St Hugh's or Kitebrook Prep?

[Isuxasanannyboss]

Hi, we are moving from London to Oxfordshire and are looking to move our children (boy and girl) to a Prep school that goes to 13 and that offers some flexi boarding. We will be equidistant from St Hugh's and Kitebrook. Our children are not super academic but the boy is very sporty and the girl is quite into arts. I don't have any particular agenda of where they need to go after, rather I'd like them to enjoy their time in prep and be happy. I won't be working and don't have any local friends nearby so a school that involves parents in social activities would be great. Does anyone have feedback on St Hugh's and Kitebrook? Am I right that they are essentially pretty similar? TX

St Hugh’s has been amazing during the last 18months. The staff really care about the pupils and parents. Some staff are leaving but superb new ones are replacing them. Go and see for yourself is what I would always say as my children are very happy there and on the right path for the right schools when they leave. BTW @SaifTea his father was Head of Boarding not Head of St Hugh’s.

My child has been at St Hugh's since Reception and now in upper school. Adored the school in lower years, unfortunately last two years we are not happy.

Lack of preparation and disorganised regarding senior school preparation - references late, lack of interest and knowledge in senior schools. Educational standard poor due to high turnover of staff and behavioural problems that aren't dealt with.

Since the arrival of new headmaster the Deputy head has left, head of boarding left, head of girls pastoral stepped down, carousel of English teachers, two teachers left with health problems. High turnover of pupils and staff.

Until two years ago I would have been singing praises about St Hugh's, not so sure now...

Kitebrook sounds lovely, I wish we lived near enough to go there.

St hugh's traffic is horrendous getting out onto the a420 at peak times, so that may have added to your journey.

I’m just wondering if anyone has had any recent experiences or opinions with either school? Planning on relocating from London and interested to hear peoples thoughts!

Hi Wewc, we finally moved our children to Kitebrook in 2021. The final choice was down to distance. The house we were going to buy didn’t work out and we ended up moving 1 mile from Kitebrook! I know nothing about St Hughs but Kitebrook has worked out very well for us but the first term was hard.
When we arrived we were a bit shocked that it seemed very chaotic, communications were clumsy, the registrar was also the head’s PA and was very friendly but the most disorganised person you could have chosen, the head had a big public persona but was pretty much authoritarian and unpredictable. The teachers were fine but I wasn’t blown away. I would tell myself that 3 minutes door to door for the school run more than made up for all the shortcomings…. Luckily things have changed drastically since September. There’s a new head who has changed things around very quickly, communications are very straightforward and teachers seem way happier. All the things I have raised so far have been dealt with swiftly and appropriately. My children have both been diagnosed with dyslexia and they are very supported. It’s not a specialist school and could probably do with hiring someone who is truly trained in neurodivergence’s but they are willing and accommodating. They are expanding their sports provision. They will increase their trips and experiences. All in all I recommend the school.

we moved nearest st Hugh’s but we didn’t choose it in the end.
Parents seem too bitchy, complaining about each other and each other’s children (there seems to be some pretty mean behaviour which takes up lots of school time dealing with). I do not like all that drama. I also heard that the school has dropped the ball with 11 plus /ISEB and senior schools: some
poor or non timely advice on where to apply and when to test, with reference to current progress. If there’s high of staff turnover that might be why. But if prep schools can’t get this important thing right what is the point of them.

Plus it’s not easy to do pick ups and drop offs - there is a very busy horrible main road with big lorries and you cannot turn right at peak times.

We also choose another school despite being closest to St Hughs for many of the reasons listed by people above. Beautiful school but seems to have lost its way since long established headmaster left.