Heathfield School, Pinner

[BerylOfLaughs]

DH and I are unhappy with our dd's current school. We can't afford private unless we sacrifice a lot, but are considering doing so. Heathfield seems to be a nice, not too pushy school, but I haven't heard from anyone with a child there. I'd appreciate any opinions.
Thanks

How old is your dd Beryl? Are you thinking primary or secondary? I know people who are not happy with the primary bit of Heathfield, but are with the secondary bit.
Also know children who are very happy at Northwood college(very good pastoral care) and St Margaret's, Bushey(think those would be my preferences over Heathfield).

Thanks for the reply. Dd is yr1 so interesting to hear about the primary bit. I wouldn't send dd to NC but might consider st margarets and would like st Helens although i fear it may be too competitive. Will prob just stick with the current school but it's nice to know what isout there. Sorry for typos on phone.

Tbh, if I had to sacrifice alot to send my child to private, it wouldn't be Heathfield from all I have heard about it. St Helen's and Royal Masonic also are excellent schools(everyone I know who goes are very happy with them), but you would have to put your name on a waiting list till they have a place available.

Not sure what you've heard about H/field after8 but my Dd goes there, currently in Nursery. We absolutely love it and so does she. We did loads of searches and visits and it was the friendliest place we visited. Lovely, bright rooms. Checked out both ISI and Ofsted primary reports, school is reported as Outstanding and Excellent.
Tbh it hasn't got a great reputation through word of mouth - probably because people quote what they've heard rather than visit themsleves. I think it deserves a much better write up! Not "pushy" like some of the Northwood schools but gets good KS2 results. Check it out for yourself BerylOfLaughs, I think there's an open evening next week as Dd has a half day on Tues.

Thanks, am going to the open morning soon. Good to hear an opinion though.

I think Lazy has put it really well (glad your DD is happy there!), Heathfield is often overlooked. I don't know much about it, except a friend of DS has a sister there in Yr8 and the girl is v happy, doing well and the parents always praise the school very highly.

If you like St Helen's, it's always worth calling up the admissions people and having a chat with them. DD1 & 2 go there and there are odd places to be had, so worth checking if the year group is full. We were living abroad and came back at a strange time of year, but managed to get DD1 in (Oct 2010) because there was a couple of places in her year group. In fact it still isn't full, there is maybe one place left (Year 5). But at that time Nursery was full so had to do 4+ for DD2. Luckily she got in, but she has 19 in her class, so there must a Reception place free too. Worth a try I reckon. Open Day is on 15 Oct if you're interested (you might even see DD1 as Yr 5 have to be there).

I can vouch for St Helen's being amazing, I went there myself. In fact, for girls' schools in the area, there are a lot of good choices.

Good luck with your decision!

Beryl, why wouldn't you send DD to Northwood College? If I can ask. I went last year to the open day and I really like it. My DD2 really like it.

Thanks stikmatix, we'll be visiting St Helen's soon.
CeciC, I went to Northwood College, I know it was a long time ago but I have such awful memories of the place I won't be going anywhere near it. I'm sure it's fine but it's not for us.

I truly believe that the only way to judge a school is visit it and look at the girls. I did and was so impressed with the Heathfield girls manners and love of their school the first thing i thought was if my daughter turned out like that I would be happy....Well I can assure you she is ! The care of the girls at Heathfield is outstanding the lessons are well thought out and teachers always contactable if required. I believe you shoud not judge a book by its cover. This school choice for us has been one of the best decsions ever made. :o

Thanks Shetty, good to know.