Willington or donhead prep?

[Nbk123]

Hello!

I was hoping for some advice from any mums with boys at Donhead Prep or Willington Prep. We have decided upon one of these 2 schools for our son who is currently at a good state primary.

We are looking for which school would bring out the best in our child overall. (He can be a little more observant and is quite arty although boisterous with boys his own age). We would like to see an improvement in academics as well as confidence.

We do like both schools however were concerned about:

Donhead - my son is quite quiet at first and not particularly sporty. Would he be overlooked at this school due to his nature? We were inpressed by the facilities, ethics, academic nature and the fact it is a part of the independent association of prep schools (how much weight should be given to this?)

Willington - had a lovely family feel however we were concerned about the independent report where it did not do as well....also as it goes to age 13 do they prepare boys for the 11plus?

Any tips on both schools would be appreciated!

Thank you DrE678. That is very helpful! It did have a very lovely feel and the personal approach is what we are after. I suppose I couldn't understand the report and the fact that Donhead has a waiting list and Willington doesn't. Nonetheless I guess you have to choose what is best for your child.

Thank you! It has been very helpful to get some info :) Will now start thinking about logistics etc!

My DS1, who is not at all sporty and rather shy is at Donhead. He loves it and I love it. He's been there for 4.5 years and I never had a day when he didn't want to go to school! The school's pastoral care is amazing. It is a very caring school.
So I wouldn't worry about sport. The school gives plenty of opportunity for the boys to express their interests: art, drama and especially music are very strong. It has great SENCO support too.
They do give a lot of homework, especially starting from year 3. So be warned.

My non-sporty older son does photograpy and ICT clubs, he did lots of art. In short - it's fab.
My DS2 is also at Donhead in year 1 and thrives.

Thank you msupa that is helpful and are now on waiting lists :)

Did you decide on Donhead in the end? What was your final reasoning out of interest because we are in the same predicament for our DGS.

hi Jody867,
we have just accepted an offer from Donhead for 2018 Entry.
we have visited five schools so far, and this school makes me feel that my son will be in a good care.

it is considered as a all-round school, very muscal and sporty, but it does prepare for 11+ too.

How many boys in a reception class at Donhead and how many classes per year group. They look like they have more outside space than Willington, Squirrels and the Rowans, but as we are not catholic we haven't put it on our list yet.

Sorry just wanting to jump on this thread out of interest too.
Msupa - interested to hear re hw from yr 3 - a lot of boys last year went to Wimbledon College last year - don't know how much to read into that - I believe the others went to other indies. Don't know how much to read into that as the preceding year had better results?
We're primarily looking at Grammars for DS2 who is currently at a nearby prep which goes to 13 and doesn't prepare for 11plus - any thoughts welcome!

It's not worth comparing Rowans and Squirrels with the facilities of Donhead, Willington etc because children leave at different age points. You may as well compare them with Kings and other senior schools. The prepreps both have ample grounds for the age of the boys they have. When they are growing out of them they move to preps or junior schools and many have excellent facilities and lots of space.

Don't all preps effective have to prepare for 11+ given a lot of boys' places are allocated via pretest these days anyway?

Hi user1479740348, just following this thread re: Donhead.
My son is on waiting list for 2019. We quite like the school atmosphere and facilities. Just wanted to know if anybody has recent views or experience with the school and how inclusive it is for non catholic pupils.

Which other local preps are struggling for numbers? Really surprised to hear this.

Willington appointed new headmaster who is due to start in September, his details are on their website. Regarding numbers, it does look like both schools have been under full capacity for the last couple of years. The numbers pick up after year 2 when the pre-preps finish.

Donhead have a bulge year around every three years, meaning three classes instead of two. The classes in those years tend to be a bit smaller (undersubscribed) but in the years with two classes they tend to be at maximum capacity.

There is a quota for non Catholics in each class and in my experience the environment is very inclusive. The boys learn about all religions and a lot of the Catholicism is in terms of ethos.

We are in the 7+ haze right now and considering Donhead. Does anyone know if they are due to have one of their bulge years for 2019 entry? We are sitting Willington tomorrow- the 21st so trying to make a decision now about whether Donhead would work as another option.
And for what its worth, I liked the new Willington head, he has come from St John's in Northwood which is very highly regarded and successful.

As far as I know the year you are talking about in Donhead has two classes and they are currently full. Some boys may leave as part of the 7+ process and open up some places.