Experiences of Prior’s Field for a creative child and bursaries

[WhimsicalWanderer]

Hi all,

We’re starting to look at secondary options for our daughter (currently Y4) and Prior’s Field has come up quite a few times as potentially a good fit.

She’s quite a creative child, she loves story writing, drawing, plays piano and is part of a drama club and is generally bright (her reading/writing is a couple of years ahead). That said, she’s also quite a perfectionist and can be hard on herself if she feels she’s “not good enough” at something. She’s not overly competitive and tends to prefer one or two close friendships rather than big groups.

We’re looking for somewhere that will gently stretch her academically but also really support her confidence and not feel too high-pressure. From what I’ve read, PF sounds quite nurturing, which appeals.

A couple of questions if anyone has recent experience:

• Does that sound like the sort of child Prior’s Field suits well?
• How have you found the pastoral care and general atmosphere?
• And slightly more awkward question… does anyone have any insight into bursaries at PF?

I can see scholarships mentioned on the website, but very little about bursaries.

Are they offered fairly widely, and roughly what sort of level (if any) people tend to get?

Appreciate any honest thoughts, feel free to PM if easier.

Thank you

Priorsfield is a gem of a school for a child like this. It has all the required stretch for clever kids but the nurture to encourage and support those less confidence. Their creative arts are amazing and the emphasis on them means that girls are very well balanced and have a great creative outlet. PM me for more details of our personal experience.

My daughter is very happy at Prior’s Field. We’ve found it to be a really warm and nurturing environment, with a good balance between encouraging & stretching the girls academically and supporting their confidence.

The creative side of the school is great - lots of opportunities in drama, music, textiles (they recently held a fashion show featuring garments the girls had designed and made themselves - amazing) and art. We’ve also seen our daughter develop an interest in subjects/ co-curricular activities
she’d never really engaged with before, which says a lot about how encouraging and passionate the teachers are.

I agree with the above. We have been very impressed with the education that Prior's Field is providing our daughter. We have seen since day one how they really do nurture the whole child (academically, emotionally, physically).

There is something for every girl at PF, whether she is artsy, sporty, techie, or all/some of those.

I know nothing about this particular school - but as someone very familiar with the bursary application process (many years of substantial bursaries at prep and public schools amongst my family) they do offer very scant information on their website. There’s so much more about the variety of scholarships they offer. I can’t find anything saying what proportion of pupils receive any sort of bursary award - though they do say the sixth form bursaries can be 100%.

Really the best you can do at this stage is register and visit at the earliest appropriate time and speak to the Bursar or applications department.

My one piece of advice is - if you feel awkward enquiring about bursaries on an anonymous forum you’re going to need some toughening up before you start applying to actual schools. To be successful you’ll require organisation, determination and optimism. (As well as honesty about your own situation.)

You can look up details of how many bursaries are awarded and the value on the register of charities. Here's the info for Priors Field. They do not mention 100% bursaries but do say that over half of the awards are for more than 50%.

I would suggest contacting the school directly and asking what you might be eligible for. Any good school will be happy to discuss this with you in more detail than anyone here can supply.

I have no doubt that’s all true, @MonGrainDeSel - but I rather feel the ethos of a school should be reflected in the first materials a parent will see. In the past I have very much preferred schools that make all the basic information readily visible on their websites.

Prospective bursary applicants are bound to be anxious when they begin looking for suitable schools. It’s not helpful if a school offers only such vague information that a parent has to enquire on MN or investigate other sources for information.

Absolutely, @Gruelle - it is definitely much better to make the info easily available. I mentioned the register of charities because people might not know about it and unfortunately a lot of schools are still a lot less than transparent about this stuff.