Parkside Cobham

[swappingwellies]

Hi all, would love some help/advice pls! we are looking at Parkside prep for DS who will be joining Yr 8. Our family is moving back to UK and would prefer DS to be in a smaller school and find his feet rather than thrust into huge school that goes upto 18.
Any families currently at Parkside that could share their experiences please? DS is fairly academic but doesn’t fit well in a pressured environment. He’s also concerned he may not find friendship easily as everyone will have formed their friendship groups much earlier…. Wondering whether sending DS to a prep for a year and then moving him again would be worth it all.
any and all advice would be greatly appreciated 🙏

I live in the area, a much bigger challenge is where he is going after a year, do you have a place already and have Parkside offered to help you remotely? Ask Parkside how many ds are in the current Year 8? A percentage of the year will have left at the end of year 6 and a few more at end of year 7.
Preps are super keen for anyone to join in years 7 and 8 to keep their income flow in place but there are very few places in the senior schools at 13 that haven't been secured during year 6.
Another option is ACS Cobham - obviously enormous but use to dc joining at various points and IB education.

Hi hockeygrass,
thank you for your points. We’re going to visit the school in about 2 weeks time, I will def look out for the year size/class size. We’ve looked into Reeds and Espom and they have places for Yr 9. ACS is not on our list bc it’s quite expensive and offer IB and American syllabus.

I don't know the school personally but just wanted to reassure you that there's quite a lot of movement in the SW London Secondary schools and other pupils will be joining in y8, even if not a huge number. I would have thought it would be much better to join a school in y8 and stay there rather than going to a Prep just for a year.

Yes there are places for year 9 but you have to pass an exam. I can't begin to tell you how tricky it is to get a year 9 place not via a year 6 exam route unless you are prepared to pay for boarding.
Yes there is movement in Year 8 too, more common than you would expect and again via an exam. Ask lot and lots of questions and remember the whole prep sector is crying out for yr 7 and 8 pupils, they will say almost anything to get your deposit!

I agree that it makes way more sense to join a senior school rather than join a prep for one year and then go to senior school. Is there a reason why you aren't doing it this way?

There was a thread a few weeks ago, I can't remember the title but a poster added she was an expat and had been unable to get her ds into many schools so went for a Cranmore and he was enjoying it. Cranmore use to be a prep but now goes to 16. I would try and visit when you are over.

OP, I found the thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4636917-timing-return-to-uk?reply=120306688

Hi @pocketvenuss yes primarily bc Yr 8 is such an odd Yr of entry, there are simply no places for DS. He will go through normal channels of entry, application, entrance tests and interviews for Yr 9 entry. A few schools do have places in Yr 9. I would much prefer if DS could get into senior school and avoid the stress of the entrance process all over again in a years time!

Hi @hockeygrass thank you for the link, I will definitely look into it 👍

Hi @notputtingtheheatingonyet i agree with you, I’ll call up a few more schools to see if there are places. After the same answer from 5/6 schools that there are no places in Yr 8, I gave up! I will get back on the phone! Thanks 👍

They may not know at the moment if they will have any spaces in year 8 as people will not have given notice yet so it is worth keeping in touch with them in case spaces open up. I can think of 5 pupils who left DDs school at the end of y7- all due to moving abroad.

ok, I will keep that in mind too@notputtingtheheatingonyet
Thank you 😊

@swappingwellies Hi, just wondered if you worked out what school your son will go to and if you visited Parkside and I’d so what you thought? I’m in a tricky situation where I’m looking for a year 7 place for my son who is ASD/ADHD for September and the two schools we thought would be right for him have turned him down.
I’m wondering if a prep that goes up to year 8 might be a good option as he’d be one of the eldest in the school, so less intimidating, it would likely be a smaller, more nurturing school, and it would buy us time to work out where he can go for year 9 and also to get an EHCP if we decide to go down that route.
My son is bright, but the ASD and ADHD cause him anxiety and concentration issues. He recently had a private EP assessment which said he should be in mainstream, but I’m concerned that a huge 8 from state school will traumatise him. Hence looking for a smaller private school. So I’d love to hear what you thought of Parkside if you made I there. Thanks.

@SuperSue77 , have you spoken to Parkside? I would have thought that Ewell Castle or Kingswood House would be a better bet but they may be the 2 you have tried. Prep schools are very destination focused for their year 8's because it justifies their business model for going up to 13.

@sailingsunshine thanks for your msg. Kingswood House is one that turned him
now, which was a surprise as so many people who know the school thought it would be perfect for him, and massively disappointing because we could walk him there and the size seemed perfect. We are still waiting to hear from Ewell Castle.
I haven’t spoken to Parkside, to be honest I’d never even heard of it until I googled private schools nearby today! I suppose I’m desperately clutching at straws as at the moment I can see mainstream state being our only option and terrified he won’t cope and will end up out of school completely. He is such a lovely, funny, kind boy, but just can’t cope in a large setting :-(

I would focus on Ewell Castle, the head is good, he use to be the deputy head of Surbtion high - a few years ago.

@SuperSue77 I would also add Downsend to the mix, if you haven't already.

hi @SuperSue77
I did go into to visit Parkside. It didn't go very well unfortunately. They were quite disorganised; didn't know that a school tour had been booked and were all flustered when we arrived on the allocated time. My initial correspondence with registration/admissions office stated I was looking for Yr 8 entry for DS however we were made to feel unwelcome from the get go. The discussion of not willing to take on DS occurred in front of him in the middle of the reception area- quite distasteful. The tour did happen but it was all quite drab tbh. Maybe a good school academically- getting DC to desired secondary schools, but very tired buildings and seemingly fatigued teachers too!

My initial thought was to go for a smaller school i.e. Prep for DS, but as @sailingsunshine mentioned all prep schools get the entrance exams prep done and DC are ready by year 6. All offers are in hand before year 7. It seems prep schools not willing to put in the work required to get the DC offers if you join in Yr 8.
I know Wimbledon maybe far out (from the schools you've mentioned) but Hall School (non selective) fits the bill here. Small school, great staff and wonderfully kind pupils.
DS has offers from two selective schools now but Hall School was a delight to visit!

Thanks @sailingsunshine for the advice, I am going to share some more info that has materialised since he went for assessment at Ewell Castle as I am hoping it will strengthen his case.

@VickiMent thanks for the suggestion. For a number of personal reasons I’m not too keen on Downsend (not detrimental to the school) but have also having heard from a number of parents whose children have been turned down so I’m not sure my son stands a chance.

@swappingwellies thanks for the update - how disappointing of Parkside, it looked so promising on their website. Hall School does look lovely but my son would need accompanying to the school and not sure I can manage a train journey to and from Wimbledon every day :-(
Does anyone know if any schools that do minibuses from Epsom to the school? I know Boxhill do. I heard that Dunnottar in Reigate do, though not had that confirmed. I see Parkside go from Ashtead which isn’t far from us. Unfortunately as well as the right school setting, we need one that is logistically feasible too.

Have you considered Halliford, they have a pretty good coach network, although it didn't cover where we live. Their head radiated kindness.

We also had a disappointing experience at Parkside. The open day we went to recently was very chaotic with lots of lost tour groups with no guide. Our own guide cut the tour off short meaning we didn’t see the whole school as said we had probably seen it all already!!! There were others in our group with sons already at the school but for us we came to view the whole school which surely is an open day is for? All a shame as we liked the look of the school before.
Anyone have any views on Felton fleet? We saw it has recently gone to 16. We haven’t been to see it but would welcome any 1st hand experience before we do? We are looking for smaller caring schools so any other suggestions also welcome?

@CamillaSander , where are you based as Weston Green in Thames Ditton is small and caring. The Study in New Malden is also small. I wouldn't describe Feltonfleet as small but it is known to be kind and a bit less pressure. The head at Danes Hill is good although it's large but maybe worth a visit

Hi
I'm sorry to bring up this thread from a couple of months back, but while searching on this topic, saw your note about KH which surprised me. We had this school on our radar, our son also with a similar sounding profile.

We are also overseas per original post, and the thought of applying for any school in the area of SW London into Surrey seems so daunting and almost cutthroat!

If anyone came across a magical school without super stress for secondary and happy to take on a bright child with neurodiversity, I would love to know! :)