Bromsgrove school

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We are considering this school for our year 8 boy when he starts year 9. Does anyone have any experience please?
looking for somewhere which is excellent pastorally as he suffers from very low self esteem. He is dyslexic so a school which has good SEN provision and teaching is very important. We would appreciate any feedback

I will be watching this.with interest as I'm hoping we had a one off bad experience

We went in an open day and the staff seemed.very caring and friendly BUT when we spoke to their SENco I picked up a slightly prickly feel from her (.DS is dyspraxic).she went on about how Bromsgrove is primarily an academic and sports school and if DS was struggling a bit in English ( not surprising since he struggles physically with writing) and not keen on rugby or.football he would probably not be a good fit. DS unfortunately heard some of this and refused to have any more to.do.with it. It felt quite hostile.

On the other hand it's a lovely school and I thought it seemed over all friendly with good facilities and plenty of extra curricular but just not for us

I would honestly go and visit and also talk.to.their SENco hopefully you'll get a better feeling than we did..We really wanted to like it and we did until that conversation

Thank you. Useful info.
we actually spoke to the admissions lady and had very much the same message. If they’re not academic and/or sporty then not the school for them. I was quite shocked BUT we have friends who send their dyslexic son and they said that whilst the SEN support is not great the pastoral side is. This is even more important to us than the academic side so I’m hoping this is the case.

If they are selective by ability then their GCSE results are not stellar which does also make me question their teaching and learning……

Any other opinions at all please from
anyone who sends their child/knows the school.

Bump

My DS left the school recently. He also had an SEN. I asked him whether he would recommend the school and he said absolutely. He describes the school as being as close to perfect as a school could be. As a parent, I can honestly say that the school was brilliant for him. He is now at a Russell Group university studying a STEM subject and there is no way he would have achieved that without the support of the school. His last school had written him off as a failure due to his SEN whereas Bromsgrove just expected him to do well and he did.

The recent ISI report described the school as calm and I would second that. It’s definitely not an academic hothouse and I don’t think DC feel less valued if they aren’t academic. The pastoral care is brilliant. The house system means your child has fantastic support from staff who really get to know them. The point about sport is about ensuring no one is excluded from a team. In the first year of seniors everyone is expected to belong in a sports team (even if it’s the 7th team!) to help then feel they belong. After that they can lean towards other sports like basketball or table tennis. They seem to offer a sport for everyone.

It may not be the school for everyone. It’s quite serious with high standards of behaviour and uniform expected and DC are expected to be quite independent. About half the school are boarders and they are mainly international but the day houses are all local DC. If you have any further questions please PM me.