The unspoken truths of pre-preps

[Hypeinsouthwestlondon]

Hello!
after too many sleepless nights overthinking the merits of pre-preps, primary schools etc in south west London, I am turning up here hoping for some help!
pre-preps going to 7-8 years old:

• What’s next for the children who don’t make it to the top schools really?
• do the children manage to develop friendships or is it just too quick and everyone is focused on securing the next step so no one invests in the relationships?
• Is it counterproductive for the more rounded children (the emotionally intelligent ones, sporty ones who also happen to be bright)?
• how much tutoring is really going on? When from?
• what chances of getting into the top school for families that are not pushy/obsessed with the outcome?
• when children don’t make it to the elite schools afterwards, are they just too advanced with the program when they get to the next school?
• are the parents approachable?

any other consideration from anyone who has been there or close to it is deeply appreciated

I teach, and have taught, in south west London and Surrey. In both independent and maintained.

When you say ‘top’ schools, I assume you mean the likes of Westminster/St Paul’s where it is worth investing in a feeder pre prep for these schools, as they know the drill regarding entrance exams and will advise if tutors are needed. There’s no point being pushy, but you do have to be very invested in your child’s education to get into (and thrive) in these schools.

Other than those very top schools and feeder schools, which are completely shielded by reputation from the recent VAT hike, I would say that the majority of pre-preps do exactly the same thing and are struggling a bit at the moment. One school I know, a very nice school, has a reception class of four pupils!

Unless you have money to burn, or are particularly keen on four year olds in blazers, I would stick with the old saying “state before eight.” From year 3, I think the advantages of class size/facilities/after school care in the independents really do make a difference to the outcomes for an ‘average’ child.

Just be aware that your child may need to do some extra work outside of school for the 7+/8+ entrance tests (if they have to take a test at all) as there are aspects of these tests that are not part of the state school curriculum. But dead easy to look up online. And there are plenty of schools keen to fill places at the moment.

Don’t really know about the parents. They all drive Range Rovers, but are mostly nice, in my experience!

It is very hsrd to tell not knowing which private you ate talking about in particular.

before moving out of the uk my kids were at a private in wandsworth and it was great. We left because of Brexit (we wanted to stay in europe) amd because we fundamentally disagree with the 11+.

in our school, the teachers were very good at helping the identify which schools to target, and which support to put in place.
of course there was parents who were incredibly pushy and their kids were doing 7 exams 🙄 those poor kids…

we met with the past principal of Kings and he said to the parents “by now you know if your child is Kings material. So dont force your child to sit the entrance exam if he isnt, Kings isnt a dinner party conversation. We have an amazing pastoral care for every child that comes to King but we wont slow down the pace”.

and he is right. Parents need to be honest with themselves and with their kids. It s about supporting them to achieve their potential, and finding the right school FOR THEM is one of the step to achieve that.

and usually tutoring has already started for some kids. A teacher was playing non verbal reasoning games with her kids since they started reception, and mind games.

in our school most parents were nice

Thank you, very useful answers @Bubblesgun , @Tutorpuzzle .
out of curiosity, how would you describe “kings material” please? At what point would you know? I suppose it will be one or two years after school has started or is there an easy way to see if it’s not meant to be even before committing to the 7+ journey?

Most families are super lovely, you have one it two bad apples of course - that’s the case on all schools.

The care and pastoral care and academic guidance was very well rounded, and we have highly educated children that have gone on to ‘elite’ schools, and then to the best universities. We have never once had an issue with bullying for example. Our dc have been well cared for.

The cost however is significant and increasing every year. You may have to dig deep if you are planning to privately educate to the end of their schoolng My dds have made genuine and long lasting friendships. As have we. Overall I feel it was a good decision.

@Hypeinsouthwestlondon that meeting with past principal of Kings was when our eldesr was in yr 4.
i guess your kid would have to be in top set maths and english, able to apply him/her self and be ok under pressure. That is how you know.

if you have to tutor for them to be in the top set more than supporting a normal amount then i guess your child wouldnt be doing well in those type of secondary schools where the pace is fast.

We valued pressure from within rather than an external factor due to sitting exams at such young age. So see what you want your child to experience in life, school is hard enough.

and like someone said, do your maths. It s a lot of money to go private until A Level