Prior’s Field, Godalming vs St. Edmund’s, Hindhead, help needed

[Surfandturf1]

Please, we really need some help to decide on which school to choose for our DD.

She got offers to start in Y7 in 2023 from both, Prier’s Field and St. Edmund’s and was waitlisted for a much more selective and academic school, which would have been our first choice. We do not think that a WL place will ever be offered given a number of candidates and usual schools’ practice to over offer.

She has above average academic ability, but definitely not top 20% academically. We visited both schools a number of times and liked their soft approach and good value added. Taking into consideration that both schools are not really academically selective they still manage to achieve around 65-70% A-A*(7-9) grades at GCSEs.

Although schools are very different, we feel that both of them would be a good fit for our DD. Perhaps the current school parents or parents of children who were at these schools recently can share their experience.

We are aware that Prier’s Field is quite often being unfavourably compared to 3 other Guildford schools, which is probably a bit unfair as they admit the girls with wide ability range. We really liked their extra-curricular options and friendly nurturing atmosphere.

St. Edmund’s attracts us by being co-ad and also friendly and nurturing school but unfortunately doesn’t have a sixth form.

As well as looking for the nurturing environment we still would like our DD to be pushed academically to reach her potential. Which school would provide more balanced (nurturing but yet academic) experience?

Many thanks.

Personally I would always rather a school had a sixth form. I think it's good for the kids to have older pupils to look up to and for teachers to be teaching A level.
That said I know people in both school that are happy.

Thank you, it is a valid point. An absence of a sixth form does bother us. At the same time, a very small sixth form may limit subject choices.

My daughter started Prior's Field in September. She joined alone, has made a lovely group of friends, joined various clubs, found an absolute love of netball and her confidence has really come on in leaps and bounds already. She is academic but is being stretched. There are drop in lunchtime sessions if you do need help with anything. All in all very happy so far.

It sounds reassuring, thanks a lot. There is an open day at PF this Saturday, the offer holders can come a half an hour earlier. We are going to take this opportunity to revisit the school and ask questions. Annoyingly, St. Edmund's open day is scheduled for the same time. We know this school a bit more, but still would have loved to revisit it.

Just jumping on re Sixth Form. Although it's small, DD described her sixth form experience at PF as "the best two years of my life"; even better than her Uni time (although admittedly that got borked by COVID).

She considered other Sixth Form options but elected to stay put. That's sadly not an option at St Ed's.

Clearly this is a super personal opinion from just one girl but a small Sixth Form isn't necessarily a showstopper and it didn't impact DD's transition to Uni.

Best wishes for whatever September brings!

Thank you for your comment, it is helpful indeed. I guess a small Sixth Form has its pros and cons. Less subject choices, but probably more teacher's attention as lower student-teacher ratio.

Currently at St Ed's. The Prep School offering (to Year 8) is largely successful and a happy place to be. The Senior School is starting to slip up unfortunately largely due to over expansion and neither the facilities or the staff to support it - a real pity.
Also, think, in retrospect that a lack of Sixth Form option can be an issue for some.
Good Luck with your choice.

Thank you very much @MerciMama for your honest opinion. Is it possible to elaborate on a shortfall in facilities and the stuff support in the Senior School? This kind of things is almost impossible to pick up at the school visit. The school does look a bit fragmented, although they showed us the newly build sports hall and the dining hall is currently under construction. Does it mean that the current sports and classroom facilities are not big enough to accommodate the expanded school?

One of the attractions for us in St.Ed’s is class sizes. I though that due to very small classes the teacher student ratio will be very good, hence teacher’s support. Why in your opinion it is not the case?

I would really appreciate your inside knowledge.

What did you decide @Surfandturf1 ?

We are considering St Ed's. Did you get to the bottom of the slip up comment for the senior school? Thank you.

@ MrsMeanwhile I did not get to the bottom of the slip up comment. I heard a lot of nice things about school from other St.Ed's parents. I guess any school doesn't work in the same way for everyone, so appreciate that there would be different opinions.
Our DD got a WL place, so the decision was very simple at the end. Best of luck with your decision.

I got to the bottom of it if it helps, and decided that it was relatively easily resolved. We decided on St Ed’s in the end for our DS (we also had offers for RGS and Churcher’s). There are lots of individual reasons for choosing schools, and you should go with the one that you think will fit you and DC the best .

I have experience of both schools having left St eds to send my daughter to PF in seniors.
The facilities and opportunities for girls at St eds are no match for Priors Field. Class sizes are comparable.
St eds is an old boys school, pf has been educating girls for 120 years....the difference in experience shows.
Her maths has come on heaps since moving too.

Hello Ma’am, I trust you and the family are great. Please would you mind sharing your experience in PF?

My daughter loves PF. They really 'get' girls.
The sciences are split from Yr 1. gcse options are in a wider range of artistic subjects. Interschool Competitive sports include tennis, athletics and gymnastics...not just field team sports like hockey.

And crucially her maths have improved no end and the pastoral care is brilliant.

At st eds in the seniors, classes can end up with a boy to girl ratio of 3 or even 4 to 1 so if your daughter is generally more comfortable around boys then st eds might be a better fit.