Woodcote House vs Feltonfleet

[antonio2016]

Hi, we are looking for schools in Surrey with good transportation links to South West London. Our search has yielded two results so far: Woodcote House and Feltonfleet.

Anyone with knowledge/experience with these school? Anything helps.

Thanks a lot.

Obs: we don't have a view on boy-only vs co-ed.

[whichschoolinsurrey]

Hi OP, what age and profile are you looking for, did you find out anymore on this? I'm also keen to hear more on schools in the area.

Here's what I can tell you from what I've heard:

Feltonfleet: excellent facilities, happy children, not a hot house kind of school (those taking the hot housing type route may consider this to mean less academic but make of it what you will)? Quite big.

Danes Hill: huge school, overwhelmingly I hear of happy parents. Very expensive, a mix of everyone from working families to celebs and sports players. Highly competitive in every sense, especially sports which they excel at. However due to size of school kids have to work really hard to get a place on one of the first or second teams, easy to feel left behind. On the other hand, size of school means there's a club for every interest.

Claremont: parents I know here seem very happy but more widely it has a reputation for not delivering great results academically (not helped by the fact they taught gcse science class the wrong syllabus last year). Reputatkonal concerns over Christian Science links but these seem quite unfounded to most families who are actually at the school? Super location and site, aging facilities but well known for promoting a rounded education

Milbourne: mixed pre-prep and prep, seems to support consistently high academic achievement. I haven't been so couldn't say anymore

Shrewsbury Lodge: very popular mostly boys (but mixed) preprep school, feeds Shrewsbury house in Surbiton (v traditional boys prep). Super early years, nurturing confident and happy kids but you really need to feel that SH is the next step for your son to get the most out of the whole school experience.

Rowan: girls prep and pre-prep in Claygate. Excellent academic standards, good focus on pastoral care, feeds some super schools. If single sex is your preference for girls it's great despite drop off and parking issues.

Have no knowlegde of woodcote, sorry!

HTH??

[whichschoolinsurrey]

Also someone might be along who can tell you more about:

St George's, Weybridge. Mixed 3-18
ACS Cobham, Mixed 3-18. Incredible facilities, superb school but follows the IB programme (superb if that's the route you want) and again, huge campus

[antonio2016]

Thanks whichschoolinsurrey, this is very helpful.

I'm visiting Fentonfleet tomorrow. My son's excellent teachers love the school, so that is already a plus. Will report later.

Visited Woodcote a few days ago. Very big grounds, lovely feel, tiny classes (~10). My wife and I liked it very much. There is an open day coming up.

Best,
Antonio

[whichschoolinsurrey]

Good luck, hope it goes well. What entry point are you considering and when? Some schools have long waiting lists but also not everyone on the list will accept a place if offered, their circumstances or preferences can have changed by then.

I would be interested in how you get on!

[antonio2016]

Sorry, just realized I didn't answer your question!

My son is on year 2, so I'm basically looking for a prep school. He is smart, but very imature. He needs lots of direction to thrive.

He is not sporty, and I'm afraid is he is on the heavy side (50% on height, 90% on weight), so I need to insert him into a healthy/sporty environment.

The option of flexi-boarding is very valuable for me because I would like to move from London to Surrey in the future, probably in two years, when my (older) daughter leaves her prep school. Boarding means he wouldn't need to change schools immediately.

By the way, Feltonfleet's open day is tomorrow (24/09). Registration is not required, in case you're interested. Just show up.

I'll update the thread anyway tomorrow.

Best,
Antonio