Finton House vs Hornsby House vs Thomas's

[SuiGeneris]

We are looking at schools for DSs. Options are as in the title, so would be grateful for opinions from current or recent parents. We do not yet know how academically able they will be, but if they take from us they are likely to be nerdy academics who are useless at sport. Overall game plan is to get them, if possible, into a selective day secondary school, maybe Westminster, St Paul's or Sevenoaks.

Can't help you with schools as my DCs don't attend any of them. However, if my experience is anything to go by, your DCs may turn out somewhat different to you (and each other!!), so don't pigeon hole them too early. I would visit the schools and see which one appeals the most and go with your gut. Thomas's I know is selective and pretty full on and sporty, so may not suit a more retiring type (in fact the retiring types I know didn't get in at 3+....they are now at St Pauls and KCS however, from their non selective prep schools). So achievement at 3 really means very little IMO.

Look at the leavers destinations from each school on the internet to ensure the list is broad so the school can cater for all types and includes the schools you currently think you want for secondary. Any school which feeds to one secondary would concern me - what if the DS gets to 13 and you discover he is not suited to that school?.

HTH - good luck.

Finton seems a lovely school but loses many of its boys at 7 or 8 so the upper years are very girl heavy for a co-ed school

I personally didn't like Thomas's - but I'm not a big fan of for-profit schools, and I also felt uncomfortable with the 'blondeness' of it, considering it's in a cosmopolitan, urban environment

HH is a really lovely, happy school - non-selective but plenty of bright children - subtly different demographic from Thomas's and Finton. The majority of boys go to Dulwich and Whitgift, girls to Alleyn's, Emanuel, and the local GDST schools with a few heading off to board

Thanks for the replies: I do need to go and see Thomas's again, but DH is very pro-selection and setting, so favours.

basildonbond: could you expand on the demographics point please? At the open days the people visiting HH were def more varied than, say, at Broomwood Hall but on the whole also seemed to have done less research (asking basic questions for which the answers were in the prospectus) and also seemed less familiar with the English school system generally. The headmaster is also very new and had not anticipated the line of questioning about multilingualism/multiethnicism, so could not answer on the spot (but did not incite people to get in touch later for the answers either). The exit schools are also not particularly academic... But I did like the school and so did DH, who also liked new building etc.
Finton I liked more on a gut-feel basis, even though there are almost no boys in the upper years and the classrooms and playgrounds seem cramped. Exit schools seem more impressive and I love the ethos, but I wonder whether I'd be happy for the boys to have to move at 8 if, for example, they were to be only one of 2/3 in their year. The head also seemed very good and pleasant...

Invite, not incite... iPhone interfering, sorry.

being blunt, FH and T are posher! Not that there aren't plenty of wealthy parents at HH (you'd have to be pretty well-off to afford the fees ...)

As it's non-selective you're going to have a range of exit schools - the top half of the boys will tend to go to Dulwich, Alleyn's, Whitgift with Emanuel and The Hall School mopping up the rest. Given the school's location you're not going to get lots of boys going to Westminster or St Paul's and as it only goes up to 11 most parents who're aiming for those kinds of schools will have opted for the traditional prep system much earlier. Quite a few girls go to Wimbledon High but very few boys go to Kings at 11 as if they're heading that way they would tend to go at 7 or 8.

FH is virtually a girls' school after Y3 - one family I know said they hadn't wanted to pull their son out as they were very happy with the school but as he would have been one of two boys left in his class they didn't feel they had a choice so it becomes a vicious circle. For some reason, both HH and T are truly co-ed all the way through

HH sets for maths and has lots of enrichment opportunities for children who are gifted either academically or in a particular area (art, drama etc) so the bright children are not neglected by any means

I suspect that if you like T you're not going to go for either FH or HH - to be honest I couldn't get away from T fast enough after the open day - I can't put my finger on exactly what I disliked so much but the member of the senior management team who was giving us our tour just put my back up

I think the main difference is that T is a 'prep' school and HH is really what your local state primary would be if it had lots of money poured into it and no social problems meaning that the staff can just get on with concentrating on teaching and making sure the children thoroughly enjoy themselves at the same time as learning

All the DCs I know who go to a school that selected at 3 have birthdays in the first half of the academic year! I don't know what schools are looking for at 3 - probably can the parents pay the fees and will they fit into the school.

Needless to say we preferred the ethos of a non selective school and our DCs have been very happy and done better all round than many of their friends at schools that selected at 3 because the ethos at those schools is more eat what you kill. I still say go with your gut as you know your child best. If you think your child, not your DH, would thrive in a competitive full on environment, go for it. Good luck.

Thank you, more food for thought... I am not sure that we still like Ts: gave arranged another tour though.

Basildonbond: DH said almost word for word what you said about HH being what a state school should be... And I had had the same impression as you re HH being more of a first-time-buyer school (eg lots of questions on how the house system works)...I am beginning to wonder whether we move in the same circles IRL...

I take the point about moving into the prep system earlier if 13+ schools are in the frame, but of the three in the vicinity only T s looks possible... Not sure I really want to take an 8-year-old much further: he has the rest of his life to commute...

If you are really keen on westminster and Paul's you need to have a clear plan. Do you want to try for their prep schools at 8 or go for it at 13. If they are already on your map an 11+ strategy is definitely third best as it is the hardest entry level. So, if you go for an 11* school you need to be willing and able to have a crack at 8+, with or without the school's help.
Thomas's don't support 8+ but do seem to get good results at 13+ and do have the useful option of also supporting 11+, which means you aren't closing off any secondary options
I know this all seems like madness having to think about this stuff so young, but make sure you aren't blocking off options you want.
And of course the most important factor is to be happy with the school your child is to go to now !
I really liked Ben Thomas but agree that Thomas's is probably not ideal for the shyer or more quirky child. It is pretty robust but offers a great range of activities.

Have you seen the latest 11+ results for Finton House vs Hornsby House? Interesting reading. Looks like you underestimated those "first time buyer" parents at Hornsby House Basildon bond.

eh?? not sure why that post was aimed at me?

Probably because your post was so rude to Hornsby House parents. Possibly wealthy but definitely not posh....

I wasn't being rude at all! I didn't actually use the words 'first time buyers' and imo being less posh than Thomas's is a Good Thing... If you look at what I said it was extremely complimentary about the school. It does have a slightly different vibe compared to Finton and Thomas's and so much the better as far as my dc are concerned

Where abouts in London are you?

Zombie post (OP was looking 3 years ago)

But the reanimation shows this year's destination schools beginning to appear on school websites.

Are FH and HH both 'counting' the same way (ie final choice of destination, one per pupil) or listing everything offered?

You're right basildon sorry. On the surface your post looked a bit rude but when you bother to read through properly you aren't. My DSs were at HH for a few years before moving away, and it got a bit tiresome the way it was perceived as third rate after Thomass and FH (by the parents whose DC's went to those schools of course). I've been hearing great things from friends and acquaintances still in the area of how it's been on the rise for a while now - perception locally. We loved it; great little school. We didn't find the 'first time buyers' particularly accurate either, not amongst those we met anyway.

Hello, we have a similar question over on the local Wandswotth site here so if any of you have a minute to share your local school knowledge it would be much appreciated. Thanks