DORSET is home to a plethora of quality schools, both primary and secondary.

Schools throughout the county achieved outstanding GCSE results for 2012, with many gaining higher pass rates than ever before. Local private, public and academy schools set a high benchmark and the choice of primary and secondary school in the county are regarded as some of the best in the country.

So where do you begin when choosing the right school?

Dorset is popular area with families as there is an abundance of shops, education resources, facilities and transport links.

Spanning from Ferndown and Christchurch, to Bournemouth, Poole, Swanage and Weymouth there is are a range of primary and secondary schools which have set exemplary standards.

Dorset is a great area for families with excellent catchment areas that are hard to beat anywhere else in the UK.

Primary and secondary schools offer a wealth of great facilities with wonderful grounds and buildings set up for their needs. Scholarships are also offered by some schools to enable students to achieve their full potential.

For Ofsted reports on local schools visit www.ofsted.gov.uk Community Links are also an intrinsic part of a education. A school does not exist in isolation. It is part of a community, in fact many communities at different scales.

One of the hallmarks of an education at Canford School, Wimborne is the development of an appreciation of life beyond the school gates. The sense of giving and co-operative achievement on which boarding school life is built is extended to the wider world through a variety of projects, both locally and abroad.

Canford regards links with and service in the community as a natural dimension of learning. Every Monday afternoon, most pupils will be involved in some form of Community Service work.

Sixth Formers are most heavily involved in the main projects, while younger pupils can take part in conservation activities either on the school site, perhaps in conjunction with the Dorset Wildlife Trust on Brownsea Island , or with their local authority. Twice a year, on Enterprise Day, pupils are able to devote a whole day to their particular voluntary project.

Among the current projects are Science lesson support at Merley First School, visiting day patients at the Lewis Manning hospice, musical concerts at various residential and day centres, voluntary work in the gardens of the National Trust at Kingston Lacy and activities for pupils with physical handicaps from Langside School.

The Canford-Langside link has existed for nearly 25 years. Its aim is for Canford’s Lower Sixth pupils to get together with the senior class of 14-18 year olds from Langside to work on various projects.

An extension of Canford’s work in the community has been the sponsorship of an academy school in the local area. The Bourne Academy in Hadow Road, Bournemouth is now in its third year. There are various groups and societies between the two schools and Canford staff are involved in projects.

Canford firmly believes that the interaction with individuals and groups beyond the archway both helps to define Canford’s role in the wider world and instils in pupils a much greater and accurate understanding of society.