East Sussex/Kent independents.

[Adelyra]

Hi,

Still pondering schools for our Reception-age child.

I would like to move him to an independent/prep in September 2021.

Within 30/40 mins drive we can access Bede's Prep (which we were able to visit in January and liked), Skippers Hill ( also visited in Jan -unconvinced with facilities - Head has now moved to Bede's Prep).

Some neighbours send their kids to Claremont and I have noticed Vinehall and Marlborough House School.

I would love to hear/read views from current parents for all the schools.

Our boy seems to find literacy and numeracy come easily but he only behaves as well as the least well behaved child in any room. He is also showing signs of being sporty (no idea where he got that from) swimming, running, dancing, football etc all interest him.

I also wanted to know how your reception/year 1 children have coped with that length of commute and when you felt ready to let them take the bus.

Thank you!

How far away is St Ronan's to you?

Personally I'd discount Claremont. It's a for profit school rather than not for profit. That changes the ethos.

St Ronan's is borderline doable. I would need to check bus availability.

Do you have children there?

I did, and it's excellent. But I also looked at Marlborough House and Vinehall.

Do you have any (excluding Claremont) within 15 minutes drive?

Are you planning to continue private education all the way through to 18? If not, somewhere like vinehall or marlborough house might be best avoided as most go all the way through. Skippers Hill not so much. Also, there's a big difference in costs of say skippers and Marlborough House/vinehall.

I don't know about Bede's or Claremont but can give a little bit on the others.
Skippers - generally a bit meh.
Marborough House - new head, really struggling for numbers so could be another casualty of covid/brexit and close down.
St Ronan's - now full to bursting as so popular. Very Tatler. Probably not great if you have a very sensitive child or one who struggles with academics. Fantastic for good all rounders
Vinehall - really great facilities, sporty, welcoming. Less academic than it once was. Seen a fall in numbers due to very weird advert but think they are coming up a bit.

Depending on location you also have sacred heart (wadhurst), which is academic but few facilities, Rose Hill in tunbridge wells (good facilities, worth a look I think) and Beechwood Sacred Heart in Tunbridge Wells which as a really fab nurturing prep but no pool.

Only Skipper's and Annan within 15 mins' drive.

I currently work in Battle/Rye/St Leonard's/Westfield/Northiam depending on the day. I think I could transfer to Eastbourne if needed (my org covers a large patch).

@indieschool2000

We do hope to go private all the way to 18.

It's hard to know at 4.5 yo, but he seems bright (very developed vocab, one of the few children in his class on the reading ladder - books home every couple of nights - he is no G&T wonder who read at 18 months and does his parent's tax returns at 4). He loves movement always running, dancing, making obstacle courses. He is interested by how things work, asks a thousand questions. He loves his friends and is very sociable and loud. 🙈

There are 2 things I can see will need to be managed:

• he's only as well-behaved as the least well-behaved child in any room. So he's a joy with his friend B, listens, plays well etc. He is a nightmare with his friend K, gives lip to the adults, doesn't listen, blanks us out. He's not 5 yet and he is still figuring his own self out, but he has an influenceable streak, I feel we shouldn't ignore.

-the other thing is he is very down on himself if he can't do something with ease. He'll say "i'm not good at this" or have a meltdown if he hasn't managed to form letter how he imagined he would. He would need to be supported in building up resilience and accepting learning involves making mistakes etc.

@Adelyra if you are near Battle have you considered Battle prep/senior? Prep is Bexhill so not sure if that's too far but I thought the prep was lovely.

Battle is quite easy to reach yes. 25-30 mins.

I will have a look. Ta.

My post above was a bit blunt so I asked MNHQ to remove it. I shall try again!

I would be cautious about Claremont as the prep school doesn’t have the best reputation for pastoral care. The pre prep is lovely though. I know of pupils at Marlborough House and Battle Abbey and both are regarded as more gentle and with very good pastoral care.

So we went to see St Ronan's. It seems a very nice school. I really liked the Head's wife.

@Adelyra

So we went to see St Ronan's. It seems a very nice school. I really liked the Head's wife.

I wouldn't base my choice of school on the head's wife!

Who said I'm basing my choice on her?

She looks after mental health and pastoral care. She seems really engaged and passionate.

I have asked for a video chat with the Head of the pre-prep.

Next stop Malborough House School after lockdown.

Also waiting for Bede's prep to revisit.

Sorry for the duplicate posts. I think my device has gone funny.

We chose Marlborough House over Saint Ronans. We initially loved the fact that St Ronans could be the setting in a fiction book about the ideal prep school but then over time it started to feel like that everything about the school hung on that one marketing point, and that it wasn't quite genuine? But that was just our gut feeling and I'm sure others would disagree with me. MHS seemed much more solid and not marketing an "image" in the same way. There's a new head at MHS this year who is very experienced, and seems to have hit the ground running at a really difficult time. Hope you enjoy your tour!