Pipers Corner

[ConfusedInBucks]

I’d be very grateful for any recent experiences or knowledge of Pipers Corner, Bucks for my eldest daughter (currently year 5) looking to join in year 7 in 2024. I’m really looking for a good ‘all round’ school which will nurture and support my sensitive daughter. She is especially keen on drama, art, maths and sciences at the moment and, although doing well academically at her prep school, I feel a smaller, less hothouse environment would suit her better and make for a happier experience.

This fixation on whether money is 'old' or 'new' is bizarre and I find it quite distasteful. My daughter went to Wycombe Abbey and nobody cared a toss about the provenance of fees. There were no splits and no need to ignore certain DC. The girls were generally polite and respectful and they came from a whole breadth of cultures and financial backgrounds. My advice would be don't look for problems that may not even exist.

OP I would say that, whilst it is good to hear about other's experiences, it really is all about the fit of the child with the school. Children can have vastly different experiences in the same school. You are the best person to judge whether your own daughter will be happy there. I would go to visit Pipers on a normal school day with your daughter and have a couple of girls show you round. Ask them the questions that you think are more pertinent regarding your daughter thriving there. At the end of the day, go with your gut. Good luck.

BewitchedorBewildered BeeStrudel
I was taught the concepts of 'old money' / 'new money' at university and these are generally accepted terms to describe groups of people in society, so its interesting you describe this as 'quite distasteful'. The new money is nothing to do with ignoring people - its about flashing the cash because you now have it. A lot of Pipers girls have parents in the entertainment industry and the girls are well known for having very drunken parties at a young age.

Wycombe Abbey and Pipers are not comparable schools. And locally Wycombe Abbey girls are seen exactly as you have described them - polite and respectful.

There are a lot of lovely gentle Pipers girls but there are also an element of very confident Pipers girls who treat the more gentle Pipers girls appalling. When the school took the toilet doors off they told the girls it was because the younger piper girls were afraid of the older piper girls in the toilets.

We have now had experience of four high schools through our children and I don't recommend Pipers for the more gentle, anxious girl - but a confident, social girl like the poster asked about would likely be able to hold their own.

It's the 'old' and 'new' labelling of DC that I find distasteful rather than the terms themselves. There are over-confident and brash DC in every school in the country, from all walks of life. It's life. In most cases it has very little to do with the vintage of the family coffers.

@BewitchedorBewildered Exactly. It’s a case of being in the wrong school and making sure it’s the fault of everyone else. I come from a family who had money but didn’t spend it much. I like spending money and I’m not apologizing for it. My choice. It doesn’t make dc horrible.

So when parents visit Pipers, do they see the doorless loos? Just wondering! I’d leave in a hurry. They have loos without doors in townships in SA.

Claire's Court does feel nice when you are there