Ibstock Place School

[Rzen123]

Hi all, we will be moving to London in July. My kids have been offered a place at Ibstock Place School and seriously thinking of accepting the offer. As I am a very city girl, the closest "urban" area to the school I can see is Hammersmith, with a good bus connection to the school. I have 2 questions 1) what people think about the school and 2) are there many people living in hammersmith or are we going to be completely isolated from the school community?
The other school we were offered a place is Harrodian, but my kids had a better feeling with Ibstock...any comments on that too?
Thank you SO MUCH in advance for your help...I am pretty lost...

Hammersmith itself is a dump though there are some nice places close by.

Hammersmith is pretty grim although Brook X Green and around Ravenscourt Park are nice (expensive though).

People don't tend to travel long distances to Ibstock so the majority of children will be living in reasonably close proximity- Sheen, Richmond etc

Which aspects of city life are you looking for?
Easy transport (to where exactly?)
Good restaurants, cafes, delis?
Culture and things going on (what do you like doing?)
Close to good shops?
General buzzy feel?
Cultural diversity?

Putney is quite suburban, but nice enough.

Fulham is a bit buzzier and feels closer into town. Easy access to Chelsea and South Ken.

Richmond is further out of London, but stands better by itself: good shops, lots of cafes and restaurants etc. Also on a lovely stretch of the river, and has access to Richmond Park and Kew. Noticeable airplane noise though.

thank you for this. I like the fact I can walk to the tube, walk to the coffee place or local restaurant. Richmond is beautiful but doesn't suit me, too suburbia. I am really not used to that. Who knows maybe in few years time. I am a bit concerned about the comment that not many people "commute" to Ibstock from Hammersmith. Bus 72, I think, only takes 20 minutes, not a long commute I guessed for London standards. But I may be wrong.
On another issue, Ibstock vs Harrodian? does anyone have strong views?
thank you again for your help, it is so very much appreciated

If you want 'urban' then how about going towards one of the archetype areas and heading for south Wandsworth. There's a through bus route (493) to Tooting/Balham.

Hammersmith is a bit dull, and if by urban you mean edgy it really isn't.

Thing is, if you want urban Ibstock is not an urban school - it's tucked away next to Richmond Park and not hugely accessible by public transport. I personally think - and accept that this may just be a personal view - that the ability (and not necessarily doing, but having the ability to) to do a bit of loafing around in shops and cafes after school with your mates, then deciding which bus to get home, is all part of the secondary school experience. It's one of the things that put me off LEH for DD - very suburban, bussed in and out. I completely accept other people may see that as a major plus!

thank you. I guess what I wanted is to give the kids a school with great facility and space (a proxy to a UK boarding school without being boarding) and for me to live in the city and I thought Hammersmith was a good compromise. But now not so sure anymore...

Have you done a trial run on the 72 from Hammersmith during the rush hour times? I doubt it would routinely take 20 minutes, especially on return trip as Roehampton Lane Northbound is one of the slowest roads in the UK.

Ibstock runs a shuttle bus which picks up from the station so lots of DCs train from Clapham,Wandsworth etc so it may be worth looking at those areas. Traffic on Hammersmith bridge would be very busy so I don't know how long the bus would take. I hope someone local comes on to discuss traffic on the Hammersmith bridge, it may be worth posting something in the local section to see if you get a response.
Harrodian is a lovely school in beautiful grounds, it is less pushy academically and probably because of that it now attracts all the super wealthy/celebrity families who used to go to Ibstock. It would be an easier journey from Hammersmith.
Both schools run a lot of after school activities, matches, sports clubs, drama, dance academies etc. and have a long school day so I am not sure any of the DCs would be looking to go shopping after school. My eldest DC started going out directly from school only ever on Fridays in Y11 and despite being near a major town centre will often travel to a different town centre because they tend to meet up with DCs from other schools as well. There are a lot of single sex schools in this area and there are specific places where they all meet up.

The Clapham Junction area might be a better bet than Hammersmith if your DC prefer Ibstock.

It's 10 minutes on the train (going against the commuter flow) to Barnes, then 72/265 bus plus a short walk (or the school shuttle pp mentioned). And after school they could loaf down towards Putney with their mates, and there are lots of options back to CJ from there.

I worked in Hammersmith for a long time and go often for meetings, I take offence at it being called a dump - admittedly King Street is not the most beautiful place in the world but there are great restaurants and the shops have improved a lot lately - H&M being one example. Plus, as others have said, around Ravenscourt Park and Brook Green there are some lovely, though super pricey streets. Transport links into central London are superb.

However, 72 to Ibstock could well take an hour in bad traffic so that's a very risky strategy. Others are right that if you want a decent transport link you'd be better off somewhere with a good link to Barnes station. For Harrodian you could bike it, I have no idea which is the "better" school, I know people happy with both. Good luck.

My nephew goes to Ibstock and the school community is fairly widespread as is quite common in London. Many of his friends live around Richmond Park and travel through the park to school. That means they come from Richmond/Kew, Kingston, Sheen/Mortlake/Barnes either by train via Barnes station or by car. You can park in Richmond Park to drop off or pick up and the only real problem arises in Winter when the park closes at 4.15 - it stays open long enough for parents to pick up and leave the park, but it means you can't go through the park for after school activities and have to park in Roehampton. Other friends do live in Brook Green, Barons Court and Chiswick. School starts early - 8.15 although most pupils like to get there before 8 so traffic may be slightly better across Hammersmith Bridge at that time. There are also children from Wimbledon and Clapham/Wandsworth. From what I've seen Ibstock is a school full of happy kids, there doesn't seem to be much bullying, and although not as academic as some, if you're bright, you'll do well and get into a good university (DN's friends have offers for Oxford, Bristol etc this year).

It's true that at 8am traffic over the bridge, down Rocks Lane should just about be OK and on the way back there is a bus lane for most of the route but any London journey relying on buses is risky.

thank you so much for your help and support. It's the first time for me to enter into the virtual world of mumsnet (or any such blogs/site) and I must say I am so grateful to all of you who take the time to give me advice and help. very hard to make a decision when you are thousand of miles away and do not know the city. Thank you!

hi Rzen123, curious what you decided if you are willing to share. I have heard good things about Ibstock