Newland House School - some insight please

[Lottothink]

There was only one thread from last year with very limited activity - I am looking to get some feedback about this school please. Is it a happy school or a hot house or something in between? The reports are very good but a few comments I read made me think. I am comparing this to Kew College and Unicorn if any of you know these which came across as happy schools.

Of course an insight view would be amazing but do let me know if you have any views on this school even if your child is not there.

Thank you

[Latenightreading]

Highly recommend Newland House. Pre-prep was fantastic and so nurturing with wonderful memories created for our son and daughter. Mrs Chong is a brilliant head and all the staff soon know every child's name and help develop their unique character. Our children loved their teachers and also the dinner lady, receptionist, TAs etc who become important in their lives as it has that community feel. We had 18-20 children per class (admittedly more than I had expected) with 1 teacher and 1 TA. Lots of fun learning through play, with some highlights like Creative Week when they mix up the years and have a theme like Global Travel with each class transformed in to a different country to explore with art and craft activities, or the Wild West theme. Amazing facilities as new pre-prep building opened this year. The children also use the facilities in main school like IT suite, library and the Games pitch so transition to the "main" school in year 3 is just a step next door. Only drawback of pre-prep is not much outdoor play space although they still manage to play football and basketball, have areas for quieter play and construction plus mini garden features. After-school club has been really useful and Mr Atsu is always out there with football/ games and I find our little ones engrossed in some drawing or group Lego build that they would be reluctant to leave. It runs until 6pm. You can also book breakfast club from 7:30am. A new nursery is opening this September opposite the school. All except 2 of my son's class were local, but parking is an issue for those not in walking distance. Good communication with weekly newsletter from Mrs Chong summarizing the big learning leaps of the week in each year, opportunities for parents to go in and read to the class in Reception, help with trips in each class, Rep involvement, etc. Hope this helps with your big decisions. Don't know about the other schools you mentioned as we kind of stumbled upon Newland when we realized we were out of catchment area for the excellent state schools and would not meet the criteria for the church schools. Good luck!

[Lottothink]

thank you very much for your time and feedback. very valuable for us. one question do boys have to leave at 13 ? can they take 11+ exams . I am trying to figure out whether it is a disadvantage to stay until age 13. thank you

[Latenightreading]

Yes, boys stay until aged 13 and girls leave at 11. It depends what suits your son, but I think they benefit from that small group teaching and developing their independence in those last 2 years, taking on roles of prefect, head of house etc. There are also some great trips, and some say a familiar place to be going through a lot of change as puberty hits. Not that you can imagine these things when busy with a toddler!

[Lottothink]

:) true . thank you. I was wondering if they would be missing 11+ entrance and whether they have more places at 11+ and whether 13+ entrance is harder. also when they are in secondary school all of other children will have made friends. would this bother them? TBH this is just to make myself feel better about it . I don't think it is a deal breaker.

we want a good school where he can flourish, looked after, taken care of and gain a love for learning - not to be pushed with lots of homework and pressured for exams a lot. Co-ed is a massive plus for me . I haven;t been yet convinced for all boys school at primary level and therefore I rather to have co-ed . We hope to be near to the school when looking for houses - by september after we list our house. We will be commuting to the city 3 or 4 days a week so if we are near the train station it would be also good though it seems like 20 min walk from around station to school. It is good to know about parking. I am also very happy to hear that it is a local school as I thought people would travel from distance and given excellent state schools. .

we are thinking of private secondary and therefore wanted to go for private from kindergarten (lot of other reasons such as wrap around care, activities etc, and less of tutoring needs). I have to say though except Hampton, St Pauls, Kings and Kingston schools I am not familiar with the destination list of schools and not all are very local from my quick search on internet. I was wondering whether it would still be possible to get in a less selective school such as Ibstock from Newland ( it is not on their list and separately Laytmer Upper does not come up that often either).

Do you like being in Teddington? we are very excited and cannot wait to start the house hunt- secure the school (our visit is mid Sept) but it is also scary to leave short commute and somewhere you lived for 8 years :)

[Latenightreading]

Newland tend to have a waiting list, so worth checking especially with the new nursery opening. We love Teddington. I haven't used mumsnet in years but think you can send direct messages, so do try if you have more specific questions or want to say Hi when next visiting.

[Lottothink]

great - thank you. I will.

we are already in contact with the school. any comments on +13 entrance and/or other secondary schools not in destination lists? would you like me to PM instead? thanks

[princesspino]

Hi,
Just came across this thread. It’s probably not relevant anymore as it’s quite old, but we have kids in the pre-prep and main school. Both very good and we are pleased. Happy to give you more info if you still need it

[YasmineM]

Hi, I understand I’m very late in joining this thread but any info about homework in year 4 and above? How long ate they supposed to study at home?

[After8itsgrownuptime]

Just found this thread. Homework for year 4 is approx 20 mins a night