York Secondary Schools - St Peters/Bootham/Huntington - other???

[aeh148]

We are moving to York this summer and looking for a secondary for my two girls for Year 8 and Year 10. We having being living abroad for 10 yrs so we are a bit concerned about throwing them into a big state school e.g. Huntington so have also been looking at Bootham, St Peters and The Mount. Does anyone have any experience of these schools that they can share? Or any advice about independent and state schools in York in general?

The Mount is a lovely nurturing school for girls with a really holistic approach that values all that the girls do. The academics are important, but so is everything else and all girls are encouraged to participate in some extra curricular things. There is a lot on offer even though to is small and this allows the staff to really get to know everyone and girls make friendships across year groups.

What did you go for in the end? Personally I would choose Bootham every time if you can afford it - a really wonderful school which is nurturing and supportive and the staff really listen. The Quaker ethos makes for a beautifully tolerant environment where people want to behave and work rather than being forced to. My children have flourished there academically and as kind, interesting maturing young people.

Avoid Bootham School - their shambolic safeguarding track record is appalling albeit well hidden. You won’t realise until something happens to your child. This has included the school failing to tell parents when the school noticed their child suffering from anorexia, the school giving a child pain killers and then failing to inform the parent so the child ended up overdosing (without any il effects thankfully) and the school leaving a child with epilepsy unattended in a room after the child told teachers they were about to have a seizure so that the child was alone when it happened (and the school subsequently failing to tell parents that this had even happened). The safeguarding lead is useless, the leadership entirely missing and the administration an absolute shambles.