Danes Hill School Surrey or Downsend

[mina253]

Hello :) We have just moved to the area and are expecting a new baby in a few months and I was just wondering which schools would you recommend. At the moment we are considering Danes Hill or Downsend but would like to hear positives and negatives for both. Many thanks !

hmmmm

parents with kids at either will bang the drum for "their" school. I have had experience of both in various ways for older children (not Nursery etc). Danes Hill has somewhat of a reputation in terms of the type of parents and the type of kids they churn out. It is much bigger than Downsend. Downsend apparently much more "normal" cohort of parents and kids are a bit less sophisticated than Danes Hill kids at 13...Various other local schools regularly take in Danes Hill refugees - a big bulllying problem if you beieive what you hear.Oh I could bang on and on....

However what on earth are you doing thinking about this now - neither are particularly selective and loads may change between now and when your child is ready to go. You need to look and see for yourself but please enjoy the baby part before getting sucked in to the whole school thing

The state schools are also good

Do you like footballers? Nouveau riche types? If yes, Danes, if no Downsend....

Thanks so much for all messages - We are just looking for a good academic and sports balanced school with lots of opportunities where our child can do really well and flourish hopefully and get into the good school afterwards...so we have no idea just on the basis of touring each school what they are really like

willali - it would be great if you could elaborate here or private message perhaps ? you are right about timing - we have had tours of both schools but are none the wiser - Danes Hill was so impressive we liked it a lot - are there any better school that we should look into in addition to these two?

titchy - we haven't really looked at state schools are there any good state schools around ? which ones would you recommend and why would you choose state school over private - just out of interest ?

I think it would be unfair to talk about the school as is when it could be very different when you actually are in the position of having a child of school age (assuming you are PG with number one?).

Having said that i dont think it is Controversial To say that Danes Hill does have a certain reputation for being the school of choice for the flashier richer set, and various horror stories about things that have gone on abound at local coffee mornings- but from those who have had their own issues with the school. It is always full so obviously there are many with a different point of view! I know kids who have been through the school and mostly are very unpleasant characters at 13+ but again that just might be an anomaly for that particular year group.

Both schools get kids to senior schools of choice but both will ease out children who they deem not up to scratch in order to maintain 100% CE pass rate. Both schools are good at sport and have good facilities.

It's a minefield and yes you should look at your state options too. Everyone will have something to say about every school and you need to hone your reading between the lines skills, look at what you want out if a school, look at your child's qualities and match all those things up as best yu can.

And Parkside, Feltonfleet, Manor House, St Teresa's also in the area depending on what sex your child is!

Your baby hasn't even been born yet - you really have no idea what sort school will suit them best - they may be creative or artistic or musical, not sporty or academic. Also schools change over five years so you really shouldn't be planning anything at this stage - other than your birth plan and who will be allowed to visit

Come back to this thread when baby is two or three an you have a sense of their personality.

Thank you so much we will look into those schools too - you are right a bit too early to start stressing about schools now :)

Im also stuggling with the minefield of the local schools both private and state. The state Nursery and Primary schools seem average with Polesden Lacey getting an Outstanding ofsted (unfortunately we missed the application deadline as are only just moving to the area). On the private side St Teresa's is a great site and the Nursery head is wonderful, but I worry this wont be as academic as the other schools. Way too many choices!!

Eastwick is the most sought after state infant/junior in Bookham. Many girls start in state then go on to St T or Manor House (which gets much better GCSE results than St T) later on. None of the local state juniors are "average" in the scheme of things and Hiward of Effingham a much sought after state comp (so entrance requirements very tight)

I would have a look at Manor House - it is a beautiful school and they seem to get excellent results from a broadly average ability intake.

Can I suggest that you look beyond pre-prep and prep and decide where you would like your child to go to ultimately - at 13, if you are going to choose a private education. You may need to wait until your child is older to do this - you don't know yet how academic / musical / sporty they are!

Then look at Downsend / Danes Hill / wherever and establish how many kids, if any, get into that target school from there. Indeed, call the Head of the target school and ask which of Downsend / Danes Hill / whichever he would recommend, based on the children he is currently receiving from them and their character and attainments?

Hi lovely Mums, I have two kids ( boy and Girl). We just moving to Leathered. I would love if you could share your opinions about Feltonfleet and Downsend?! Personally I loved Feltonfleet but heard that Downsend is also very nice school and is much closer to our new house! As I said my prefer choice was Felton but I also heard that the traffic between leathered and Felton is really bad?! Please advise x

No personal experience of either but we’re going with a school that’s a bit further away. I just timed the route at drop off and pick up times several times, in good weather, bad weather etc to know what I’m up against.