Westbrook Hay for Year 7?

[duchessa]

Hello all, we are moving back to the Uk after many years in the States and our eldest child will be starting Year 7 in September. He's bright by US standards but will be quite 'behind' in the UK, and he's also shy/slow to warm up, and doesn't do well in huge classrooms and very competitive environments.

We're wondering if putting him in a gentle prep school for Years 7 and 8 will allow him to 'catch up' somewhat, with more attention and extracurricular opportunities, and we love the look of Westbrook Hay (we're not pushy parents and the less pressured environments are more appealing to us). We would love some feedback on the school, and also some insight into whether joining in Year 7 is a good idea?
Another factor is the commute... the areas we're looking at are 25-30 minutes' drive away from the school, which definitely isn't ideal (but we'd suck it up if needs be. This kiddo really needs a 'soft landing' after a bloody awful year and we're not sure that throwing him into a huge state secondary will be good for him at this point.

Thanks so much in advance x

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To add, that pretty much all the boys at WBH who stay to 13 remain in the private sector. The majority go to Berkhamsted, St Albans, St Columba’s and Aldenham. The latter two have prep schools attached so might also be worth considering as then there’s only one school move for him but with lots of other boys starting at the same time.

WBH is a lovely lovely school which gets great results but if your plan is to move to state for Year 9 then he would most likely be the only one. Your other consideration should be that Y9 places in sought after state schools rarely come up. If you want state ultimately then I would put him in one from the start.