Hi,
Does anyone have any impressions of St Dunstan's school that they would be happy to share?
Thanks
St Dunstan's school
St Dunstan's College
The school is very good. My older son went there and is now at Manchester University. My younger one still there and doing well. Having visited several of the independent schools we felt that St. Dunstan's was preferable because it had a broad intake. St Dunstan's introduced the IB a couple of years ago and has now been catapulted into the top 100 independent schools in the country because of its excellent IB, A level and GCSE results last year. If you are already of a mind to go the independent route, I would certainly recommend it. I also like the fact that it is mixed unlike the two local and probably best comprehensives. It is very good on sports. One of its greatest strengths is the pastoral care. Tachers are firm but fair. There is an atmosphere of respect and the children are well behaved. Bullying is not tolerated. Happy to respond to any specific questions if you wish to PM me.
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danstevens
- Posts: 116
- Joined: 6 Oct 2004 09:46
- Location: Sydenham
no i think he means he has an uncontrollable urge to post on every thread whether he has anything sensible to contribute or not. I noticed someone else posted on another thread suggesting that this forum is getting taken over by a small group of posters who just exchange pointless banter. I am starting to think the same. Perhaps Admin could impose a monthly post limit?
My brother went to st dunstans, had an enjoyable time by all accounts - he's now in his first year at Leeds uni. Poster above is correct in that the school is very good on the sports side of things.
My brother went to st dunstans, had an enjoyable time by all accounts - he's now in his first year at Leeds uni. Poster above is correct in that the school is very good on the sports side of things.
I was interested to read about St Dunstans, and cant believe we didnt consider it as an option for our kids.
My lad goes to Dulwich, and my daughter is in the nursery - where they will only take girls until they are 4. I have to say it is a brilliant place - but then it should be at that price.
My daughter has to begin at a new school next September, for her first 'proper' school year, and we had been looking at Sydenham Girls and Alleyns.
Having read about St Dunstans, I have now requested their brochure - it looks excellent.
Thanks Janeco.
My lad goes to Dulwich, and my daughter is in the nursery - where they will only take girls until they are 4. I have to say it is a brilliant place - but then it should be at that price.
My daughter has to begin at a new school next September, for her first 'proper' school year, and we had been looking at Sydenham Girls and Alleyns.
Having read about St Dunstans, I have now requested their brochure - it looks excellent.
Thanks Janeco.
Hi Fishcox
Alleyns is seriously hard to get into, but if you can it is worth it. Lovely school, highly academic but very caring. Also superb on the sport - they are mixed, so only have half the number of boys as some rivals, but still manage to run huge numbers of teams.
They are also tops at drama, art, music. Fantastic CCF and DofE too. In fact their new theatre building has just opened, so have start of the art facilities.
My three went there, that's how I know. PM me if anyone needs up to date info.
Alleyns is seriously hard to get into, but if you can it is worth it. Lovely school, highly academic but very caring. Also superb on the sport - they are mixed, so only have half the number of boys as some rivals, but still manage to run huge numbers of teams.
They are also tops at drama, art, music. Fantastic CCF and DofE too. In fact their new theatre building has just opened, so have start of the art facilities.
My three went there, that's how I know. PM me if anyone needs up to date info.
Thanks for the info Mike - Alleyns does look very good indeed.
I like the idea of it being co ed - but then when we were sorting out my lad, I liked the fact that Dulwich was all boys. Decisions decisions.
I think all those schools have a very high standard (DCPS, Jags, Sydenham, Alleyns) but then, like I said, at that price - they should have!
I like the idea of it being co ed - but then when we were sorting out my lad, I liked the fact that Dulwich was all boys. Decisions decisions.
I think all those schools have a very high standard (DCPS, Jags, Sydenham, Alleyns) but then, like I said, at that price - they should have!
Monica wrote:What do you mean, Bensonby? Do you have a bad experience of St Dunstan's that it would be useful to know about?
Funnily enough I do have experience of all the schools talked about here. However, I didn't have time to expand on my comments as we have been having major internet trouble - plus my new job leaves me with limited tim to post.
however, I shall elabourate.
Dulwich, in my opinion, is the preferable school in the vicinitee to send a boy to (especially if you prefer all boys school's obviously - you may not agree if you prefer co-ed).
Quite simply Dulwich has the best sporting facilities(if you go into that sort of thing). On paper its a weaker school than Alleyns (at the moment), this is due to a variety of factors - not least that its bigger (the biggest public school in the country in terms of student numbers) - and thus has a broader spectrum of ability.
- I must admit that I don't know how it compares with St. D in terms of results....
The biggest advantage in terms of Dulwich is the "brand" - something which should certainly never be understated. Its amazing how many people know of the school and its famous alumuni..... This is something that cannot be said for the other schools.
The one thing that I would say in favour of St D. is that by all accounts it has excellent specialist support for Dyslexic students. And if this affects you or your child then this may certainly be a winning factor.
If anyone wants more insight into local private schools then feel free to ask. Again, I don't have time to go into more detail here as time is limited.... I'll try and post more info later as there is a lot more to compare the schools over.
Local private schools
We did visit other schools before deciding on St Dunstan's and were certainly impressed with Alleyns - sat in on a French class which was excellent, and they have marvellous drama facilities. However, we left the decision to our son and he felt that he might feel more pressured there with the high academic standards and preferred St. Dunstans for that reason - actually I think he feared the entrance exam might be too hard! We didn't visit Dulwich as my other half felt it was too "ruling class". Being both working class and products of a grammar school education, we weren't quite ready to make that leap - going private was already a huge decision and the reason we chose it was that it was the closest approximation to a grammar school education (in the 1960s) that you could get. I have colleagues with children at Dulwich (love it) and James Allen's (ditto) and Sydenham so I think the only solution is to visit them all and make up your own mind. I think your impression of the Head Teacher is very important.
Having said that, visit Forest Hill Boys and Mr Walsh will be hard to beat...
As for alumni, St Dunstans can boast Sir Martin Evans who won a Nobel prize for medicine last year as well as Michael Grade, so quite a range.
Having said that, visit Forest Hill Boys and Mr Walsh will be hard to beat...
As for alumni, St Dunstans can boast Sir Martin Evans who won a Nobel prize for medicine last year as well as Michael Grade, so quite a range.