James Dale-Adcock and Sarah Awwad of Cranleigh Preparatory School discuss how to make that all-important decision for your child’s future
The chances are, you?ll visit several schools before choosing ?the one? and at a time when cost dominates many of the decisions we make, it?s not surprising that when it comes to choosing the right prep school, one of the first questions parents ask themselves is, ?Does the school represent good value for money"? Of course, schools do need to make themselves competitive financially but it?s important to stack up the ?cost? of opportunity, not just in terms of facilities and provision on an academic and co-curricular level, but also in terms of the end-game in regards to senior school choice. It may seem a long way off, but it will help your decision-making to find out where the majority of a prep school?s pupils end up at senior school. As you start to look for the right school, you will inherently be looking for a place that shares your core values; often you will want your children to have the experiences you yourself had as a child, so it?s not unusual to see parents return to the schools of their own childhoods. Do remember that, although a school may have a long-lasting ethos, it is not the same school it was when you went there as a child. A healthy staff turnover, with new staff bringing new ideas, is good for schools and the character of the place ultimately resides within its people. So remind yourselves you are choos...