Tower House vs Rokeby vs The Mall School

[OnlyOneBike]

We are looking at prep schools for DS and would like to hear people's views or experience in the above schools.

DS is still little so we won't know whether he is academic or sporty any time soon. But from what we have seen so far we suspect he's gonna benefit from a nurturing environment and maybe also a bit more challenge academically.

To make it simple (or complicated), we are currently renting and planning to buy a home near the school chosen next year (hence why we have to decide school this early). Rokeby was the top of our list. But after walking around the areas we found Teddington/Hampton is leafier than the other side of the river. So we could potentially have more enjoyable weekends if go for the Mall. Would people think this an aspect more important than the school itself? Also, if go for Rokeby I suppose it is nearly impossible to walk to school?

We have scheduled school visits but it is still hard to get a very deep insight into what school life would be like from just an hour's tour. So any experience or thoughts would be really helpful.

TIA.

Or if anyone could share some light on how lives compare among

Wimbledon/Raynes Park (Rokeby)
Sheen (Tower House)
Teddington/Hampton (The Mall)

it'd be really helpful too!

We recently bought a house a few minutes’ walk from Tower House and intend to add our DS to the waiting list. I can’t comment on the school, but of the areas listed I do like Sheen best.

My parents live near Wimbledon Common, and when I visit I see the Rokeby bus dropping off. The DC are very young and their parents come pick them up (often with younger siblings). There is a teacher on the bus who makes sure the DC are going off ok. So if you become friends with one of the mums if you have any problem with a pick up one day, you could have an arrangement? It seems a popular choice. Rokeby is a great feeder.
Wimbledon Village is lovely, very family friendly and quant village like with the market, walks in common, horse riding etc. while close to the conveniences of Wimbledon (station, shops etc.).

The closest I would know about Sheen is that it's close to Barnes, which is similar to WV. Tower House sounds good too.

Don't know much about The Mall, but wonder if you would like to keep the up to 13 option open.

@mobear thank you. Would you mind explaining a bit why you like sheen best? I have heard good things about all three areas but we've only lived in Wimbledon so far.

You seem dead set on private education although the state primaries in Teddington are generally very good. If you're determined to go private and looking at The Mall you may as well look at Newland House too.

@Mummy195 thank you. Yes Wimbledon Village looks fab. We've only passed by tho. It is very expensive. The nearest place we can buy is probably Wimbledon town or west. We have tried driving to Rokeby from where we live and it was a nightmare. What should be a 15 mins drive can double up or even more at rushing hours. A school bus may be the solution. Thought that was for old DC. I'll take a look.

Sorry. Meant to say older DC, like yr6+, etc.

@OnlyOneBike , the state primary schools in Kingston and Richmond are really good, there isn't much need to go private before age 11. If you look at the stats for the private secondary schools you will see that they take a large percentage of their intake at age 11 from the state sector.

The trains from teddington and Hampton to London are slower than the stops on the Wimbledon line and this is reflected in the house prices. There are lots of private and state options in teddington and Hampton too.

@OnlyOneBike We used to live in Richmond so I know Hampton/ Teddington and Sheen reasonably well. I haven’t lived in Wimbledon but when I looked years ago the only part I liked was Wimbledon Village and it was very expensive. Hampton I would personally discredit because of transport links, and Teddington is just that bit further out which I don’t think is really compensated for by the prices (plus DP would find the commute too long). We focussed our search on Kew and Sheen before we knew about DS, and then settled on Sheen because of the transport links, which worked out well when we found out about DS as the schools are supposed to be excellent. We were lucky enough to be able to afford something ‘parkside’, and being so near to Richmond Park will be great when DS is older. Although Sheen High Street is a bit drab it’s perfectly functional, and Putney and Richmond aren’t far away.

I should add, we're near to Sheen Mount so I'm hoping DS might get offered a place there, but as I know places there are scarce, we're wait listing him for Tower House so we have options.

@herculesmulligan thanks. Yes we have arranged a visit with Newland House. I'm not sure about co-ed so it's not on the priority list. But we won't rule it out at this stage.

@cricketjoys85 thanks. I forgot to say that we would mainly work from home. So although it is good to have better transport, the reflection in housing prices cannot be justified in our case. I quite like Teddington but am a bit nervous about choosing the wrong school for DS. It's so difficult to see which one best suits him at this young age! Maybe I'm just over thinking it.

Can recommend Sheen as a place to live. My ien DC went to Sheen Mount and then to Colet Court (former name for St Paul’s prep school) and thence to St Paul’s.

@mobear thank you so much for the details. Glad to hear you like the area. We are visiting Sheen and Kew this weekend so hopefully will get more first hand feel about the area. There aren't many properties on sale at the moment, not as many as in Wimbledon. We haven't worked out what we can afford.

@OnlyOneBike The good ones are moving really fast. We bought in March and I've been keeping an eye on things since. It might be worth registering with a few agents as they can give you a heads up before properties hit the open market. Kew is great if you're not as worried about transport links, but personally I'd still feel a bit 'flung out' in Hampton or Teddington even if I didn't have to commute. Good luck!

@MrsJackWhicher awww wow. That's really inspiring. I don't know whether DS will turn out academic but glad to know it's a good area.

@mobear thank you. It's a good idea to register with a few agents. Never thought about that! (Just moved from a rural area in Scotland so you can imagine how overwhelmed we are (by the traffic, housing market, and everything on top!) at the moment. )

@OnlyOneBike , I'm very familiar with the prep school sector in the area and you are overthinking this. Excluding Tower House, the pre-prep sector isn't full and many parents have a private school registration as their back up if they don't get the state school they want. Focus on the house and location you want and then look for a good state school or a near by private school. Ask the estate agents re where other people in the area send their dc to school. It's a really wonderful area to bring up dc with so many school options.