Schools like King Alfred’s in Hampstead?

[Schooly]

I loved King Alfred’s when I went on a tour, but it’s in an expensive area that we can’t afford, and the commute would be hard and DC wouldn’t necessarily have local friends etc.

We want to move anyway (sadly can’t afford Hampstead or surrounds!) and looking around for other schools like King Alfred’s.

Any progressive schools that aren’t teeny tiny that anyone knows of? Whenever I find one, it seems to only have a very small amount of pupils!

We’re considering a total change of life, so would even look outside of London and its commuter belt.

So I’m looking for a not-tiny, progressive school where children just have a really wonderful childhood - a school where happiness comes first.

(Not Steiner though. I have experience with Steiner - I did some work in one once - and think it can be too hit-and-miss.)

Assuming your child is not yet school age, so you are looking at Reception upwards, you are almost certainly over-estimating the difference in experience at progressive schools verses your average primary. KS1 is play-based in all schools. I would first focus on what you want as a family in terms of moving house or staying put, then find a good primary. As you experienced with Steiner, I would also be wary of schools that use being 'progressive' as a mask for being disorganised and charging a lot of money for poor quality provision. That includes the big ones. Plus, if you visit any, try to ascertain whether the students are there because the parents believe in the ethos of the school, or because their children have behavioural problems that other schools won't tolerate.

Maybe St Christopher's in Letchworth. But I would choose a good primary school anywhere in the U.K. and save your money for later on. As the other poster said the KS1 curriculum is play based.

One is school-aged (year 1, about to be year 2) and the other not (will start reception September 2022). I haven’t been that happy with our current outstanding primary, which is why I started looking at private. Our current primary would probably fit into the “hot house” category. They work them hard. DS doesn’t really enjoy school, which I think is sad as I loved Primary school. He only likes playtime!

What you say is very interesting though! King Alfred’s was the only one I viewed, and it looked like such a lovely way to have a school experience - they say they put happiness first etc - which is what made me think maybe “progressive” was what I was after. I will definitely take on board what you’ve said! Good insights.

Because we’re both 100% wfh (I was pre pandemic, DH is now and his company have given up their office lease and don’t intend to change anytime soon), we suddenly have all this flexibility on where to live. It’s made it all really confusing though and we don’t know what to do or what criteria to have. Which is why I wondered if it should be school…

The King Alfred School is great, I was very friendly with a member of staff there years ago and his two children were pupils who did extremely well. I went to quite a few events at the school and was impressed.

Work out what you can afford in the way of housing that is an easy commute to the school, you don't have to live on the doorstep. For a start, look at the tube stations on the Northern Line that lead to Golder's Green.

You don't say where you live at the moment and there may be equally good schools not too far from you. I presume you have a copy of the Good Schools Guide (in my child's day it was the Independent Schools Information Service handbook but the acronym would obviously not be appropriate now).

For the record I live in the South East of London in between Blackheath/Greenwich and Bromley where there are some excellent schools in the. However if you are currently not far from NW London you won't want to move to 'foreign parts'.

When you are considering a school, do take how your children feel about it into consideration. Even when quite young they have good instincts.

Good luck - it's an exciting time.

It’s good to hear that, plumtree! I don’t know anyone who has/ had child there so didn’t know if my feeling about it was accurate. We live in East London, so it’s quite a trek. I will look at the northern line to see if anywhere is affordable that might suit us!

But if anyone knows of any similar in east london (I liked that it was all the way through to 18, taking away the pressure of finding a secondary which I keep hearing local people freak out about), then I’d love to hear. I know there’s Forest not far from here, but I don’t know much about it?

Or if anyone knows of any other schools that have that really lovely feeling about them, without being too academically pressured, I’d love to hear!

I have a cousin who lives East of London (Loughton), previously lived in Leytonstone; if you can give me an idea of whereabouts I may be able to find out about some schools for you.

St Christophers in Letchworth is a good bet if you are considering moving out a bit but still with decent links to London.

We’re Victoria Park (ish) in Hackney at the moment, Plumtree391, so quite central!

Lauriston used to be like that but I'm not sure how much has changed since the change of Head.

Nice place to live, Schooly (I watch Location sometimes), quite trendy.

Most schools outside London are considerable less hothousey, especially for boys. Look at all through schools.
I agree with you OP, children don’t need to be significantly pushed to achieve academically, especially in infant achool.

underneaththeash yes it feels a bit much a bit young! I also want them to find their own motivation rather than be pushed. Maybe I’m being very naive there!

It would be worth looking at Forest. DD was there from 4-16 and was very happy (although she decided to move for sixth form). It had a good feel and was keen to promote an all round feel with emphasis on art drama and sports etc as well as academic stuff. But it was a few years ago now (she has just graduated) so it may have changed and you would need a good poke around to get a feel for it.

Hi @Schooly,

I wrote the below earlier this year, on a similar post, I hope it's helpful...

Hanover Primary School - Islington South, N1

• An artist in residence.
• Grounded in playbased learning.
• Mixed Reception/Y1 classes.
• Free flow learning areas i.e. the doors leading onto the playground are open all day. Children can move independently between all areas of learning as they wish, whether outdoors or inside.
• children are actively encouraged to spend their day in outside exploration. Pursuing their own interests and investigations
• Philosophy currently extends up to year 2 so, nursery, reception, y1 and y2 fully immersed, with the aspiration to continue this approach up the year groups in the rest of the school.
• Deputy Head, Polly Shields is a pioneer in this pedagogy: mobile.twitter.com/pollyshields01?lang=en

The original thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/4250946-Play-Led-Learning-Year-1

Gatehouse School is lovely and quite close to where you are now.

Hi Schooly,
I've followed your thread about school search and I am in the same position as you. I haven't gone for a tour at Kings Alfred yet but I love the ethos of the school and similarly, I find it too expensive and the area as well. We also live between London Fields and Victoria park, I was wondering if you have found other similar schools in your search. We are considering Frensham Heights in Surrey but the move outside London is quite scary for us...Just thought to get in touch as it seems we are searching for really similar schools.

St chris is worth looking at but not the location you want. I'm a former pupil but it's less progressive than in the past. It's lovely though.