State primary schools in Kingston and Hampton

[Vanessa22]

Hi there,

My husband and I are moving from North London and we are currently looking at houses in Kingston and Hampton. As we have a 2-year-old, one of our criteria is to try to be in a catchment for a good school (to the extent possible, as I know there are no guarantees with the vagaries of the catchment system!).

While I have Ofsted reports etc, I wanted to seek advice and recommendations from people who might have first-hand knowledge of the schools. I'm not too worried about Ofsted Good vs Outstanding ratings - my daughter's nursery is Good according to Ofsted, but in our eyes it's outstanding and she is very happy there. So I'm more interested in parents'/children's views on what is a good, happy, well-rounded, well-run school. These are some of the ones we're looking at, but I also welcome any others I may have missed. Thank you!

Kingston...
Alexandra Infant
Fern Hill
Latchmere
St Lukes
St Pauls
King Athelston (I've heard this school's reputation is improving)
Coombe Hill Infant

Hampton...
Carlisle Infant
Trafalgar Infant
Hampton Hill Junior
Hampton Infant
Hampton Junior

[sirfredfredgeorge]

All the schools in the area are good, particularly on a 3-9 year look ahead, when your child will be there! You need to decide much more about religious ethos, (and if you have a need to avoid any particular social/economic group)

If you just ask people, then you'll much more likely hear negatives related to individual years and particular year group dynamics which make a school unhappy for them.

[Mary21]

Trafalgar is Twickenham not Hampton. There is also St Mary’s Hampton and Buckingham

[strawberrybubblegum]

You do need to go and visit - look for open days.

I visited Coombe Hill Infant. It's a lovely school, with very positive, 'engaged' vibe and fantastic grounds. It's huge though - 3 or 4 form entry depending on the year. And as a result, very busy and quite noisy.

I was really keen on it, but unfortunately my noise-averse DD hated it. For an outgoing, robust child it looked really excellent.

[Vanessa22]

Thank you!

[Vanessa22]

I was just re-reading the advice re Coombe Infant - very interesting perspective, strawberrybubblegum. I am visiting Latchmere, Coombe Infant, Alexandra and Kingston Community School soon. The other schools have all said I have to wait until the open days.

Another question for anyone in Kingston...

We are looking at some houses in KT2 that are "likely" to fall in the right area for Alexandra, St Paul's, Coombe Hill Infant based on distance requirements, but we have also recently seen some houses near Norbiton station that we like (on Homersham, Cobham and Chesham Roads in KT2).

I have spoken directly with Kingston Council school admissions, as well as with the individual schools, but have received some conflicting information on the likelihood of being "in" for the above schools if we are in a house around Homersham/Cobham roads. I know that it's less likely than the KT2 properties we're looking at - and that there are no guarantees given that so much depends on sibling numbers in any given year... but wondering if any parents have first-hand insight/experience of living in those roads and getting into those schools?

[Fiftyisthenew21]

We are moving into the Surbiton/Thames Ditton area and will be looking for a year 4 place for September. We’re looking at both state and independent but because of the relatively last minute nature of the move, i’m Focusing on the independents at the moment. Does anyone know much about Claremont Fan Court, Danesfield Manor, ParkHill Prep or the Study School? Good and Bad!

[Sunshine5050]

Have you got ds & dd and what are their ages (if you want to avoid the dreaded 11+)?

[Fiftyisthenew21]

Just ds, obviously in ideal world would like to avoid 11+, not sure how well he would do in that. Realise that there’s no guarantee with Claremont of proceeding to senior school. They were very clear on that and we haven’t been to see it yet!
Have dates for open days for all of them, but would welcome some ‘word on the street,’ info!

[Sunshine5050]

Fiftyisthenew21, almost all the Prep schools in the area are good, a lot are quite local so you may decide re where you move to. Claremont is obviously all the way through and is about to get a new Head so is definitely on the up and will save the anguish of 11+. Each year there are less options for ds, for girls it's different as there are many more girls only secondary schools. The schools you have listed stop at 11 so you need to start looking at secondary schools now too. If you think your ds would be suited to Claremont then strongly consider it. If you move to Thames Ditton it's unlikely you will get into the state secondary without being in a feeder primary & next door to the school. For private also consider Weston Green school too.

[Fiftyisthenew21]

Sunshine5050- thank you. I hadn’t realised that Weston green went all the way through as in the good schools guide it only says to 7. Have made an appointment to see them, would be nice to find a school a bit more local! Claremont don’t guarantee a secondary place to the primary, but we’ll definitely have a look. From the prospectus it looks very impressive, almost too impressive for my slightly chaotic son!

[Sunshine5050]

Keep Claremont at the top of your list as it will make your life much easier. Weston Green has been up to 11 for several years, it's getting a new head in September but it's good already & has lots of spaces for children to join.(none of the smaller Prep schools in SW London are full despite what they say).