Claremont fan court

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I’m looking to move my children and we are considering Claremont Fan Court, St. George’s, City of London freemen’s and Downsend School. Does anybody have any opinions to help us make a decision? We have quite academic boys who are very sporty- however, what is really important to us is an environment where children thrive and enjoy school. Any feedback positive or negative would be welcomed! Thanks!

How old are your dc and when are you planning to move them? Have they sat entrance exams? There is a big difference academically between these schools, City of Free has far fewer places and Claremont Fan is increasingly popular.

Also how sporty and what sports? Ie St G's is rugby excellent, Claremont has tennis, City not sporty. Etc

Will be 7 and 6 - year 3 and 2 ( aware city doesn’t start until year 3) should both pass entrance exams as particularly the oldest is very bright. Both do rugby, tennis, football swimming and hockey. Oldest struggles with making friends and current state school hasn’t impressed so keen to find a school that is caring and nurturing.

CLFS the most academic of the 4. Others definitely not so although St. George's senior on the up, junior not so much. Sporty is St. George's other 3 not sporty at all. Of the 3 only Claremont known for nurturing. Academic, sporty and nurturing nope can't think of a prep school in the area that is good at all 3. Most academic schools not sporty, most nurturing schools not academic or sporty.

Yes I agree with @Guiloak, I know all the preps in the area well. You could look at Surbiton Boys Prep for an example of small but totally focused on 11 plus and Feltonfleet for nurturing but not academic. Overall St G's is probably your best bet because of the sport & facilities.
Also consider St Johns Leatherhead at 11 for nurturing and sporty but not overly academic - opposite to City of free.

Thanks for advice- it’s so hard to make the right decision! I like the sound of Claremont being nurturing but don’t know if I’m doing my bright, sporty sons a disservice - on the other hand I see so many stressed out kids and just don’t want to put mine through that. Just want happy kids- does anyone have any personal experience of Claremont - I know it’s billled as everyone’s back up choice but wonder what people in it think of it?

I'm not a CFC parent but know lots of happy parents there, particularly ds who are thriving but didn't get places at Reeds, St John's etc. The new CFC head is vey good.

The 11 plus / entrance exam season is relentless in this part of Surrey, yes you can avoid it by going for an all through school but there will still be tutoring and some leaving at the end of year 6 - in some cases like St G's they fail to progress to Senior sch.

CFC prep sent a ds to Hampton last Sept so you have got the option to move your ds again but of course there is far less preparation for the entrance exams than in preps like SHS Boys and The Study in New Malden.

Perhaps send your ds on a couple of taster days & see how he gets on.

Hi - if you are looking for a sporty school then I wouldn't choose CFC...they don't seem to appear on the match circuit at all. My DS1 had a good friend who he played Rugby with at CFC and he always complained about the fact that the teams were so poor and it was all mixed ability - this was a few years back though and maybe things have changed? Downsend on the other hand is very sporty - not sure how things have changed since they opened the school up until GCSEs though and how this will impact pretest preparations? This would worry me, but if you want a "through" school then I guess this won't be an issue? As for St George's - it does seem to be a bit marmitey.....I've met many many parents who pulled their kids out of both the junior and senior schools for a variety of reasons ranging from poor academics to bullying, drugs etc.....however on paper it looks excellent and lots of people really love it - it also gets great exam results and university destinations so they must be doing something right. City of London Freemans parents all rave about it - it seems to be a very down to earth sort of place and the antithesis of somewhere like Danes Hill or Epsom College. I looked at it for my DS1 but felt it wasn't sporty enough but had I had a child who didn't like sport and was more interested in drama or art I would definitely have considered it.

I can see why you might want to avoid the 11+ but (having done it twice now) I think it you choose the right prep school its not really that bad.....plus sometimes its difficult to know what a child is going to be like until they are a bit older and know what is going to suit them...or sometimes its good for them to get a chance at a fresh start when they hit 11/13 as being at one school for a long time isn't always great.

If it helps, we couldn’t speak highly enough of Claremont Fan Court School. They are on the match circuits for sports and the kids participate in lots of sports both in and out of school. We are extremely happy with the pre school, school and secondary school and would speak very highly of the teachers and teaching, how well they know the children, the pastoral care and the leadership. My kids are so happy to be there and happy kids learn best:-) We actively chose this school out of many others due to these factors and can’t fault it..its location is also stunning! There seems to be rather wishy washy PR around it online and maybe this is what directs people to the usuals due to the online reputations...personally we think it’s a fabulous school and can’t fault it if that helps! It seems that most parents at the school think the same too. Good luck!

Have you looked at Chinthurst? So strong pastorally and option for automatic place at RGS too.