by MumofFive » Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:12 pm
Lots of very good advice from all on this thread and Schoolpost2022 in particular re a trust vs a business. We have a very positive experience with Dolphin School, whose status as a trust made it more attractive to us than other schools as did its small size, which we believe was a key factor in our child's success at the 11+, as well as its more reasonable fees. As you noted, Broomwood and Thomas's focus on moving children on to boarding schools rather than London day schools and so the schools attract a very different type of families and make for a particular kind of bubble. Dolphin parents are generally very involved. For the last two years Year 6 parents have gone camping all together with their children to mark their final year at the school together, which says a lot about the kind of community built around the school. More importantly, if you're aiming for a London day school, Dolphin is no less successful than the other local private schools and well represented in the most in-demand secondary schools south of the river (Dulwich, Alleyns, JAGS, Emanuel, Kings) with one or two ex-Dolphins in each year at these schools (bearing in mind that there are no more than 20 children in Y6/leaving Dolphin every year).
Lots of very good advice from all on this thread and Schoolpost2022 in particular re a trust vs a business. We have a very positive experience with Dolphin School, whose status as a trust made it more attractive to us than other schools as did its small size, which we believe was a key factor in our child's success at the 11+, as well as its more reasonable fees. As you noted, Broomwood and Thomas's focus on moving children on to boarding schools rather than London day schools and so the schools attract a very different type of families and make for a particular kind of bubble. Dolphin parents are generally very involved. For the last two years Year 6 parents have gone camping all together with their children to mark their final year at the school together, which says a lot about the kind of community built around the school. More importantly, if you're aiming for a London day school, Dolphin is no less successful than the other local private schools and well represented in the most in-demand secondary schools south of the river (Dulwich, Alleyns, JAGS, Emanuel, Kings) with one or two ex-Dolphins in each year at these schools (bearing in mind that there are no more than 20 children in Y6/leaving Dolphin every year).
