Wandsworth area (London) prep schools - any experiences?

[elizabethtailored]

We are moving to a house between Earlsfield and Southfields and I am looking ahead for places for my 1 year old boy. I am studying websites and booked in for visits but does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on:

Eaton House The Manor
Thomas's Clapham
Broomwood Hall (I am worried we might be too far out of their 1 mile catchment. Does this really apply?)
Hornsby House

Many thanks in advance.

[BardOfBarking]

DS 2 and 3 are at Prospect House - a coed independent primary school. It is a 6 minute drive from our house in Southfields - towards Putney, and I couldn't be happier with the experiences they are having there (1 highly academic child, 1 perfectly average)

Well worth adding to your 'to visit' list.

[elizabethtailored]

Thank you very much. I have just sent off for the prospectus.

[KingscoteStaff]

Newton Prep is fantastic, but possibly too far east for you.

While you are looking at preps, do go and see Swaffield and Allfarthing - they both get lots of 11 year olds into very selective schools, and then you could save the money for university fees (or holidays for you...)

[TweenageAngst]

Eaton Hice and Thomas's posh end of scale as is Broomwood.
Hornsby is very well regarded locally as a place for fairly normal parents, Newton prep has a bit of a reputation as a place for slightly quirky brainiacs.

[KingscoteStaff]

Oh dear, TweenageAngst, I think you just described my two...

[TweenageAngst]

Nothing wrong with a quirky braniac.... can be a little puzzling for the more average child

[camelstraw]

Newton Prep no longer markets itself to the gifted, and under the current head has lost its quirkiness. SEN provision all but dismantled and academic results not what they were. New head due in September, so perhaps worth looking at again in a couple of years.

Eaton House has also gone through a mixed period recently. If you're looking in that area, go and see Parkgate House too - a much smaller school and many of the boys leave at end of year 2, but good for he equivalent of KS1.

Thomas schools have enduring reputation for suiting outgoing children.

[elizabethtailored]

Thank you very much for the suggestions.

Tweenage angst - if Thomas's, Broomwood and Eaton House are the posher ones can you think of others bar Newton which I should be considering too?

It seems crazy to be paying to put a one year old on a registration list for all these places yet it is far too early for me to tell what kind of child he will be at 4 - outgoing/quirky brainiac/...

Did anyone register for a load and make a decision nearer the time?

I like the sound of Hornby. Might anyone have any experience of it please? This is all very helpful!

[basildonbond]

Hornsby is a lovely school - very happy place with obviously well-off but grounded 'normal' families

Mainly feeds into the south London day schools at secondary so catering to a different market than Thomas's etc as it only goes up to 11

[Elenibradley]

Love Parkgate! both my children went there frm 2.5 till 11. Had a wonderful experience, made friends that they have until now and they moved on to some super schools!