Best primary school in SW11 (surrounding area)

[abbyfromoz]

DD is 2 and we need to start looking at primary schools. So far we have our eye on St Thomas' Battersea (very close to us). We are open to private or state- religious or non. Anyone with experience want to give me your personal opinions?

[abbyfromoz]

Bump

[microserf]

Hi the sw11 primaries are pretty competitive to get into. I would suggest you check out nappyvalleynet as it is a local website that is focused on mums. Hopefully I am allowed to recommend it here! It is a v good resource for sw11.

[abbyfromoz]

Well since i live in SW11... Not like i have a choice to send her elsewhere
I will definitely have a look on there but also- if you like your children's school i want recommendations thanks

[basildonbond]

Do you mean Thomas's Battersea? (no St there as far as I'm aware!) There's also Thomas's Clapham which is 'between the commons'

As far as state schools go you won't really have a choice as all the good/popular ones are oversubscribed so e.g. if you live close enough to get into Honeywell, that means you won't live close enough to get into Belleville

Private schools in that area are Broomwood Hall, both Thomas's, Newton Prep, Eaton House the Manor (sep boys and girls schools), Dolphin (cheaper than the others), Hornsby House (not sure when they start taking registrations, you may have missed the boat with that one), Finton House, Oliver House (Catholic) and the new Wandsworth Prep opening in September. You will find all of them have their supporters and detractors - they're all eye-wateringly expensive and all do a pretty good job (which frankly, they should given the fees)

[abbyfromoz]

Thanks basil- better get cracking!

[abbyfromoz]

Btw yea i mean Thomas' not 'St' doh! (new to the area!)

[microserf]

Don't rule out wix school, Macaulay in Lambeth or clapham manor in Lambeth. Try are all good schools. Shaftesbury park is starting a bilingual stream.

The results of admissions will be out April 17 this year. This will be interesting as its the first year under the new rules. I would definitely ask to check those stats out if you are thinking state school.

[lalalonglegs]

Which bit of SW11 are you in? Honeywell and Belleville are very popular with parents but you have to live pretty close (c. 400m) to get into either at reception. In most of London, it's not so much where you want your children to go, as where you can get them in and that's true of state and private.

[lalalonglegs]

micro - what are the new rules? (My kids are already in school so I'm not affected, just curious.)

[abbyfromoz]

Yikes! Well if i can't get her into a good school it will be plan B (move back to Aus!)

[abbyfromoz]

Btw we live right over Battersea Bridge.

[lalalonglegs]

My eldest didn't get into any school when offers went out but eventually we were given a place at Chesterton which is on Battersea Park Rd, pretty much at the junction of Albert Bridge Road. We visited it and I really, really liked it a lot but, as we live near Clapham South, it would have been a very tricky journey so we ended up going to a nearer (and far inferior) school. It's got - or had at that time - high ESOL and free dinners but was producing fantastic results and was a lovely building with gardens all around that the children tended. I'd definitely consider it - and visit it because I am sure it's one of those schools that people are automatically put off because its intake mostly comes from the local estate - if I were in your neck of the woods. HTH.

[abbyfromoz]

Thanks long legs! Will have a look. I'm not a snob, open to any school i just want to make sure it's right for DD who is (imo) very talented creatively. She blows me away with her creative ability and i would hate to not see that nurtured. (Ok i'm sounding like a total pushy parent right now but just don't want to see her have a negative school experience). Anyway since i am a total novice at this school thing being that it's my first child and i didn't go to school in this country i am extra curious to hear about all these rules. The last school we looked at in nottinghill (where we lived before) pregnant women turned up to open day to sign up...

[lalalonglegs]

State schools generally have open days in October/early November so, if I were you, I'd spend a few months asking around locally and seeing what sounds good but, as you say, keeping an open mind. I don't have children in the private sector or close friends with children in the private sector so I'm not really able to advise but certainly I believe some schools expect to have children's names down and expressions of interest by about two but many in this area are very focused on academic outcomes and will assess children before offering a place which means that not everyone on the list will get in. From my wider acquaintance, I can think of several people who ended up getting places at prestigious private schools at the last minute so not having names down from birth doesn't seem to be the end of the world.

It is a bloody nightmare even if you are from the UK. Good luck with it.

[audrey01]

I think micro refers to the new rules regarding distance measurement. This year is the first one where Wandsworth Council will measure distance based on straight line rather than walking route, which will probably shrink the current catchment areas.

[abbyfromoz]

Noooo they do not make it easy!
It's just such a different system to back home.
For starters we have
kindergarden (age 4-5) optional
Preschool/prep (age 5-6) optional
Year 1-7 primary school (age 6-12) compulsory
Year 8-10 junior high school (age 13- 15) compulsory
Year 11 & 12 senior high school (age 16-17/18) not compulsory
After that you proceed to university.
School years start in Jan after Christmas hols and finish in November. That means its not about the month you are born but the year. Is it just me or does this make more sense?
DD is born in April so will start reception early September of 2015... Making her 4 years and 5 months! If i am not mistaken...She will be one of the oldest and yet imo still way too young to be in school 5 days a week.
My MIL teaches little ones at a lovely private school in Sydney but will be retiring before DD is ready to start school
Not sure if DH will sell his company to move back home but I need a back up plan in place in case she ends up starting school here.
P.s this isn't an 'i hate London' rant. Love London- but it's not the easiest place to bring up children admittedly

[lalalonglegs]

I have an April born daughter and she was really ready to start school, she kept moaning about how babyish nursery was and could not wait to walk though the school gates - I think it depends on the child, it doesn't come down solely to birth age. Bear in mind that reception is probably pretty similar to the kindergarten/pre-school alternatives in other countries albeit more or less compulsory and most UK children will have been attending nursery for at least 15 hours a week in the year before they start school because they are entitled to a free place for this much.

I have three children and ideally I would have liked them to start school a bit later but that's not the way it is done over here and, I have to say, they all made the transition to school very easily as did the overwhelming majority of their classmates. It is very unfair on the children that are unready for the whole experience though - I know some mothers (virtually all of whom have had August-borns) who have felt awful watching their children struggle and who feel that their kids are constantly on the back foot because they're just not old enough for school.

If you're thinking of moving back to Australia in the next few years, I wouldn't stress about schools too much. This isn't intended to sound at all sneery but I've known three families move back to Oz and they've all said that their primary school children (who had been in London schools until that point) were academically well ahead of the game mostly, I suppose, because they'd had at least a year extra in the system. Two of them had been at a very unremarkable London school. One mum did say that her children were rubbish at sports compared to most Australian children their age - it's really hard to do lots of sports given the limited space and rubbish weather. Maybe just make her run round the park a bit and learn to swim ?

[abbyfromoz]

Sneery sneery sneery! Hehe!(kidding!)
Thanks longlegs. I am not surprised they would be more prepared for Aus schools as having had an extra year in the system has got to have some influence be it even the social element. It is sad though to think some are so little. Probably projecting a little here but i started school january having just turned 5 (November child) before they changed the age. I was way too immature to cope. I need to remind myself that DD is so much more self assured than i was but part of me can't help but think they are sooo little!
I like the idea of 15 free hours... That's if i can get her a place! Lol
She was attending nursery one full day before we moved house and i saw her develop like you would not believe. It really helped her social development.
Interesting to hear your perspective so thanks

[franciscantrip]

I know a governor at Chesterton. She is biased obv, but also a teacher of very very very many years experience (all over the country) and thinks it is a fabulous school. Ofsted outstanding. If you're considering private, then my guess is that you might find the intake of Chesterton too 'mixed' - a great many of its children come from the estate surrounding it. However, everything I have heard about the school and its teaching etc has been good. Wish we were a bit nearer!

[abbyfromoz]

Thanks Francis. Your review is really helpful. Another Chesterton recommendation- this has definitely sparked my interest and it's a lot closer to us than some of the other schools so looks promising!

[Lizzzar]

Thomas's is called Thomas's because it is owned by the Thomas family
in a partnership. It certainly has a good all round reputation and sponsors
schools in Nepal as well as arts activities in the local community - but these are through charities separately registered from the school. It will be
having a huge concert in the Albert Hall next week which appears to have sold out. Oddly, it does not publish complete exit results and instead has a section on it's website called 'scholarships' which has only partial results and appears to indicate that they haven't achieved any academic scholarships since 2005. This is not wildly impressive compared to Hill House for example but a bright child should do well and there is a lot of sport, drama, music and other extras - these are the things they have always prided themselves on and Joanna Thomas, who founded the school,
had been an actress and loved drama. Worth a look.

[Lizzzar]

Concert tickets still seem to be available, for anyone interested. On the
Albert Hall website. I don't work for Thomas's, but attended as a child (relatively briefly) and so was interested in how they were doing now
and went on the website. I imagine the school could put you in touch with current parents if you went on a tour. The PTA and some of the parents do appear quite social, but I imagine it's the sort of thing you could get
involved with or not depending on how you feel.

[Lizzzar]

The Thomas's website has been redone, with what appear to be full leaver's destinations, showing good results and some scholarships. No idea why it was left to show dated results for so long, but the updated information would show that it is still pretty strong academically. I think the school would also say that school is about more than just exams, though - they proud of their commitment to a broad curriculum.

[Lizzzar]

Should say 'they are proud' - should have read the comment in preview! I'm afraid it is true even being grown up does not stop the occasional mistake! I will have to start double checking.

[AmandaPayneNeedsANap]

I'm not SW London, but I'm ex-London and I clicked on here to say what others already have. You may not have much choice in schools if you are using state schools. You need to find out what your LA's admission criteria are and what their effective catchment area is. Then work out which schools you might have a realistic chance of getting into most years, including accounting for any faith criteria, etc. A change to straight line routes is actually probably a good thing. The catchment will shrink, but probably so will your distance, and it is much easier to do some rough calculations on your own distances yourself using this basis.

The general school stuff isn't that different. Both countries run their school years to the long summer break, it's just that summer is a different point in the year. And the schooling years aren't that different. If I tabulate ours:

Nursery/pre-school (age 3-4) - optional
Reception (age 4-5) - technically optional until the term after your child turns 5, though few people opt out
Year 1-6 (age 5-11) - compulsory
Year 7-11 (age 11-16)- compulsory
Year 12-13 (age 16-18) - optional

Reception to year 6 will be in one school (or, alternatively, reception to year 2 in an infant school, then years 3-6 in a junior school) so reception seems more like 'school proper', but in fact it is much more like a continuation of nursery/pre-school. Very similar these days to the idea of kindergarten in many countries. The only real difference is that mandatory schooling starts one year earlier and stops one year later.

As an April birthday, your daughter (like mine) will actually be one of the younger ones in the year. the oldest children are those born Sept-Christmas. DD1 starts in September and she is so ready for school.