Bedford Greenacre Independent BGI Reviews?

[ParentingRollerCoastr]

I’d be very grateful for any reviews of BGI.

It seems very sporty. How does the school perform in term of encouraging/facilitating academic progress in line with the child’s potential (not parents’ ambitions)? And what about music?

Note: we’re already familiar with BMS, BS, Kimbolton etc.

Hi, our child joined BGI after seven years at Kimbolton School. Like a few children at BGI, we moved from Kimbolton School because of the terrible unaddressed bullying and poor pastoral care. We have been at BGI for two years now and we have been very happy with the pastoral care at BGI and the anti-bullying ethos.

There is less sports provision at BGI than at Kimbolton School but the music and drama provision is far superior to Kimbolton. I have seen lots of children move from Kimbolton School to BGI who are now thriving. The key thing at BGI is everyone is included if they want to be. If you have experience of Kimbolton School you will know this is not the case there in drama and sports in particular.

If sports are your main focus there is less sports provision than Kimbolton School, though hopefully with the new custom made facilities this will be better in the future. The school also does punch above its weight nationally in sports but part of that may be due to parents taking their children to after school activities.

We have also found the more relaxed academic approach has hugely benefitted our child. I would recommend that you take a tour of the school and also take the two taster days they offer, this will help your child decide for themselves. They are likely to see a few children they already know.

After my child's first week at BGI he said that he wished we had moved him from Kimbolton School years ago, we would have saved our selves years of heartache from teachers which did not listen. It is a really good thing that you are looking in to different options for your child and I wish you the best of luck. I have found it a genuinely refreshing and my child is thriving there.

Thank you so much for your response @LongtimelerkerCambridgeshire. It’s so hard to find any reviews. We have visited and really liked what we saw. Interesting to know the music provision is superior to Kimbolton’s, I had assumed otherwise. So lovely to hear how your son is getting on.

Thank you so much!

I am curious if you moved your kids to BGI and whether you are liking it?

Hi @MITMExtra we haven’t yet but they’ve done the two taster days, which they loved. I know all experiences vary but I also found some really well rounded reviews on Facebook which I found helpful. I think BGI will be a great fit for our child who is musical, fairly academic and suited to a smaller school setting.