Chinthurst or Reigate St Mary's Prep School?

[wordlymama]

Hello fellow parents, we are relocating from California to Surrey, and have narrowed down to 2 schools for our children (who will be entering at Nursery and Reception levels next year). We have spoken to both schools and toured both as well.

Would love some opinions on any pros and cons of either schools, and if anyone has preference on which one is a better option? (i know that is a very subjective question, but any feedback would be awesome as we are so far away and cannot travel to the UK right now due to COVID travel restrictions).

Thank you so much in advance!

@muminneed85

That you so much *@gato2022. Your reply to @Arisaig1* was also super useful as it just reinforces why we chose it. We starting to suspect our daughter has ADHD, presents in lots of highs and lows of emotions, lack of concentration or hyper focus and lots and lots and lots of talking. So great to hear the SENCO is fantastic as that's a worry I have in Private Education (not having done it before). Will definitely look into the Saturday sports too. Hopefully it will be something she wants to do as sounds a great way to observe her in her peer group and meet the other parents. Am I right in thinking they did monthly parent/teacher coffee mornings one Thursday a month? They stopped with COVID I understand but have they now restarted? Thanks again for the feedback :) hugely unnerving to change schools, particularly a whole sector from state to independent having neither parent ever even set foot in a private school before!

All of the teaching staff seem to be brill (IMO) and they do know the kids as well as how to get the best out of them. We were on the fence whether we should do Chint or the local school but I'm glad that we went with Chint given the level of support that the kids seem to get.

Sat sports is a bonus, and the parents association runs quite a few social events, so there is plenty of opportunity to meet other parents. There are whatsapp groups for the different years which seem v active. Covid did stop the "chat with a teacher" coffee mornings, which is a pity, That was nice but you got to meet more of the parents than the staff. I don't think that they have restarted yet.

And open door policy easy to talk to teachers ?

@Arisaig1

And open door policy easy to talk to teachers ?

Difficult to tell with the Covid measures, sorry. However the ones that I have caught on the playground are happy to talk. At the moment the best option is to email and arrange a time/chat but that might change as things get back to normal.

How do people feel about the pastoral dude at Reigate once they move in senco etc - as long as child is bright enough?

Pastoral care not dude!!

Do you know if you have a right to give a provisional notice to a school if you are hedging your bets about leaving.

@Arisaig1

How do people feel about the pastoral dude at Reigate once they move in senco etc - as long as child is bright enough?

I don't know; we're not at that stage yet. You might need to start a separate thread on Reigate Grammar School.

@Arisaig1

Do you know if you have a right to give a provisional notice to a school if you are hedging your bets about leaving.

I guess that will depend on whether the school is oversubscribed or not. What's the notice period in the T&Cs? You would run the risk of paying for two places (assuming that the other place is not a state school).

Hi I am an RGS parent - I have a son who joined in September 21. One of the reasons we chose the school was because of the pastoral care and it has so far been excellent. I am pretty familiar with RSM and Chinthurst too and I would suggest it it is RGS which is actually leading the charge with their pastoral dominance. As a group it is something they are very strong at.

Any more positives and negatives about Chinthurst. If Reigate is not the right destination is the prep for 11 plus good - Any thoughts gratefully received. Seriously considering but we live quite a way off.

A smaller % of children go to RGS than from RSM (I think usually 60-70%) with other children going anywhere from Epsom to Dunnotar given where the school is located. I know RSM have a specific tutor group/class to prep those who aren't going on to RGS for whatever reason and I would expect Chinthurst to do the same but speak to the registrar - she's lovely and super helpful!

Any feedback on pastoral care and support for a mild -
ASD child - Reigate Grammar. Would love to hear from parents of ASD kids there but any feedback welcome. How pressurised is it?

City of London Freemens pastoral care SEN support. Any recent feedback welcome.

My son is dyspraxic and we have had great SEN/pastoral care so far. It IS a very academic school so I would go into it realistically but I know my son's year has a decent mix of SEN pupils and the school will obviously make their own assessment of whether they can support and whether your child is able to thrive there.

J33nco is that Reigate - sorry I’ve posted re 2 schools

RGS. My son was offered CLFS also and I loved it as a school but it’s more traditional in approach and whilst I spent a lot of time talking to the SENCO of the jnr school (where they’re at till 13) the general sense was that at senior they expect a lot of independence . My son really suffers with executive function limitations so for us this was off putting . The general message officially and unofficially is that the school can only manage mild SEN. If you’re moving at 11+ be aware it’s a very small intake at CLFS 25-30 kids .
personally I wouldn’t ‘bank’ on any senior school and have a range of options you’re happy with .

Thank you - how long have you been at Reigate? Sounds like you felt SEN better at Reigate and are happy. My son has other mild needs but is bright enough academically on paper. Just want to avoid pressure/high octane competition environment and get support for relatively weaker areas while allowing him to fly in the areas in which he can really can excel.

We've not started yet, but will in September 2023, in Year 3. From what I saw they were hugely geared up for 11+ at other schools. They only joined RGS family in 2016 I think it was and so are very geared up in 11+, particularly as Sutton has quite a few state grammars in the area. I think last year 80% of kids went to Reigate Grammar. What tipped the move for us is that RGS only takes something like 150 kids a year. If on average 32 kids come from Chinthurst, 32 from RSM that's only 86 from other schools. We're state at the moment so all 11+ prep would have had to be outside school hours and there's just too much pressure. I think there are some open days coming up, and you can always visit outside an open day (we did this and it was great to see it on a normal school day). If your child is already school age they can go for a taster day too. Hope you manage to make some decisions. It's so tricky to know what is best! We are a 15 minute drive away in Merstham for reference on travel time.

This thread has been useful to read...I've been lurking! My ds starts Reigate st marys in September (year 2) we loved both RSM and Chinthurst but just preferred RSM by a tiny Margin. We hope our son wil be happy there. He's coming from a state infant school.

I need to share a warning for parents considering Reigate St Mary’s. The school knows very early on which children they think will get into Reigate Grammar. Those they believe will thrive get all the attention, while others are sidelined. After years of trust and fees, we were left in the dark until it was too late. This system is unfair and emotionally damaging. Ask direct questions early, because it’s not a level playing field.

Sorry to hear this. We were put off RSM as when we went round they openly told us that if we didn't get a place now it was likely there are places in Year 4 as that's when a lot of parents who aren't tracking for RGS leave. Chinthurst thankfully had not been like that at all. I suspect now that RGS have Surrey Hills too that RSM will be focused on both and no support for those taking up other school places. Chinthurst I'm hoping will continue supporting those aiming for other schools like they have in their dedicated 11+ club. I can't comment on RSM but we've been so happy with Chinthurst and their support of SEN children has been exceptional in my experience.

I should add too that Chinthurst give the children's grades as early as Year 1 and by Year 3 and definitely first term in Year 4 they are having open discussions on what schools your childs grades will get them in. I know RSM parents had none of this speaking to parents in RSM. We have full clarity and transparency all the way through.

The head at Reigate St Mary's School told us he didn’t think our child would thrive at Reigate Grammar School and immediately started pushing us towards RGS Box Hill.

It’s obvious now that the school operates like a business, not a place focused on children. RSM decisions are controlled by the head at Reigate Grammar School, and the only thing that matters to him is academic results. Everything else—wellbeing, development, happiness—is irrelevant.

Our experience was genuinely horrible. The bottom line: they didn’t prepare our child well enough, yet still tried to redirect us to another branch to protect their system.

I'm so sorry your experience was so horrible. Looking at the RSM blurb it doesn't surprise me sadly... This year's leavers it's the two RGS schools, a handful of Dunottar (which I'm guessing will have been self tutored rather than any help from the school) and state. I would be interested to know the split between RGS Surrey Hills and RGS given that grades for Surrey Hills are around 105 and RGS is 120. Big difference in terms of scores.

"88% of our Year 6 leavers from the 2024-25 cohort progressed to Reigate Grammar School, and 12% of the year moved on to seven other schools, with the cohort as a whole having been awarded an impressive array of academic, sports, and performing arts scholarships to their chosen schools.

Of our Year 6 2025-26 cohort, who will be progressing on to Year 7 in September 2026, 87% received offers to one of our two seniors schools (Reigate Grammar and RGS Surrey Hills), with 21 scholarships among those. 8% of the cohort successfully applied to Dunottar School, with a further 5% applying to local secondary schools in the state sector."

Chinthurst thankfully supports regardless of the school you are aiming for. Their stats for RHS are much lower but that's only because a fair few turn down the early offers and are supported applying for Epsom, Freeman's, St John's, At Teresa's, Woldingham etc. Hopefully that will continue long into the future.

I hope you managed to find a secondary that works for your child :(