Independent schools near Wimbledon

[KillerQueen35]

We are looking to move our DS to an independent school near to, or easily accessible from Wimbledon (although would consider elsewhere in West London).

Ideally moving at 7+ although maybe 11+. He is not sporty and struggles a bit in his current school with a very sporty year group. He's bright and engaged but that does tip over into very focused sometimes (ie when he was interested in space he wouldn't talk about anything else for weeks). He has had a hard time making friends because of the lack of sport but also he's not particularly 'cool' if that makes sense, not really into the same video games as everyone else...

Any recommendations? Kings is the obvious one but he may not get in. I'm worried that the more out of London we go the more sporty things get (possibly wrongly?) so maybe we need to look at central London schools? And maybe coeducational?

Hmm I used to live in your area and looked around a it as have two boys. How about Tower House? Not sure if that's accessible. It's all boys - and nurturing as far as I hear from friends. Not macho sporty. I liked it. Not much outside space though. Would you consider bussing out to the country preps?

I don't think the sporty and outside London thing are necessarily intrinsically linked. Different schools have completely different vibes I think.

Whitgift is a great school, it does have a sporty reputation however has great drama, art etc too. Lots of boys travel in from wimbledon. Have heard good things about trinity too but they have a smaller intake and therefore more competitive

If looking at 7+ are you looking for a Prep or an all through school?

I think all schools will be sporty to an extend as that’s one of the attractions of the independent sector. Also, if he’s not even 7 yet, it’s too early to cross sports off the list. He might not seem like a future professional athlete but anyone can have fun participating in sports.

Thank you. I will look at Tower House and Whitgift.

All through would be better at 7+ but would also consider prep.

I totally get what you mean about sport and I don't want to write it off at all, but I guess my main worry is he will be put off sport (and already is to some extent) by the fact that his classmates are much more able in this area. A bit sad age six I do agree! Maybe he just hadn't found his sport yet - it's mainly football in his class. He has played a bit of cricket this summer and liked that better.

He loves drama...

Does anyone know much about Feltonfleet? It appeals because it is coed although it's not through to 18..

Feltonfleet is very popular, a nice mixed all round prep geographically positioned for a large catchment. Worth a visit, if you are looking for a year 3 place he may need to pass an entrance exam.

What about Willington Prep Wimbledon? It’s a gem!

Just to say that at 6 I assumed that my son would not be sporty at all given his nature and physical ability but he aged 10 he is now in the A teams and absolutely loves it!

Whitgift starts from 10+....wimbledon common prep maybe a good option

For co-ed all-through schools, you could look into Claremont Fan Court as I think they have a coach service. I stock Place or Royal Russell could be options too but not sure about travel arrangements.

At 11+ some other co-Ed options would be Emanuel, Kingston Grammar or Epsom College.

If you’re open to a single-sex prep, than Homefield Prep has coaches from Wimbledon and always comes across pretty geeky to me. It’s very academic and goes up to 13.

I stock = Ibstock

The sports thing is a funny one. As others have said, sometimes kids blossom late - one of my boys was totally uninterested in sport up to Year 4, and by Year 5 he was completely sports mad.

But even when they're not into sport, a school's sports provision can still be a real positive. For my other DS, we went for an academic school that didn't have a big rugby focus, because he'd always hated sport at primary. We knew that the school still had a pretty good sports reputation (most of the big independents seem to - we're not in London so I don't know about those), but we sort of assumed that sport for DS would just be something to be got through with the minimum amount of participation possible, but that hopefully it wouldn't matter that he hated it, because he would be strong on the academic side. In actual fact, it hasn't worked out quite like that. He does far more hours of compulsory sport in a week than he would have done at the rugby-focused state alternative that he would otherwise have gone to - but we've realised that that's a good thing because otherwise it's not that easy to get him to do exercise, and he's now fitter and stronger than he's ever been. But the big surprise is that he's actually enjoyed it. He's still not remotely 'sporty' - but because there's really good sports provision and a determination in the school that all pupils will take part, he's playing in regular matches against other schools, which has actually been a really fun experience (the minibuses, the match teas, the meeting kids from different schools - all stuff he hasn't experienced before). He's on the Z team for everything - but there's a certain amused camaraderie to being in the lower teams, and he certainly hasn't experienced any stigma so far. To our utter amazement, he's even signed up totally voluntarily for a couple of sports clubs after school - because his friends are doing it and he seems to realise that a bit of extra practice wouldn't go amiss. And although he's not talented at actually playing sport, he's started to have an interest in learning about it and memorising facts and figures (geek tendency) - which opens up lots of opportunities for conversations with other kids and with teachers as well.

So I guess what I'm saying is, rather than looking for a school with as little sport as possible, you might be better going for somewhere that's perhaps not an 'elite' sports school, but has a good, broad sports provision and a real commitment to sports inclusion.

Thank you very much for the advice and the interesting reflections on sportiness. DS is borderline dyspraxic and has needed a bit of support with various motor skills related things since he was a baby.

Getting him to love exercise will definitely require a school where lower sporting abilities are valued and maybe some less common sports are offered (he does love to swim and seems quite good at that). Appreciate this doesn't necessarily mean a "not sporty" school. Just somewhere quite nurturing and that attaches value to the other things he is better at (academic and drama).

I will definitely research the schools suggested and maybe book some visits, if possible, when schools are back.

He sounds really like my son OP. I'm not sure mine's quite borderline dyspraxic, but certainly not far off. And like yours, swimming is his strongest sport (though he's not very fast and not remotely interested in swimming competitively), so having a lovely pool on site is a real plus. Academics and music (and increasingly drama) are much more his thing. So for him, the best option was a primarily academic school but with good extra curricular across the board (and yes, plenty of niche and individual sports as well as rugby etc). We also went for coed in the hope of a less testosterone-y feel, and so far that seems to be working well.

Nowhere near Wimbledon though, sorry!

Trinity also starts at 10+. Excellent sports, but lots of other areas for those who aren't sporty. Music facilities are amazing, and very good drama department.

Lots of boys from Wimbledon due to transport links - tram especially.

They are hosting virtual events in September - look at the website for registration details.

@distantvoiceunclear we may have to move to your part of the country! They do sound quite similar.

I like the look of Trinity. Just need to decide whether we can have another three years where he currently is as he's not really happy... not desperately unhappy either but I feel like it's just not a brilliant fit...

Both DS1 and DS2 started at KCS at 7. Neither were remotely sporty but they were enthusiastic and got involved. 11 years later DS1 was a regular for the 2nd XI cricket and 2nd XV rugby. He even squeaked into the firsts on a couple of occasions. Similarly DS2 never really 'got' sport until later but had recently started to do really well at rowing.

My point is that you shouldn't assume a 6 year old isn't sporty. It may click at a later stage or they may just need to find the right sport.

KilkerQueen35 I have sent you a PM

Ibstock Place or Feltonfleet would be schools I would definitely look at. He sounds lovely.

Thank you. Seems like some quick research and action is required for a move into Y3 next September.

I do realise I've labelled DS as "not sporty" in the OP and I didn't really mean to put it that way. It's just that unfortunately the boys in his class can be quite unkind because, at least for the moment, he is not very good at football and other ball sports compared to his peers. I can see his confidence dipping a bit which is really not what I want for an otherwise happy and confident boy.

Hi all, my 3 year old is due to attend Wimbledon common prep in September, however we also really like the nursery he currently attends at Willington, so are not sure if he should carry on to the school.

Does anyone have any advice on Wim common prep over Willington?

I've sent you a pm. Hope it's helpful!

Can u maybe PM me too . Would be much grateful