The Hall / Arnold House / Bedford

[MrMom]

We've just got assessment dates for DS at TH (late April) and AH (early March) for Sept 2014 entry to YR1. Does anyone know when the offers/rejections will be communicated and how long we would have to decide?

The head of Bedford has been appointed head at TH. Any Bedford parents out there that can shed some light on this tenure as head there?

I think we were sent letters just after May bank holiday for both.. you have approx 1 week to respond. No info on Godwin although it seems a strange hire as he doesnt appear to have experience sending boys off to competitve London senior or any other senior school aside from Beford senior which more or less seem automatic.

Any info for present parents at Bedford prep would be interesting

Mumfortwo - thanks. Godwin does seem an odd choice. It sounds as though you have a DS at TH?

It remains to be seen how he will manage to fit into the North London scene, which is vastly different to county or prep schools anywhere else in the country. Lough was superb and will be terribly missed by most parents I would think. The most wary of parents are the current Y5 boys so all the best to them.

And good luck to your DS, its a tricky choice between the 2 schools as they are so different, but I suppose you know that already.

Hello MrMom and mumfortwo, I am looking at both schools next year for 2015 entry. Is it true that (a) you must be part of a nursery-school like Broadhurst or Hampstead Hill to get through either and (b)do they run waiting lists ?

MSG I'm not sure what you mean by "nursery-school", but my DS does attend a Montessori nursery which goes up to Reception. I don't recall any of the schools' literature stipulating such a thing but there is probably a good chance that attending a nursery helps to socialise a child in a way that helps for the assessment. Also, my DS's nursery had started doing phonics, numeracy and writing with his class by the time of the assessment. I've read on other threads that some say that schools had asked children to write their names - my DS didn't mention that to us (despite us trying to find out). As for waiting lists, I believe if you have registered at the right time both schools will assess all applicants. I believe both operate wait lists - not certain. HTH.