JESS or Wellington

To be honest I suppose it depends on your child and what their needs are. I toured both schools and met both principals in July this year, and would have chosen Wellington for a few reasons (we ended up at JC which is why we didn't go with either). The teenager (15) I was looking at the schools for needed structure and discipline, and I also wanted a diverse subject choice. At Wellington, the facilities are incredible, along with the subject range - great science labs, music, theatres, art facilities, sports, computers etc. I also took a look at examples of the kids work, and the quality and range of work being produced was incredible. They also had a very good learning support area (which we thought we might need to utilise), and very structured, so strictly adhered to dress codes, behaviour standards etc - which we needed. My concerns with Wellington is that it did feel a little like a business, the campus is huge, and student numbers are large (and were growing) - so I was concerned about just becoming another face in the crowd and getting lost. On the other hand I felt like JESS's facilities weren't as 'good' - but still very good, and the quality of work that I saw wasn't of the same calibre as with Wellington - but keeping in mind the student numbers were far, far lower. I didn't really feel like they had the structure in place to deal with any potential learning issues, as it didn't seemed to be organised in that way. But, the feel of the campus was far more welcoming, the numbers of students far smaller, giving a geniune community feel where the teachers knew everyones name. I would definitely consider JESS for my son (still very young) if he ends up suiting a more relaxed environment because of his learning style and self discipline. Two very different schools, both with pro's and con's but it really does come down to what your child needs, their learning style, and what type of environment is going to get the best of them, and where you feel comfortable. Not sure if that helps, but those were my thoughts on them.

Hello Ladies, If you had both the options available, where would you choose to put your LO? No comparison whatsoever! JESS hands down.

JESS is a very popular and well established school.

JESS but if I had a choice of JESS or JC then JC. <em>edited by starsouthern on 17/11/2011</em>

I think HH means that most people would choose JESS over Wellington. A not-for-profit school over a GEMS business.

no contest