A return visit to Roedean in Brighton – my first in many years. Roedean is a quintessentially Enid Blyton-eqsue school on the outside, and walking up to the entrance I could not hide the smile on my face when I thought of reading Mallory Towers in the mid 1970s before I went to boarding school in the UK at 11+ from my primary school, Raeburn Park (part of the Tanglin Trust) in Singapore. As an aside, Mallory Towers is actually based on Benenden when it was evacuated to Cornwall during WW2 whilst Enid’s Blyton’s daughter was there.

After a couple of decades in the doldrums, Roedean has definitely caught up with the times and now offers a modern education for 21st century girls equally strong for both boarders and day girls. A school definitely on the up and worth looking at if you are moving back to the area or looking for an all girls’ boarding school.

When my son was looking to move schools at 16+ for the sixth form around 10 years ago, Christ’s Hospital was one of the three schools I considered, the others being Charterhouse and Tonbridge. In the end he went to Tonbridge which was definitely the right decision for him. However, although we did not choose it for him, Christ’s Hospital was and remains, an exceptional school.

Now in Horsham, West Sussex, it was set up originally in London as part of a Tudor endowment to education, under Edward VI. 75% of the school still receive a financial bursary from this endowment, many of them getting 100%, giving children who otherwise would never have had the chance to go to an independent school that opportunity. Whilst pupils still wear a Tudor style school uniform, the school is definitely up with the times and unusually, it is one of a decreasing number of schools which is virtually full boarding. An absolutely inspirational visit to see the power of education to change children’s lives.