St George's College, Weybridge or Halliford?

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With just a few days left to decide we are in a complete conundrum! St George's is co- Ed, has amazing facilities, is sporty all the things we were looking for, but it is a commute away. Halliford completely surprised us with its offering and has the pastoral care , small school, will be known by teachers, lots of support and is local. Gauging feeling it seems Halliford is everyones banker , it's academically less demanding and ' easy' to get a place at... and that it would be silly to turn down the amazing St George's...??? Our son is dyslexic yet both schools have offered him a place and say he will do well with them. Anyone with any info on either school, please share! TIA xxx

Halliford parent here. We were in the same offers position with our dyslexic son a few years ago and I don’t regret our choice at all!
It’s easier to chose if you break it down and decide what’s the most important things to you as a family.
Factors which helped us to decide:
1- which one did your son like the most? Going in to a school feeling happy with his choice is a huge thing.
2- which one did you like the most and why? Facilities and results are important but what’s the value add score of each school?
3- do you want co-ed for him?
4-which one did you feel could give you better pastoral support and wellbeing support - vital when navigating the teenage years!

Halliford surprised us when we saw it at an open day and we haven’t been disappointed. Headmaster really does know all the boys, sports are great and pastoral amazing.

good luck with your choice - your son should be very proud with both those offers. Feel free to ask anymore questions about Halliford - happy to help.

Halliford mum here and I love it. We didn't apply to St George's but did look around. It's a very impressive school in terms of its facilities etc. Can't comment on the teachers etc but I know someone with a child there who loves it.

Halliford is lovely. Small, nurturing. I think it was seen as the banker and maybe still is but it's becoming increasingly hard to get places as it's got a great reputation. The teachers are great, the Head is brilliant. I don't have a bad word to say about it. Happy to answer questions.

Sorry - I saw this too late - this thread might also help!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/private-school/5298915-st-georges-weybridge?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Thank you so much incognito! It's so tricky to decide but you have summed up our predicament exactly and it's heartening to know yr son is so happy at Halliford. For us its the easier choice family wise, it takes out a long commute and our son very much enjoyed the interview, exam and offers day. We just don't want to sell him short as we tend to underestimate him as he has an extremely academic sister at LE
H. We don't want him cruising and not being pushed academically- we are paying for facilities but also to ensure he has every chance of a good set of GCSE's etc 🤦🏻‍♀️ it looks like Halliford is our choice but I'm so reluctant to give up St George's which is such an outstanding school!!!

Thank you so much for the replies and sign posts to other threads ( Ticklish Swan). We have opted for Halliford as we cannot find fault with it at all and it seems a perfect fit for our son. We are sure he will be well looked after, we hope he will get a decent set of exam results but most of all want himmto be happy and we think Halliford will do that job! Thank you all x

We love it. I hope you and your son do too.

St George’s Weybridge is a fantastic school! It is all rounded with incredible sports and great academic results and mental health is a priority and kids thrive. The main thing that stands out to me is the teaching staff as enthusiastic and passionate. My son is in year 9.
However, if you’re coming from Teddington Twickenham areas the coach system is not good at the moment. They allow over an hour for the journey which only takes 25 minutes to drive there directly. They need to prioritise sorting out the coach system to this particular area and then this school will definitely tick all boxes.

st Georges have now chnaged their coach route, so that it is much quicker and more direct for Teddington an twickenham kids - leaving 20 minutes later in morning - so longer lie in!