free grammar vs 100% bursary

[mumsybumsy]

Hi,everyone,lucky enough to be in a the great situation,offers from HBS and NLCS ? what makes it more difficult is that we have been offered 100 % bursary. DD loves both schools, maybe a little concerned with the goverment cutbacks and what may be around the corner what to do ? Is really ano brainer ?

[hermanmunster]

I suspect if they offer you a 100% bursary now, then they are budgeting for the next 7 years.

However if your income goes up then you may have to pay some of the fees, if you are sure that your income will stay much the the same then it does come down to which school you really like. Very difficult as I don't know wither very well - I tend to think people should look at each and think ... "if someone said I couldn't go to this one, how would I feel?" usually syou feel more attached to one than the other...

[mumsybumsy]

Thanks for that ! what im really getting at is what do people think is the better school ,removing the financial aspect that is normaly attached to the indie v grammar ? £££££

[Daogroupie]

Enter BarnetDad!!!!!! Miss BarnetDad is at HBS having turned down NCLS after paying the deposit. I have heard lots about NCLS but I will let him start and then might add a few things after! AnotherMother is also a good person on this topic. DG

[delta]

What a great position to be in! For me one of the crucial things would be journey time to both. But if this isn't a factor, it would be NLCS, no question.

[BarnetDad]

Wow! Gotta say it'd be hard to turn down NLCS. DD must be an utter star!

[mad?]

What a great position to be in! For me one of the crucial things would be journey time to both. But if this isn't a factor, it would be NLCS, no question.

I tend to agree with a huge caveat...most bursaries are re-assessed every year. Do you really want to restrict your own career development and earning potential in this way?

[moved]

I do not know either of these schools so I am looking from a general point of view. Please do not shoot me down in flames should I make any crass errors.

1. Regarding pastoral care - some grammars, being state schools with limited resources, have a devil take the hindmost attitude.

2. 100% bursary means submitting personal financial forms every year. It also means that as your income increases your bursary will decrease accordingly. Do you mind paying in future years.

We chose the grammar route when faced with a similar quandary. This has worked well for us, but I sometimes wonder whether a more personal environment would have helped.

[mumsybumsy]

thanks for that , I guess were worried more about HBS's finances more than our own,were going to stay in the same situation prob !! but we worry about the school getting squeezed and where they might have to make savingd ??

[BarnetDad]

I suppose I should enlarge on my previous answer.

We took the view that we could afford NLCS fees. It would cramp our style for holidays etc, but seeing as we'd already been paying fees to DD's primary school, it wasn't as big a bump as it might have been. So we told DD that money wasn't an issue. In fact her grandparents (who are reasonably wealthy) had also offered to contribute (though whether or not we'd have been happy to accept is another matter!).

Anyway, having been initially skeptical about NLCS - it seems a bit too slick and intimidating for its own good, we went along and I was struck by how the girls seemed very normal, possibly to the point of disappointment! I think I've bored everyone here senseless about their home made biscuits, and to be honest they didn't affect our views. The facilities were fantastic and the staff seemed very dedicated and professional (though only better than those at HBS in terms of their personal grooming). Very nice pond there - even better than that at DAO (yes, I like ponds nearly as much as I like biscuits). Probably the most impressive thing on our last visit was getting to chat to the Head Girl for a while. What a star she was. There is very much a feeling that NLCS educates way outside the academic curriculum, particularly higher up the school.

So we gave them our cheque for £2000 odd, and felt that it was money well spent.

Then we went to HBS a couple of days later. Obviously the facilities were somewhat less impressive (they're better now, but space for sport will always be limited) but Blond is a very charismatic leader and his staff come across as very caring and pretty competent. And again the girls. Blond said that he was attracted to the school by the girls (who "blew him away") and both myself and DD had a similar feeling. Yes, it's less impressive than NLCS, and there will likely be fewer classmates that go on to become household names, but the sense of happiness seemed stronger to us at HBS than anywhere else.

But you know DW said just his evening that maybe we should send DD2 to NLCS just to see the difference!