Wimbledon Common prep school , Parkside school Cobham or Milbourne Lodge Esher

[olya1]

We are moving to Kingston and have a bit of dilema.Ds is in independent school up North so we've been looking for a school for him around Kingston.we want him to go to KCJS(Wimbledon)missed dead line for an application for 7+(.So have a choice to put him to Wimbledon Common prep school for a year in order for him to do entrance exam for KCJS for 8+.Is it a good idea? Or to put him to Parkside school Cobham or Milbourne Lodge school Esher (September 2011)at 7+ where Ds will stay till 13. all your comments are very appreciated. Thank you

I cannot comment specifically on the schools, but one thing to keep in mind is that KCJS has changed its admissions and the bulk of intake is done at 7+ (56) and only 10-12 at 8+. It would probably be better to start him at a school which goes to 13 so that he would have the option of continuing at the same school and thus not having to move to a third school in case he does not gain admission at 8+.

Depends what you want really. Academically, Milbourne Lodge will get you in anywhere.

Thank you for your replies SofaQueen and FloreatEtonia.
I was just wondering whether any mums on this forum have children at Parkside school/Cobham or Milbourne Lodge/Esher? Or are you a teacher with knowledge of these schools? What are your experiences?
DH and I are considering these 2 schools for DS...We viewed both of them but I need to know more before making any decisions.

Hi, I have no experience of those schools but we are in the area and currently going through the 11+ process with ds.

Where do you want him to go at 11 or 13? It might be easier to start from that point and work back iyswim. There is also King's House in Kingston and Tower House in Sheen, although a lot of boys we know go from state to Independent at 11.

My brother went to Parkside, but that was a looooooong time ago. Would you board there?

Rokeby?

We are considering schools for Ds at 7+.. There are stil palces in Milbourne Lodge and Parkside but DS will have to take an entrance exam in Febriary. My first choice is Milbourne Lodge. Rokeby- location is perfect + strong academically but is not flexible as the other ones. if missed admission deadline for any reason you are out.

I have knowledge of both schools. Parkside is very sporty and provide a relaxed environment for good all rounders. Milbourne is more of an academic hothouse and is more suited to a very academic child. Parkside boys tend to go on to a mixture of schools, mainly reeds, st johns, cranleigh and hamptons though a few do get into kings and Rgs. Milbourne will drive the boys harder and get them into places like eton should you want that. It really depends on your priorities - if getting into a top school regardless of your child's natural ability is your priority then milbourne would be best....for a less pushy environment, go for parkside as they will get your child into the school that is suited to them (though may not be as prestigious).

Have had children at both. Parkside is not pushy academically, but there can be a lot of competitiveness around the sport (parent-driven). The nursery is fabbo, the best ever, but that may not interest you.

Milbourne has a great new head, and is very small - class sizes under a dozen sometimes. They do not expect a child to 'fit in' - they like a bit of bonkers-ness. It is academically ambitious but there is lots of fun too - every child, and every member of staff, is turned out in the afternoon to do some sport. They have two morning breaks as well as a lunch break so that the pupils can let off steam, as boys and staff particularly need to do.

Milbourne takes girls should that ever be an issue, Parkside does not.

I would agree regarding the Sports competitiveness at Parkside......I would definitely NOT send a child to Parkside if they weren't good at sport as you are a bit of a second class citizen if you're not on the A or B teams for football!!!

Have you considered Danes Hill? (also takes girls)....they have a good balance of academics and extra curricular activities. It's big, but there are a lot of staff so the ratios of staff/pupil numbers are excellent.

We live in the area and looked at Milborne and Parkside. DS is very academic and we didn't think Parkside would stretch him enough. Milborne was a mess at the time, there was trouble with appointing a new head and a lot of our concerns were echoed in The Good Schools Guide. There is a new head now, and the dispute with the junior school should have ended with the sale to Shrewsbury Lodge, but at the time it wasn't for us.
We had a place at Rokeby but had also gone to look at The Mall which is on the Teddington/Twickenham border as a backup - its about a 12 minute drive from Kingston and they run a bus in. DS loved The Mall and so we went with it and have never regretted it. It is very hard work, but it is a kind and happy school. DS has recently been offered a place at KCS for 2013 as have about 9 other boys. It is very academic, boys there do very well and usually obtain scholarships to KCS,St Pauls and Hampton every year. There is a very close link with Hampton where the main cohort go onto, which is an excellent backup for KCS as it is getting tricky to get into.
The Mall is a lot closer than the other schools you have named and well worth a look. Also just around the corner is Newland House which is co-ed, which is also supposed to be pretty good and may suit if you have girls to follow.
I would also look at Kings House in Richmond, it is much closer to Kingston than the schools you have mentioned.
Whatever you decide I would advocate a 13+ school, 11+ this year was very hard.

If you think the lad is very bright and likely to be "at home" at KCJS I would send him to Wimbledon Common Prep and straight into KCJS at 8 where he will have a very very good chance of going through to 18. If he doesn't get in at 8 your choice will be made (if he can't do it then he is unlikely to at 11 or 13) and it would, IMO, be most sensible to send him somewhere less pressured where he will be able to enjoy a happy childhood and still come out well rounded and well educated.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions.

dibbydobby,KeepCalmAndCurryOn *- I really appreciate what you have said about Milbourne Lodge. We dont consider Parkside anymore.

Annelongditto- having read you posts about The Mall we have made an arrangement to see the school.. I believe there are some places avialiable DS could sit a test end of April for 7+. We also registered DS at Rokeby and Srewsbury House ( waiting list in both).

I loved Rokeby and think it is a brilliant all round school, it was DS who preferred The Mall.

Beware of Shrewsbury, they are a fantastic sports school who claim to be academic, but struggle for places at senior academic day schools. They have over 50 boys in Y6, but I'm told by a parent (we live a 5 min walk from Shrewsbury and neighbours have boys there) they only got 6 interviews for Kings College, The Mall has 35 boys and got 15 interviews - but then Shrewsbury absolutely stuff us at rugby!

Good Luck with everything.

Hi, have been following this thread as my middle DS has been offered a place at Milboourne Lodge for Sept. Our local state school is very good and we had never considered prep school before but he is very good academically. I'm interested in what you were saying re. the mall as this is much closer to us (based in shepperton) does anyone know if they do scholarships for entry at 7.

I'd be a bit wary of Wimbledon Common Prep, simply because they got very few into KCJS this year, despite being owned by them. And their Ofsted report was very disappointing.

No idea about scholarships at The Mall, check with the school, but they do run a school bus in from Shepperton.

I know people who sent children to Milbourne and were very happy with it, one went onto St Pauls with an academic scholarship - schools are very subjective.

DS has friends at The Mall who are very academic and happy there, but who's siblings are being moved to Denmead because they are struggling - its not the right school for everyone.
I think the whole point of private schools is that there is more choice and you find the right school for your child.

Good Luck

Thanks Annelongditton having looked at the malls website and reading the good comments here will be contacting them to arrange a visit.

Can anyone give us any info on The Mall in Twickenham ? Our DS has a place there after passing the assessment...Now we plan to move from Kingston to lovely Cobham ! Question is '' what is communte from Cobham to Hampton Road to the Mall like ? seems like a hassle ...thanks

P.S sorry, made a mistake and posted in a wrong thread( Rokeby Kingston) ..

I think there would be very few boys going from Cobham to the Mall. You could also look at Cranmore in West Horsley, they have school buses from Cobham.

Re Wimbledon common prep school: they got 18 into KCJS this year, out of their year 2 and year 3 cohort. Sounds impressive but as they are KCJS's pre-prep school (as is Rowans) one would expect a higher number.

It's a shame as Kings seem to be distancing themselves from Sqirrels because of their negative ofsted, when a much better approach would be to fully merge it with the junior school like NLCS (which starts at 4 and still manages to get excellent results despite the early selection)

They could change the name at the same time which should disassociate them from the old school even more...

Giselle99,

I was also told that WCPS got 18 into KCJS this year, out of 24 who applied, a pass rate of 75%.

Is that a good result and does anyone know how that compares with other schools whose pupils apply to KCJS?

With regard to the links between the two, I am not sure about Kings distancing themselves from WCPS as this year WCPS hosted the inaugural "Future Schools" event in their new assembly building, 'Orchard Hall' where Kings College and eleven other comparable schools sent head teachers and/or senior staff to meet the parents of current pupils.

A colleague and his wife attended and said that it was a great success as it gave parents the opportunity to make personal contact with potential schools rather than having to visit each one individually.

Most participants ran out of marketing material, the event over-ran timewise as parents bombarded the school representatives and the Kings stall was extremely popular, he had to queue for ages!

With regard to the Ofsted reports, they both refer to inspections/visits that took place under the previous Head Teacher who was in post when Kings bought WCPS.

As mentioned, a new Head Teacher has since been appointed (not sure if there was a connection between the Ofsted reports and the new appointment) and my colleague who met her at the Future Schools evening said she made a favourable impression.

Hi LamiaB,

18 out of 24 who applied is great, but they prep the boys and advise them on what school/s to apply for based on their performance at the time. If only 24 boys at that stage were KCJS material, then they put forward 24. It doesn't explain why the majority weren't up to Kings' standard. I'm sure some boys opt to go to other schools, but the majority at Squirrels are there to be prepped for KCJS.

Re the future schools, it was just Squirrel's turn; The Rowans held a similar event recently as did Willington. Kings always attend local future events, and it's no surprise that their stand was the busiest!

My point is that when Kings bought WCPS, many locals assumed it would be subsumed into Kings with a seamless entry at 4, and in fact in the first year Kings applied for permission to expand WCPS to include a mixed nursery school for age 2-3. There was information about Squirrels on the Kings website and more than half of WCPS boys got into Kings. Then the second negative Ofsted came out and Kings made some excellent changes to Squirrels, but at the same time appeared to treat it increasingly as a separate school (which it is, but as I said, at the time they bought it this did not appear to be their intention - the planning application is available on the net)

I'm not having a dig ay Squirrels - it's a great school and the new headteacher (Mrs Buck) has made some very good changes. I just wish it could become Kings' pre-prep department proper (with all the benefits) and not 'the little school opposite which we happen to own'

Kcjs is massively oversubscribed - they also have a policy to take
Kids from all school sectors , based on ability only. The Kcjs headmaster is also a squirrels parent. Kcjs try to take a maximum of 50percent of the intake from the kcs owned schools (rowans &squirrels) . Having said that it is purely selective on academic results from the entrance exams, (& interview, & Social skills from the activity morning)...! Squirrels & Rowans are not selective at 4, so it unsurprising some years they recommend less boys apply to kings than other years. 75 % pass rate is unrivalled.

Giselle 99,

Thank you for your detailed response, apologies it took me so long to reply.

I never imagined that you were having a dig at Squirrels, your detailed knowledge makes clear you are well informed and my colleague is very grateful for all the information provided, especially things not so readily available via official channels from squirrels or KCJS!

The tip about the planning application was very useful and provides great insight into what the school was/is planning to do in the future.

He certainly now shares your opinion that Squirrels is a great school and is considering it for his bots, thank you!