How good is Farringtons school (Kent)?

[greaterriver]

Both education and “prestige” wise. Any opinions, experiences, thoughts. Thank you!

In my opinion one of the worst private schools that I have encountered!
There is a whole forum in the secondary section about this school and many negative reviews. Message me if you wish, I am happy to share the links and information with you as I have also been in contact with many of the parents who are complaining there and many more that removed their children from this school. I certainly do not recommend this school to anyone.

I had the privilege of working at this wonderful school for 10 years, working with some amazing littlies and their families.
The staff work tirelessly to support and nurture children. The joy in seeing a shy little child grow and flourish is the best feeling in the world. The children are offered a broad and balanced curriculum, with many additional experiences that help develop well rounded, confident and resilient young people.

Everyone will have different experiences of schools , but I urge you to visit and experience it for yourself. You will know if this is the right school for your child.

Welll seeing as the teachers are
Walking out over pay today I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't survive.

This perfectly reflects our experience too—especially in my son’s class. The only difference is that my son was the one consistently left out.
From the very beginning, he was made to feel like he was never good enough. While others were regularly praised, celebrated, and awarded certificates—even for the smallest of efforts—my son’s hard work was completely overlooked. He was never acknowledged for his achievements, no matter how significant.
There’s one incident I will never forget: I arrived one afternoon to pick him up from school, only to see the teacher walk out with my son—alone. All the other children had been invited by the teachers to take part in activities, yet my son was the only one going home. It was heartbreaking. At the end of the year, once again, certificates and recognition were handed out to almost every child—except mine.
Even when he excelled in an English examination run by an external board—and the outside examiners praised his preparation and performance—there was still no acknowledgement from the school.
It became painfully predictable who would be celebrated. House captain roles, certificates, special mentions—it was always the same group, including the child of someone on the school’s leadership team. The imbalance was obvious to many of us, and it sent a clear message to the children about who mattered and who didn’t.
The emotional toll this took on my son was devastating. He often cried on the way home from school, feeling like he wasn’t good at anything. That sense of being constantly overlooked left lasting scars. He spent years in therapy trying to rebuild his confidence. We couldn’t moving him straight away as sadly there were no available places at any schools nearby.
One of the most distressing moments came when he was accidentally burned with a hot drink and not properly looked after. It was just another example of how his wellbeing was neglected.
Our years at Farringdon were traumatic, and I wouldn’t wish that experience on any child. The emotional rollercoaster, the lack of care, the exclusion, the favoritism—all of it added up to something we will never forget. I truly hope no other child has to go through what mine did.

I know this is a relatively older post, but does anyone have any feedback on how Farringtons prep is this year with the new prep head? Am looking for year 1 and pre-reception. Xx

I currently have two children in the prep school and honestly am very impressed with the changes that have been implemented since September. Both my children are very happy and are stretched academically. New clubs have been implemented and a number of other improvements introduced in each term, I would recommend this school (and have done to several friends).

Thank you!! I got an amazing impression when I went to visit the school, though was thrown off by the negative comments on mumsnet, although I can see most of those comments have now been deleted🤔👀 I hope that was the school that did something about as it seemed it was largely 2 individuals spreading the negativity! I also genuinely loved it and have enrolled my two there for next year 🙂x

While I acknowledge and do not condone the past behaviour you’ve described, your continued public characterisation of the school shifted into defamatory territory. There is a clear distinction between sharing a past grievance and engaging in a campaign of malicious comments and falsehoods that targets the school’s current reputation.

Your comments regarding the former Head of Prep’s rescinded job offer are not only irrelevant to my query about how the school is performing now, but they also appear to be unsubstantiated hearsay. Disseminating such private, third-party employment information serves no constructive purpose and instead suggests a malicious intent to disparage rather than provide constructive and useful feedback.

Your comments can undue distress to families currently enrolled and those who have recently joined the community. I note that your previous comments were removed — I can only assume you were handed a Cease and Desist order. For the benefit of the community, I suggest you cease making further statements that cross the line from personal opinion into actionable defamation.

The timing of your 'voluntary' removal of two years’ worth of posts is telling. While you claim this was to protect a colleague's identity (an identity apparently exposed for 2 years on this thread alone without concern) the sudden erasure of a digital footprint is a classic defensive move when faced with potential litigation. Say what you will.

Whilst asserting that a former staff member had a job offer rescinded is a statement of fact, not an opinion. If that statement is false or cannot be proven (most likely in your case as I suspect you only gathered this via hearsay and not from the school in question), it falls directly into the category of actionable libel.

Given that you have clearly not been affiliated with the school for a significant period, your reliance on historical grievances to disparage its current standing is becoming increasingly transparent. I strongly recommend you cease these posts before you dig yourself into a deeper legal hole. It is quite clearly time to move on and stop attempting to undermine a community you are no longer a part of.