Queen Ethelburga's College

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Have you thought about Queen Margarets?
They have some good equestrian facilities.
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Only I think daughter would have to wait until she was 11?

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Sorry, didn't see your post.
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DD has her heart set on going to QE for some reason.
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Where is QM's and can you tell me more about it please?
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QM's is in Escrick, 3 miles south of york.

http://www.queenmargarets.org.uk/welcome/greetings.shtml

They don't say anything about equine facilities on website as they concentrate on academics but they have a great manege, stable block & access to full xc course. It has a very good reputation round here. (our yard is opposite & we use the xc)

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Thank you. I'm deffo going to take a look at that school.
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Thanks.
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Do you think it would be worth looking at Repton for my daughter?

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This will probably not be very useful, but my aunt used to live in Repton and both the school and the town, to an outsider, looked wonderful. My enduring memory of the place is of two teenage boys in their school uniform holding open a shop door for a lady with a pushchair, helping her down the kerb with it and wishing her a good afternoon.
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Very chocolate-box indeed.
 
Repton is west of Derby (in the village of Repton). I can't remember the name of the prep school/lower school
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A friend sent her four children there when they moved from the USA. They'd been home educated due to many moves round the world and she didn't really expect to like it - they all loved it! Although they lived fairly local the two eldest chose to board so as not to miss out on the social side of it.

Definately worth a look I think if you are considering private education. Remember it is some years since we were looking
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I saw this post and groaned, thought it was run by the you-know-who insurance company and it seems other posters think so too. For that reason alone I would not consider it for my children (if I had any).

I did however really want to go when I was a kid!
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'20 floodlit grass day paddocks.' (That was on the link pasted earlier) OTT springs to mind. Don't forget you'll be paying for this!

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When I was there there were about that number of paddocks but they werent very big, big enough for one horse to stretch their legs. There were also 2 very large fields which had the xc course which were used for turnout, mares in one and geldings in the other, however from what I understand they have lost these fields for other facilities.

There is a new equestrian centre getting built as the old one has been turned into 6th form apartments.

New Science labs were made when I was in about year 11 (about 2002) and there was a fire in part of the school destroying the swimming pool, drama studio but this has lead to a new larger drama department.

I am friends with the Head of Equestrian, she is lovely but can be a bit dappy!!
 
I don;t mean this to sound rude (or criticising) I'm just intrigued as to if the local state schools are any good. I only ask because I went private for my A-levels (good school, good people) but I'm not convinced it was value for money for my parents. Always felt a bit guilty about it really.
 
Long time since I was educated
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But there are a number of senior schools in Harrogate, and they all had at least a reasonably good reputation. I went to the Grammer School, just after it turned comprehensive.

Junior school was in Pannal. We had a winter uniform and a summer uniform, including a tam o'shanter and straw boater (used to float the boaters on the stream on the way to shool lol).

Ah, sweet memories
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We had PC camp at QE for several years and I can vouch for the stables, schools etc being excellent. No turnout for PC paupers so can't comment on that.
Ex hubby's new wife's kids (yes complicated I know!) go there (don't ride) but both were targetted by bullies (one of your early questions). Academically I think the school is pants and would back up QM being a much better educational establishment. Several of the PC kids went there and we heard nothing but good reports. There is also a good private school in York itself but not equestrian.
My kids went to the local comp and both done very well!!
 
i was very keen on going to QE, got all of the info, DVD etc and my parents seemed ok with it all, until they spoke to my horses dentist, who talked them out of it! i wouldnt want to repeat what he told me as well, you know how the horsey world is! but it did stop my parents from letting me go. I will say that even though the atable is free, i believe they charge through the roof for the extras, after all, the students are a captive audience!
TBH, i am glad i didnt go, at QE you can only do so many GCSEs etc, (from memory it is 8 or 9?) whereas at the school i went to, i was entered for 13 and got good grades in them all - so long term, i left with better qualifications!
i'm another who went to an all girls school - maybe thats why i did ok - no boys to kiss behind the bike sheds
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My best friend is a yard girl there and its a lovelyt friendly place from what i have heard.

Also a member called krissi used to go there PM her and ask her how it was for her.
 
Sorry guys but i live in york and know families who have been to this school and my best mate is yard girl there.Its a wonderful school you get bullying in every school regardless if its private or mainstream.
So lets not be forgetting that.
 
Having played on the QE's sports teams against other local schools, there are a lot of top schools in the area who are probably a better choice academically.
QE isnt academically driven, it attracts a lot of international students particularly from China who are very bright and so it isnt the teaching producing the grades but naturally intelligent and motivated individuals.
 
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Sorry guys but i live in york and know families who have been to this school and my best mate is yard girl there.Its a wonderful school you get bullying in every school regardless if its private or mainstream.
So lets not be forgetting that.

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Exactly, I wouldnt say there was a big bullying problem there, everyone becomes family and there are the odd bickers etc but there is generally a good atmosphere
 
Personally i wouldn't want to send any money their way due to the fact of the connection with a rather disreputable insurance company we all know of. Doesn't surprise me at all they advertise the school a lot - they do the same with their insurance!

I think there are many better schools to go to in the Harrogate/N Yorks region. I don't know anything about Queen Margaret's but i haven't heard anything bad about it either. There used to be Red House School in Moor Monkton many years ago, sadly think it is no more though.

If you want to send your daughter to an all girl school you may aswell send her to Gateways School (in Harewood), stick the pony in one of the local livery yards and enrol her with the Bramham Moor Pony Club!
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.Its a wonderful school you get bullying in every school regardless if its private or mainstream.
So lets not be forgetting that.

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Something an old friend mentioned in their quest to find a school seemed very apt. Its not whether or not the school has a bullying problem, but how the staff deal with it.
 
when i was 12 i was bullied and subsequently (sp?) changed school... i BEGGED to go to QE.

we got sent out all the info on the school and my parents refused to send me based on the lack of academic sucess had by the school.

i then went to the best school in the area (would be no good for you as its a day school and is probably too far north!)

some1 recommended Sedbergh (sorry cant remember who or how to spell it!) i really wouldnt send any children of my own there .... from what ive heard there are alot of problems with drugs there.

my friends brohter boards somewhere in york... i could find out where for you if you like? or do you want a single sex school?
 
Sorry I never actually meant Gateways was any good! Plus it's not a boarding school anyway. Just think anywhere's better than sending money in the direction of QEs!!!
 
I always wanted to go to QE, my parents even sent for the DVD, which I found and got very excited about! I never went though ..... and from what i've heard since, that was a good thing as not many have good things to say about it. I've also heard that K.Dixon isn't too great a teacher, but i'm sure others would disagree.

A friend of mine went to Sedburgh and she loved it, achieved excellent grades and had an awesome time - it sounded like hell to me though, very strict and very far away from the local comprehensive i went to where uniform allowed artistic license!
 
I would sit down with your daughter and discuss what she is really looking for from the school. I begged my parents to send me to QE for 6th form (it was the only school I had heard of where you could take horses) and I think we even started filling out the scholarship application forms. I am sooo glad that we didn't go through with it though.
I was in love with the pictures in the brochures showing how lovely my private room would be, and that the school would make it possible for me to keep a pony. What I never considered was that the extra cost of sending me there rather than to my non-boarding grammar school (even with a scholarship) would have been more than them buying me a pony to keep at home. I also had fantastic ideas about being able to spend my entire life at the stables (lunches, and then after school till about midnight when I went to bed). I would very much doubt that the school provides this kind of freedom, and this dramatically reduces the appeal of the situation.
On the broader topic of education, you also need to look at the grades achived by the school. From the looks of their results, and considering that they tend to attract a decent standard of pupils who attend lessons all the time, the grades are not impressive. If your daughter has the potential to achive better academically elsewhere, it is likely that this will have a bigger impact on her future than the Karen Dixon riding lessons. GCSE A*-C pass rate "regularly higher than the national average", suggesting that sometimes it is not, is a pretty poor result for a school with it's kind of facilities and intake.
I would also consider whether your child is the type likely to benefit from a boarding environment in the long term, as whilst some really seem to benefit from this, I think for others it can cause a lot of insecurities and problems which may have been picked up and worked through much earlier in a home environment.
 
For her age, Cundall Manor is the best school both academically and in terms of other activities. It has a great reputation for the Prep school and does also go up to age 16 but I have no experience of the senior school. A lot of horsey kids/parents there so you would be able to find out from them about secondary schools.

QE's is reputed to be funded by the insurance side of the business, I have taught there occasionally and could have made quite a business for myself teaching kids who were dissatisfied with the teaching offered there.

I also knew a Yard manager there who was a lovely person - but was also a full time student at York Uni - suffice to say the standards on the yards were weak. That was many years ago, but latterly the standards haven't been so great either.

Queen Margaret's does have good horsey reputation/facilities but not sure on the academic or school life side. i know some of the grammar and state schools are good too.

Good luck
 
Ha this is weird
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These are all schools I compete against in Netball.. I could tell you a bit about most of the schools mentioned here
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One of my close friends from PC got the Karen Dixon scholarship and she loves it... has made some great friends
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Personally I wouldn't dream of paying. The academic performance (for a school you PAY for) is abysmal.

Stick to comps
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My boyfriend got 10 A* GCSEs, and 4 A alevels, accepted to cambridge (and turned the offer down, as he DIDNT want to go anywhere remotely like a private school).

That way you'll be able to see AND raise your own children (I forgot to see if you were going to board).

(rant time) Being a massive lefty socialist (hah) I have to say that I think state education teaches a lot more than private - outisde of grades and performance. I go to a pretty prestigious university, where 75% of the students are privately educated - and, to be honest, they are idiots.

My best friend (at uni) came from repton - and he told me all about it. The picture I got was drugs, lots of sex, and poor performance academically (he came out with lower grades than me, and I went to a comp in the bottom 200 in the country). Children need to learn that you have to WORK to get where you want - not just expect to get it with money.

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Scribbles, I can't agree with you. I know that some people from the bottom comps do well but a comparitively low number, how many in your class did? In terms of your boyfriend not going to Cambridge because he thought it would be too like a private school, frankly that just seems dumb for a person with his results as future employers are far more likely to be impressed about a degree from Cambridge than another university, depending on the course, and frankly most of the people I know who went to uni from the private school I went to went to other universities anyway. Cambridge is very focused on academics and not where you came from.

State education works for some kids but not for all and certainly there are reasons why some schools do better than others. The class sizes in state schools are often also much larger than private schools (I would include top grammers and comps in this too) and I know from talking with my aunt, uncle and granny, who all taught in the state sector, that there is a limited amount of attention that can be given to every child in state schools and it does mean that some who could thive in a different atmosphere don't. State schools can be excellent and I've met people who have done extremely well out of them but they can be too hard for some and if you have a character that is in anyway softer you are far more likely to get bullied or left out.

In terms of people from private schools being idiots, it depends on your point of view. My friends and I worked hard at school, we didn't have a choice as to whether or not to. I learnt a hell of a lot about living with different people, seeing others point of view and generally about life from many different cultures perspective and I wouldn't call my friends or myself idiots as many of them are doing medicine or law and are expecting very good jobs at the end of it, they worked hard at school and we didn't get much time for socialising plus if you have ever lived with 8 people in a room it teaches you things that you would never normally get taught and it builds friendships that are extremely strong.

In terms of boarding, I boarded and although I didn't get to see my parents as much as my sister had (she went to a day school) for me it was the right decision and my relationship with them is extremely strong if not stronger than it might have been for living at home. Plus, as parents you can still raise your children at boarding school as you can influence the school and make sure your kids are happy.

I never expected to just get where I want to with money, and I have always known that I have to work hard to get where I want to get so that message was not in anyway diminished by going to a private school. However, the ability to work was also never stopped by bullying and teachers who had no time or energy for me. In short if you are particularly gifted and have the right personality to thrive at a low level comp then you can but there are too many who don't have the right combination and the current system just doesn't work for them so why not go private, it doesn't mean that you are any less than going state.

Sorry, rant over
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I don;t mean this to sound rude (or criticising) I'm just intrigued as to if the local state schools are any good. I only ask because I went private for my A-levels (good school, good people) but I'm not convinced it was value for money for my parents. Always felt a bit guilty about it really.

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I assume you mean Harrogate area? Lot of the state schools in Harrogate are very good. St Aidans is one of the best state schools in the country.

Re public schools round there, you've got Gateways as well - no equestrian facilities tho. I've also heard not so good things about Queen Ethelburga's... begged my parents to let me go as a kid tho! hah... glad they didn't!
 
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For her age, Cundall Manor is the best school both academically and in terms of other activities. It has a great reputation for the Prep school and does also go up to age 16 but I have no experience of the senior school. A lot of horsey kids/parents there so you would be able to find out from them about secondary schools.

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One of my best friend's uncles is the headmaster of Cundall Manor
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Obviously I've heard all good things about it, so definately second it!
 
http://intranet.queenmarys.org/ Queen Mary's is highly regarded in the area, and has equestrian facilties...... although I don't know the quality of them
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Their GCSE results are good though, and they've had some sort of award from The Times, I believe
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QE is known as a 'lesser quality' school and for taking alot of international students in.
 
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Personally I wouldn't dream of paying. The academic performance (for a school you PAY for) is abysmal.

Stick to comps
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My boyfriend got 10 A* GCSEs, and 4 A alevels, accepted to cambridge (and turned the offer down, as he DIDNT want to go anywhere remotely like a private school).

That way you'll be able to see AND raise your own children (I forgot to see if you were going to board).

(rant time) Being a massive lefty socialist (hah) I have to say that I think state education teaches a lot more than private - outisde of grades and performance. I go to a pretty prestigious university, where 75% of the students are privately educated - and, to be honest, they are idiots.

My best friend (at uni) came from repton - and he told me all about it. The picture I got was drugs, lots of sex, and poor performance academically (he came out with lower grades than me, and I went to a comp in the bottom 200 in the country). Children need to learn that you have to WORK to get where you want - not just expect to get it with money.

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Sorry I have to disagree. My brother went to Radley and I mostly went to state schools and I am so envious of my brother in what his school did for him. He was nutured, guided and inspired every single step of the way and he had tutors that really cared about their pupils and their success. He had teachers that were Oxford/Cambridge dons - so passionate and knowledgable about their individual subjects giving lessons that can offer nothing but inspiration and motivation to succeed! My brother may have had his career handed to him on a plate but at least it means that he has come out with a top degree from a top university, and has developed well as an individual with loads of self confidence and excellent people skills and also has a huge successfull career ahead of him.

In contrast, my state schools were run by teachers who could not give a sh*t about their students, they know f-all about their subjects, showed no passion at all and couldnt care less about how their students did or behaved. There is a huge difference between a oxford doctor giving a lesson in History or science than a teacher educated through some other system ( obv you cant tar all teachers with the same brush! )
Yes, despite all that I should have got off my backside and worked around it, as plenty of people are far worse off but somehow are steered in the right direction or have the intelligence/awareness about the NEED to work hard to have money and success in this world, but many people, like me are young and naive& realise these things far too late. Yes some state schools are better than others, but there are still in no-way comparable to a good private school.
 
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There is a huge difference between a oxford doctor giving a lesson in History or science than a teacher educated through some other system ( obv you cant tar all teachers with the same brush! )


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I'm going to disagree with that one (but not the other stuff as I CANNOT stand private school bashing so am with you all the way).
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Most teachers go through the same teaching qualifications/courses these days. Not all Oxford dons are good and not all teachers straight out of uni are bad. I had "doctors" teaching me at my school and they were no better than some of the newly qualified staff. What I find most funny is that people slag off some of the "new" universities, despite the fact that they're some of the oldest teacher training establishments in the country!

*rant over*
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re: Queen Margrets - I thought this was the QE prep school? Shows what I know! Anyway - I had an accident on the XC course there, and my horse was stabled there for a week. The staff were excellent - stayed up 24/7 with my horse, meeting the vet in the middle of the night, arranging transfers for colic surgery etc.

Course we still had to pay (
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