Stowe school

[Bedsmum66]

Hi all, we really liked Stowe for day option. Loved it looking around. We have three bright sporty kids. However, I have read so much negativity here that it has left serious doubts in my mind. I can’t reconcile the reputation with the type of kids that I know are going locally who include lots of hard working bright kids. Guess I’m looking for a bit of reassurance that the kids work hard and my money won’t be wasted!!

@Bedsmum66 I think you will find any boarding school which doesn’t require top academics to get in, will have a certain number of Dc who don’t want to work so hard. If your DC are bright, why aren’t you targeting the Royal Latin School in Buckingham? Plenty of hard working Dc there.

However you have to understand that all sorts of Dc go to schools like Stowe. Why would your Dc suddenly change from hard working to not? Is that all you worry about? My DC boarded but I wanted an all round education. A few DC struggled a bit at their school. I think these Dc are a minority and don’t affect the majority or your Dc.

Stowe has Dc boarding from all over. These Dc are not local (going to feeder schools) so you don’t know them. No one can guarantee what they will be like and why would you be wasting your money if these Dc don’t work so hard? Your Dc should be stronger and stay true to their ideals. Plus take up everything on offer. They might even enjoy the beagles.

Thanks for the reply, really helpful and you make some good points. Hoping to also hear from people with kids at Stowe. I would be delighted with the grammar school. My partner not so keen and sees private school as more a rounded offer with sports etc.

RLS is sporty! Where does he get the idea it’s not?

I agree Stowe is a different offer, not least the grounds and buildings, but RLS DC do very well and certainly most are bright.

It deeply saddens me when I hear a child is about to go to Stowe. Some of the stories I’ve heard over the years…the place should be shut down. So much suffering has taken place in those beautiful buildings. I think you either have to become a bully to survive or be the bullied. Can’t fault them on their marketing though!

RLS all the way. Save yourself ££££. They have decent enough sports & there are other local teams (for swimming, rugby, hockey etc) if needed. Stowe has a dodgy rep for a reason.

oh dear. Is this recent bullying, or legacy reputation from Stowe back in the day? Thanks for the responses.

I know two kids who recently went there and they liived it and thrived. They are two very polite well spoken young adults. I hadn't heard if this reputation tbh.

Two years ago my dd got offered a place despite forgetting about the online interview & ending up starting ten minutes late, straight from bed without a clue what was happening 😱 so I think there applications must have been a bit sparse. Didn’t accept.

• their. urgh

I wouldn’t recommend Stowe if they didn’t go to one of the feeder preps. RLS is good but if you didn’t want a selective Akeley Wood is also extremely good. Another option if you live near Milton Keyes are the Bedford Schools - I personally loved them.

I tutored a family whose children all went to Stowe. Lovely children but thick as two short planks. Incredibly wealthy family very involved in an elite sport. It was a good thing those kids were rich and good looking because they were incredibly hard to educate!

its very difficult to distinguish between what is recent and what was the case years ago. This thread proving this again! Although all comments helpful to read. Schools can change. My boys are at a feeder prep to Stowe and I do get the impression that the increase in day houses has changed academic profile, from looking at the kids leaving for there. They inc. a lot of academic kids. However, Stowe gets a lot of bad press on here which is hard to ignore.

@Bedsmum66

People take a single child and turn that into every child!! Far better info comes from current or recent parents. My DD knows DC who went there 10 years ago but that’s not current!

If your Dc is at a feeder prep then you have better recent info than what’s on here. Some of it is rubbish, quite frankly. Can the school put you in touch with parents who have Dc there? There could be some in the school right now. Winchester House sends a lot for example.

I always totally object to Dc being labelled as thick. If they were in state education, they would never be called that by a tutor. It’s obviously jealousy. These Dc will be ok in life but being well off seems to allow adults who should know better to be nasty about them.

I too think the number of day Dc at the school has altered the cohort. Many people in the area will pay day fees but would not stretch to boarding. Stowe is therefore the country equivalent to St Edwards in Oxford.

If you wanted boarding, Rugby is wonderful and not far away. Akeley Wood is not Stowe. It’s Cognita owned and very different . No one usually chooses Akeley Wood over RLS for example, but is Dc doing Bucks 11 plus? Although staying at prep until 13 has its attractions.

We had a disappointing experience at Akeley. I know people with current/recent day pupils at Stowe who are/seem to have enjoyed it. One dc thrived at RLS

Stowe is definitely changing following the introduction of day pupils. I have friends with children in the lower years - one day and one boarding. Both are thriving and parents very happy. They’re nice kids.

Neither is stellar academically (both average) but they do excel in an extra curricular area.

Both come from families with money though. Nice cars, houses, holidays, clothes, latest iPhone etc. I think this is a common theme at the school and would be my main area of concern - it seems more important to “keep up with the Jones’s” there.

I personally would choose Haileybury over Stowe as I think the academic improvements at Stowe will take a while to trickle through. I think it’s unfair to use the reputation from a few years ago and the school does still suffer from this negative opinion. I just feel there are better schools for less money.

No parent wants to hear their child isn’t bright but sadly some are below the median. I certainly would never share that with a parent but I also wouldn’t want to have my child limited.

No jealousy here - I went to a very academic public school myself and I was surrounded by high achievers who are now all doctors, lawyers, etc. It pushed me to excel and gave me exceptional opportunities.

@marmite2023 Most of us know if Dc are bright, medium or not so bright. What I object to is people saying DC are “as think as 2 short planks” about DC who want to go to Stowe as if it somehow not acceptable to be average. If you look at Stowe you accept it has a mix of DC. It always has. I don’t understand why people expect all private schools to be the equivalent of SPG or Winchester. Obviously parents choose schools that suit DC and Stowe has its place.

DD wasn’t keen for 6th form boarding as she felt it was isolated. It is. If you are day that doesn’t matter. DD is now 28. They had day pupils when we thought about it briefly at an earlier age. A friend considered it for both their DC as day pupils but plumped for Rugby. So day pupils have helped it to grow to over 800 pupils but they do compete with RLS for bright day pupils. It’s inevitable. Therefore with only MK as a larger population nearby it’s doing pretty well for numbers. This would largely indicate most a happy. I simply do not understand some of the angst posted.

I guess your attitude is why you wrote in the past tense. Rich families tend to outsource education and discipline so Mum and Dad can focus on the fun stuff. Nothing wrong with that but it does mean that only tutors the kids can take seriously do well.

Hello everyone.

I am also looking for parents perspective (of both current and former pupil’s) and those that have recently worked there on whether or not I should opt for Stowe over a local selective grammar school for my DD as a day pupil.

My DD was lucky enough to qualify for the local selective grammar school and has started there recently. However, DD has recently been awarded an academic continuation scholarship from Stowe where she will start off at one of the Prep feeder school and then move to Stowe. We do think that this is a great opportunity and one which we would not have been able to financially support without the award but are torn as to whether it’s the right option for our DD. DD wants to go there despite not knowing anyone and would need to build new friendships but we know that by taking DD out of the grammar school setting it would be nigh impossible for us to put her back into a grammar school so a lot is at stake.

DD will no doubt thrive both at the grammar school and at the Prep and Stowe School and this is supported by DD’s previous Headteacher. However, I thought we had made up our mind to accept the scholarship but having come across this thread I am now again doubting our decision (one which we came to after weeks of agonising). Please can you shed some light on any recent experiences (good or bad) of the the school. We had initially decided to take our daughter out of the grammar school on the basis we felt that the outcome of any academic attainment would likely be the same irrespective of which school she goes to but felt that Stowe would provide an all rounded education (although she’s not sporty at all), mentoring and pastoral care and instill a sense of confidence in our DD, which she lacks at present. We even overlooked the fact that the school was less diverse compared to the grammar school and that our financial background would be nothing compared to others attending the school but I’m now really confused having read some of the comments regarding Stowe.

So this is presumably RLS? Why would she not gain confidence there? I do see your dilemma. Are you getting funding all the way through at prep and Stowe? If not, is it just for one of their feeder preps?

I might stay put as your DD has started. I think you are over stating “confidence”. It’s not taught! It’s within dc. You can be more confident as you succeed. What else would you get from Stowe at 13? Why does your DD think it’s better?

Im sure another child will be delighted to take your DDs place if she leaves. Plus if she’s up for this change, in my view she is confident! She knows no one and is willing to make a big leap. Cannot believe it’s been left so late in the day though! Why did you let her start at the grammar and buy all the uniform? That’s so odd.

Hi Tizerorfizz,

Thank you for commenting. The funding is all the way through Prep and Stowe, hence being a continuation scholarship. The initial award given back in end of June was not great and after lots of email correspondence between the registrar at the feeder school I finally spoke with someone higher up at Stowe who came back with a final offer towards the end of August due to being on holiday. Whilst we were in discussion I had to continue to prep my daughter to start at the grammar school. We are using limited uniform for now with a view to hopefully being able to return unused uniform.

She has only been at the grammar since last week and when the offer came through she surprised us by saying that she really wants to go there and will make new friends, which is completely out of her comfort zone. Having spent a week at the grammar her decision has not changed and she’s aware that she needs to perform academically as she will be on an academic scholarship. In fact she’ll be leaving friends at the school from her previous primary school. She wants to go there as she sees it as a great opportunity and the fact that she’s been recognised by being awarded the scholarship in the first place. By the time she goes to Stowe she will know children going there from the feeder school so won’t alone.

The dilemma I have is whether we are making the right decision? We don’t know any parents who send or have sent their children there so have no first hand perspective on the school other than what we’ve read or seen during the tour of the school and it’s very much mixed reviews.

Whilst our DD wants to go she’s only 11 so we as parents need to figure out what is best for her.

Is the reputation of Stowe that bad? We are aware of issues in the past and with all schools there will always be behavioural issues.

Why does she have to go to a feeder school until 13? could she not give the Grammar a go and then decide for Year 9 entry. If they want her that much surely they would agree to that.
I don't have direct experience of Stowe but anecdotally from other parents it would be one of the last schools I would send a child if money was fairly tight.

It’s an academic continuation scholarship and the level of funding given reflects that. We would prefer her to move now rather than in two years. The funding is allowing us to be able to send her there. Paying for the balance of fees or extras such as trips is not an issue. The concern is whether it’s an overall good school or not and whether the school would be the right fit for our DD.

I wouldn’t give up a grammar school place for Stowe! Definitely not.

Are you able to expand on your comment on why you wouldn’t to that?