Summer school at leading UK independent schools?

[manicmother80]

We live in India, and my daughter will hopefully be coming to the UK next year for boarding school. I do not want her to experience too severe a case of 'culture shock', so I'm looking into summer school options at British boarding schools this year, to help her get acclimatized to the environment.

I liked the look of Uppingham Summer School and Gordonstoun International Summer School- does anybody have any opinions on these 2 programs? Or any other summer school that would you reccomend? Her English is fluent, so we're not looking for an English Language school.

[maisiejoe123]

What school is your daughter coming to next year? They might be able to assist?

[manicmother80]

We're not sure about which school she will be attending yet, we are just beggining the application process for sixth form in September 2014.

[maisiejoe123]

Ok, word of warning. Get a move on. My DS's boarding school closed their lists 3 yrs before entry!

[KatherineKrupnik]

I saw your other thread - have you considered the United World Colleges (UWC) at all?

[manicmother80]

Katherinekrupnik There is an excellent UWC in India,but is purely an IB school. My daughter does very well in the subjects that she enjoys and poorly in the ones that she doesn't like, so I feel like she will be better off doing A-Levels where she can choose to concentrate on the 3-4 subjects that she likes, than the IB Diploma where she will be forced to take subjects and other extra components of the diploma which she does not enjoy.

Also, my daughter is very set on going to a British school: she grew up reading about St. Clare's, Malory Towers and Billy Bunter, and I think that the childhood fantasy of a quintessential English boarding school still lingers.

Maisiejoe123 Indeed, we have left it very late. We are completely unaquainted with the madness of the British independent school admissions system, so we had no idea that such early registration would be required, we are going to visit the schools in a few weeks and apply right after that.

[happygardening]

It can be bloody cold in Gordonstoun!!!!

[bevelino]

OP Heathfield Summer School in Ascot run a fantastic residential programme for overseas and UK based girls and gives a great insight into boarding school life.

[pugsandseals]

DD did her first ever boarding summer school at Uppingham last year. Knew nobody, but had a fantastic time & will be going again this year.
One thing to be aware of, if music there are concerts every day & if you are not living close by it can be a PITA to attend. Either that or your child might feel disappointed you are not there.
Overall though, a great experience!