No regular play ground at RGS Guilford

[indiemom]

I am very new to the forum and am looking for some feedback on this issue from parents.

We went for the open day for RGS Guilford last Saturday. We have done school visits for both some good state grammar schools as well as private school. The first striking difference I found is that this school is right in middle of the high street with almost no open space. Usually what I have seen that even the primary state schools mostly do have a small open field even if they are located in central London (atleast that's what I have seen so far, though I accept my knowledge about this is limited ). The boys of RGS looked very bright and very polite, their arts department was fabulous, their onsite sports and music facility also looks ok. Ofcourse it's highly achieving academic school so definitely the teaching standard must be good. And the boys also looked happy.

I am just wondering how do the boys (who are usually so much engergetic all the day) manage everyday life without being able to go out in the open everyday during the school days. I understand they have excellent sports facilities for the boys, they are taken to the nearby places for their classes but during lunch time don't they feel the need to be outside for sometime ? I don't know how the day to day life of a high school going boy usually is therefore asking the question.

We were very much interested in the school before we visited it , but now I am a bit confused looking at no open area for the boys on the school site.

Am I just worrying on unnecessary things ? Please advise, and thanks for your time.

[Yamin151]

I know nothing about these schools so cannot comment on them. I did want to say, however that I would never send my sons to a school where a runaround in the fresh air wasn't possible at lunchtime/break time
- boys are like dogs, exercise them well and their concentration and ability to settle in class will be quadrupled (not that dogs go to classes, lol) but dogs always better with lots exercise
- fresh air and very importantly, natural light, is crucial for mental health
- with senior school comes more homework, a longer day, possibly more travel and therefore much less time to get outside at home in the week. All the above then becomes even More important as you cannot pick up the slack at home.
- boys (and girls of course) need the space for free play, that isn't an organised by adults team game or activity, it's bonding and teaches valuable life skills whilst not overlooked by adults.

Just wanted to put my ha'pen'orth in!

[indiemom]

I know nothing about these schools so cannot comment on them. I did want to say, however that I would never send my sons to a school where a runaround in the fresh air wasn't possible at lunchtime/break time
- boys are like dogs, exercise them well and their concentration and ability to settle in class will be quadrupled (not that dogs go to classes, lol) but dogs always better with lots exercise
- fresh air and very importantly, natural light, is crucial for mental health
- with senior school comes more homework, a longer day, possibly more travel and therefore much less time to get outside at home in the week. All the above then becomes even More important as you cannot pick up the slack at home.
- boys (and girls of course) need the space for free play, that isn't an organised by adults team game or activity, it's bonding and teaches valuable life skills whilst not overlooked by adults.

Just wanted to put my ha'pen'orth in!

Thanks a lot for your response Yamin151.

I quite agree with you in the requirement of open fields attached with the school for day to day use.

But what baffled me is that there was a huge que infront of the school during the open day. 4th Oct was not a pleasant day, it was quite cold, very windy with light rain but still the teachers managing the que outside the main gate said that people are queing from 8.45 though the gates are going to open only from 10 am Then there must be some very valid reasons for parents to be interested in sending their boys to this school. Are they only academic reasons ?

So I was thinking to get some insight from the parents who have/ had their boys in this school.

Looking at the league tables and looking at the boys, they are better than Merchan Taylor's in my personal opinion. But MTS has such open fields associated with the school. So was wondering why parents are so keen to send their boys to Royal Grammar School Guilford, is it just because the school is nearer to their house and they will not have to relocate ?

[manicmum]

Not quite sure how Merchant Taylors school joined into this thread as if the area is Guildford it's quite a trip from there to MTS in Northwood? (There is another Merchant Taylors but that's in Crosby Merseyside is there another one that I've missed close to Guildford)

If it's fields and sporty with academic excellence that you are looking for though I would recommend MTS (in Northwood) as my DS is there an loves it to bits.

[indiemom]

Not quite sure how Merchant Taylors school joined into this thread as if the area is Guildford it's quite a trip from there to MTS in Northwood? (There is another Merchant Taylors but that's in Crosby Merseyside is there another one that I've missed close to Guildford)

If it's fields and sporty with academic excellence that you are looking for though I would recommend MTS (in Northwood) as my DS is there an loves it to bits.

@manicmum

Sorry I should have put it clearly in the post in the first place. Currently we live in Reading so we are looking into all good private schools in and around London to compare and decide. In all the cases we have to relocate that's why I was comparing MTS with RGS Guilford

As a school and it's facilities, we liked MTS more than RGS. The feel of MTS ofcourse is much better with it's setting and all the green open space around. And ofcourse boys love sports.

BTW, did your son start at Year 7 or Year 9 ? What we understood that the main intacke at MTS is at Year 9 , Year 7 I think only 60 students join the school.

[manicmum]

Great in which case I can rave about MTS even more!

DS joined into year 7 and they do seem to be getting more that go that path. Clearly I'm biased about joining at that point as they introduced Tom so well and he's had two years of getting to know the staff and the breadth of activities. However, some of his close friends stayed on at his prep school and have just joined into year 9 where they all are now. They have settled really well too. The year below my DS they had 4 forms and not the usual 3. We didn't find any issues with having a smaller intake in DS's year group.

The school is every inch an academic school but without the 'hot house' high pressure feel. I would say that the staff make a particular effort to get to know what makes the boys tick and use their passions to inspire them to excel. So mine is now passionate about sailing, swimming & DT...

Any questions feel free to ask.

[surreygoldfish]

My DS is at RGS. I think they play on the astro - lots of normal boys playing football etc..they're quite a lively bunch.... doesn't seem to be a big issue. Although the site is quite tight being in the town. DS not bothered that the fields aren't on site. A really good activities programme is built into the curriculum as well as lots of extra sport/drama / music etc so it's definitely not all about the academics. They seem to have a lot of fun.

[indiemom]

Hi surreygoldfish,

Thanks a lot for your feedback about RGS. Yes I quite agree with you, I also found the boys very lifely. The site was extremely tight, to be honest I was very surprised when the SATNAV told us you have reached your destination in middle of busy towncentre

I also understand that there is lot of extra curricular activities for the boys to get involved with but we all feel like going in the open sometime during the day instead of being indoor all the time. So I was wondering how the boys cope not being able to go outside in the green or even look at any green open fields.

May be I will try 13+ for RGS when the boys are more into other activities rather than 11+.

Thanks a lot again.