc) v competitive, sporty, confident, outgoing, a character, likes to be the comedian.

I think an academic school would suit her ability but I think there would need to be elements of fun to match her non serious personality too.

Currently potential list is:

Wycombe abbey at 11+ (close enough to where we live to come home when not a closed weekend and to sports fixtures etc).

Struggling with a second choice at 11+, would probably go to godstowe to fill the gap until 13+, could ease into boarding a few nights a week there too.

At 13+
CLC, I love the look of, but a long drive up the motorway, would probably only make coming home every 2/3 weeks doable.

Marlborough, full boarding, ideally looking for home most weekends/every couple of weeks. Still quite far, more than an hour drive.

Wellington, seems a bit big? Most come home Saturday nights, about 40 mins to an hour drive.

Any views on if these would suit her personality, or other suggestions.

I've taken headington off the list as not many board, although I'm tempted to put it back on due to lack of other options.

Others I've considered but unsure if enough stretch academically, (I can see her coasting if allowed to):
Queens wood
Teddies
Rugby

Kings Canterbury?

What kind of sports does she excel in? The thing that put us off the “STEM and sport” school that we looked at for Dd (who is very STEMy and sporty indeed) is that they were a hockey school. Dd had barely played hockey at that point and - much as I had no doubt she would take to it - I didn’t want her to spend huge amount of time on a sport that she would be pretty good at the expense of the sports that she was already really really good at.

Thanks, I think Canterbury will be too far.

Sports wise, she likes most things but her favourites probably are swimming, gymnastics and cricket.

Or look after your kid at home.

@Madagascary the OP clearly is asking for boarding options, please don't derail.

OP how about St Mary's Ascot? I interviewed a very bright super science/maths girl who had made her own series of animations explaining quantum mechanics and posted them online. She was absolutely lovely and had had the best time there. She was Jewish and said the fact that it was a nominally Catholic school didn't translate into the day to day besides a general values ethos kind of thing.

My daughter has just started Wycombe aged 11 and it is perfect for super bright, super sporty girls (my DD not v sporty but many are). We also considered CLC but it was too far away. St Mary’s not as sporty but excellent academic reputation.

St Swithuns, Winchester. Very bright and sporty dd went there and loved it. She was a weekly boarder but ended up staying in most weekends!!

My children went to Wellington….. it is very well suited to bright students and those with sport or arts talents. There is definitely academic pressure though. It is a big school but the life within the boarding houses is really good ( in my experience anyway) so you are part of a much smaller community within the whole school. Weekly boarding is great, 40-60 mins seems fairly standard for Wellington ( although there is actually a bus for the London students) . Current head is fab, he’s been there a long time so really knows the school (although only head for past few years. Less said about the previous head the better. He only did 3-4 years after Dr Seldon and was useless). AMA! ( we left 4 years ago)

Thanks everyone,

I had discounted St Marys Ascot as we are not a religious family, but I think it might be worth investigating further based on that feedback.

It is quite a long journey to Winchester unfortunately

Actually st swithuns would be closer then Marlborough, just looked on Google maps. Do many board? Do many go home every weekend?

I'll add it to the list.

The obvious school for a swimmer is Millfield. But I’m guessing that is too far? (I’m a Northerner so my geography of the South is pretty poor….)

Yes Millfield too far, and my understanding is there is sporty and then another level that is Millfield sporty

I was going to suggest if she's a swimmer millfield, mt Kelly or Bournemouth collegiate.

But they are too far for what your looking at I think.

There's plenty of other schools that do swimming but I suspect they'll be too far north! Ellesmere college is boarding I think?

I guess it also depends on how good your dd is at sport.

Is she top level at a particular sport (national level) or just a good sportswoman who loves the thrill side of it?

How far from High Wycombe are you? Close enough to weekly board? All the benefits of boarding but with weekly contact?

You have listed a mix of girls only and mixed sex schools. Do you have a view either way on this?

Yes close enough to Wycombe to come home anytime they want.

Sport level just solid club level but sport is her favourite thing.

Co-Ed/single sex wise we don't really have a preference, just one element to consider.

CLC. Going home every 3 weeks or so is normal. And lots of girls get the train home once they are old enough.

Wycombe Abbey is most definitely a full boarding school and is what put us off (although we did debate about it for an eternity). With Saturday morning school, sport on Saturday afternoon and a requirement to be at chapel on Sunday evening then you’ll have less than 24 hours with her on open weekends. I have another DD who weekly boards (see below) and I feel like we have a fabulous balance of home and school life. WA just felt like we would never see her, and she would be begging us to stay there at weekends. If you are all happy with this then WA would be a great choice.

My eldest DD is at Queenswood and is extremely bright - passed the Bucks 11+ with ease. She is being properly stretched and most definitely not allowed to coast. Yes of course it’s not full of super academic girls but that doesn’t mean it’s not able to meet their needs. There’s plenty of bright girls there. Their head girl got 11 GCSEs at Grade 9 which playing hockey for England and playing at a premier league football club. Support is there to fit everything in. Sport is exceptional there.

Curve ball here but depending on your location then check out Berkhamsted School. Ranked 3rd in the U.K. for sport. Great academics. Has boarding but to be honest it’s mainly Chinese and few and far between so definitely a day school. They have an extensive coach service that goes into Bucks and London as well as Herts.

Sevenoaks? Great for academics but also lots of v good sport, and fully coed. My kids are there as day students, but the boarding is big, and they're about to open a shiny new girls' boarding house. And it's v close to the M25. Boarding only starts at 13 though.

Rugby? My two DD's are there. One is extremely sporty and they other excels musically. They don't board, but many of their friends do. I believe you can board from age 13. They are very happy there.