Alleyn’s or Sevenoaks School

[Brombased]

Hi - our DS has narrowed down his secondary school choice to Alleyn’s and Sevenoaks. The three of us love both and all three of us are having a tough time deciding. Distance is the same either way, we like what they each say about their own culture and also the heads. Facilities at Sevenoaks are far more impressive but Sat school puts us off. Any personal insights into either or both schools would be hugely welcomed as we try to make a choice.

I would search some threads on IB v A Levels for 6th form because there is quite a difference.

Sorry to add there is currently an active thread on this in the higher education section.

Thank you - IB v A-level is a consideration. We like the idea of IB but at the same time it’s quite early to know how much of an all-rounder DS will be, which presumably is important for IB; so while a consideration, it feels a bit early to judge which path will be more suited at this stage.

The thing about schools with Saturday school is that it allows more time in the week for kids to actually make use of all those facilities. But if your DC has already got specific out of school commitments on a Saturday that they don't want to give up, then that might be a reason to go for the 5 day option.

Alleyns doesn’t have Saturday school but it does have a lot of sports matches on Saturday (and without a school bus to get you there!) so Saturdays aren’t necessarily clear there either.

It's not just distance but mode of transport that is key IMO. School coaches can be a more relaxed and more reliable mode of transport than trains at the moment.

Sevenoaks has longer holidays (because of the Saturday school) and the whole IB thing is an advantage when it comes to uni applications as they get their results sooner and so get allocated a definite place (and a confirmed accommodation place) before the A level people get a look in.

Sevenoaks also has the advantage that Y7 is the first year for everyone - no cliques of kids coming up from the junior school together, everyone is new at the same time.

Sevenoaks has the whole boarding and international students thing that Alleyns doesn't have - that must give it a v different ethos?

Alleyns Saturday sport is very much for the sporty kids who want to play and get picked for a squad - so that might not apply to you?

Thank you - as I understand it, sports fixtures aren't necessarily compulsory - unless someone knows otherwise! Our concern is more in yr 9 when sevenoaks becomes all day rather than until 12.

Looking at the school holidays they are the same number of days for both (Alleyn's has 1 day less at Xmas, 1 day more at Easter, same for Summer).

Interesting on the IB, and yes, the boarding/international point definitely has pros (international exposure etc) and potential cons (potentially more cliquely/closer relationships).

Good pt on transport means. School coach and trains are both easy enough for Alleyns, but it's trains only for Sevenoaks.

Thank you - all helpful points!

True, not compulsory and only A/B/C teams so maybe not applicable to a less sporty child.

DC is in the 6th form at Sevenoaks, having joined from a state school. We've found that, rather than doing sport and music as out of school activities at the weekend, that now happens at school - there are pros & cons to that (more pros).

All Middle & Upper school students do Saturday PM sport, but there are so many to choose from that there's something for everyone. DC did sailing in the summer term - a pretty good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

DC hasn't found a boarding / day divide.

Thank you all - @ZingyBlueRobin - do you not find that DC is very tired after 6 days at school (albeit an afternoon of this is sport), with then only one rest day before it all starts again?

I'm a state school normie but I work with/have become friends with a lot of people who went to Alleyn's and they are all lovely. I also work with people who went to a range of other fancy schools and they all give off extreme dickhead vibes.
This is probably useless to you, but Alleyn's seems to produce decent adult humans rather than raging cunts.

My DN went to Alleyn's and suffered horrific, racially targeted bullying. She eventually left because it wasn't ever death with. I'd check out Everyone's Invited too. I live locally to Alleyn's (among other local private schools) and it has a really bad reputation among local girls for the boys harassing them after school.

There's also a lot of strong local feelings anti-car and traffic is awful so factor that I to how long the day will be if you live half way to Sevenoaks.

Wow, my DC is non-white and has not come across anything like this.
Also Alleyn’s came off relatively lightly on Everyone’s invited, FWIW.
Agree re: traffic, although the Foundation coaches do not have any particular issues

DD is at Alleyns. She hasn't experienced any overt sexism and certainly one of the Everyone's Invited type of events. Am not sure I understand this reference to the bad reputation locally either as the school always seem to come down hard on anything like that.

DD has occasionally been frustrated by a perceived favouring of boys sports over girls, but the school now seem to be moving to address this.

DD has taken the coach for a number of years now and only been late a handful of times. Mostly it's been a straightforward - if expensive - transport solution

Yes, but that's because of a very long journey each day - that was our choice, made for various reasons. Plus DC does a lot of sport, music & clubs, but that's a good thing.

They have 2 afternoons of sport and one afternoon of service each week, so the week is pretty diverse, with plenty of non-classroom time.

I would not recommend this school for children of colour. I worked on Reception here for 5 years and encountered unspeakable things and psychological abuse. My PTSD is tremendous

@Seb233568 which school would you not recommend for children of colour? Alleyn or Sevenoaks?

Please can you provide an update on this thread? Which school did you choose? We are in a similar quandary between accepting places at one of these two brilliant schools. Any current opinions or advice, hugely appreciated. Thanks