Private schools Islington / hackney / east London other?

[Schoolquestion6]

DS doesn’t like his outstanding primary school. He’s in year 3 now so I don’t think that’s going to change.

I loved primary school (secondary not at all!). I figure childhood is too short to spend 5 days a week somewhere you don’t want to be. Plus I think it’s killing his natural love of learning. So I’m looking for alternatives!

Can anyone suggest private schools in the above areas that they really like? Or that kids they know really enjoy being at?

I am especially interested in ones that have an excellent outdoor provision (forest school / outdoor trips etc).

Central (ish) would also work too, but I prefer something not so far away.

Can you move?? Those areas not great sorry op

I don't know anyone at them but the most academic is City of London prep at the Barbican, and The Lyceum in EC2 looks lovely.

Our kids loved St Aubyn's Prep in Woodford. Also heard great things about Woodford Prep and Avon House in the same area. My friend used to teach at Gatehouse School in Victoria Park and loved it there.
It always used to be the case though that you applied when the child was very young, but I expect times have changed and spaces become available as people move away or circumstances change. Good luck with finding a great school for your son.

I've heard good feedback about St Paul's Cathedral School, Charterhouse Sq, Lyceum, Children's House. Most aren't that well equipped for outdoorsy stuff, although Lyceum uses Spitalfields Farm for Forest School.

I’m less interested in very hot housey academic schools, more schools that are nurturing and fun!

Moving isn’t impossible, but don’t want to leave zone 2 ish London though!

OP, you might do better to find a secondary school you like and work backwards to a feeder prep because the secondary school entry process in central London requires academic rigour that the prep schools have to provide to ensure their pupils have places to move on to. Maybe look at Heathside in Hampstead as it will feed into a Dukes Education secondary school automatically.

We were looking for similar when we were moving here from the states. Check out Rosemary Works and Dallington House. We ended up having to go a different route due to my son's additional needs.

Thank you, krobhix20! I will look into those!

Out of interest, if you wanted to stay in London but could move, where would be the ideal place for lots of choice of lovely schools?

King Alfred school in Hampstead sounds like what you want. You would have to get the overground there and back.

Forest at Snaresbrook is lovely if you can get a spot. Goes through to 18 so you wouldn't have to worry about the 11 plus.

We’re in zone 2 in south west London and lots of private schools here. However, I don’t think that anyone offers forest school or outdoor learning past early years but you could look for scouts or similar to provide this.

Look at occasional places in Hampstead preps but if he is already in year three you have probably missed the boat.

My children go to St Paul’s Cathedral School and we are extremely happy with it. I’d be glad to answer any questions if you would like to PM me.

I know that you’ve said that you’d like excellent outdoor provision. I expect all schools do have outdoor provision (ours has just finished a building project that means one of the playgrounds are on two levels) but I’ll be surprised if there are many zone 2 schools where the focus is on lots of outdoor time.

Second looking into Forest School in Snaresbrook. Very green area overall and lovely school grounds. Also they run a bus service from more central London areas.

It depends on what your kids like. There is Lyceum, City Junior and St Pauls. I wouldn't say they have a great outdoor space.

City Junior has grays in gardens and also go to carom fields for outdoor activities. No play ground equipment but lots of games. Although City junior is selective and they just had their 7plus exams. We like it even though it is academic. It's not the typical housey type school where everyone is doing worksheets. Children are being encouraged to be inquisitive independent thinkers, develop team work and leadership qualities. I would say it's quite nurturing.

I would also recommend looking at the commute from your place to these schools. We didn't apply to most of them as the commute would be even worse for us. And that age they do get tired a lot especially if you will need to use public transport to commute.

On a side note, I absolutely hate that we have to pay for good education and it is not normal for public schools in our area to provide this level of quality education. I can see the huge difference in what is expected of children here as compared to my daughters old primary school where we were told that "oh we will always have kids in red due to the kind of children we have" ...that was half of the class.

There are also buses that run out from Chiswick/Hammersmith/South Ken to the Berkshire preps like Papplewick, Lambrook, Caldicott etc. You'll get all the lovely country prep outdoor space for your kid, without having to leave zone 2.

The problem with going to one of the lovely country preps is, the DC in zone 2 will have no local friends to play with in the long holidays.

@Schoolquestion6 I agree with @Bucketheadbucketbum

South, South west, West, North and South East London are where most private schools are.

High concentrations of good schools are in Clapham, Dulwich, Barnes, Putney, Wimbledon, Hammersmith, Blackheath, Hampstead, Hampton/ Richmond area

If you are willing to move, the Dulwich schools probably offer the best balance between outdoor space and being central. Most schools have entry at year 3 primarily but Dulwich Prep has multiple entry points and I know many boys very happy there.

We have 2 children at The Children’s House school (N1) and are really happy with it. Both children love going to school and are thriving there. It has recently expanded as it was a pre prep school, so now goes up to 11. It’s a creative, nurturing school, definitely not a hot house at all but they did get good 7+ results so hoping for the same at 11+! There is a nice playground but obviously not huge as it’s in N1! They do take the children out a few times a week to an adventure playground on the same road, swimming (Y3) and a local leisure centre, plus they get a lot of playtime. As it has just expanded the reception class is very full but there are occasional places in the older years. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!

Really late to this thread, so you might have already decided. We sent ours to Rosemary Works. Very anti-hothouse. Tiny school. Almost like a village school in London. Mine did Forest school from age 3 to Reception, but not sure beyond that. We moved ours after Reception because our eldest just did no work because there was no sticker at the end! But other parents raved about the 'gentle' approach, might be right for you.

A big vote for Dallington. They have swimming, French, music, drama from the beginning and the school bursts with creativity. Very central-close to the Barbican. We find it a very nurturing environment and my kids love going to school everyday. Other parents are also a cool non-pushy tribe mostly in the arts/music fields. A super school in the middle of London.

Have you checked out Rosemary Works? My three children have been there since nursery class and are extremely happy there. It’s a nurturing school that really caters for the children’s individuality and ensures each child reaches their potential (my three children couldn’t be more different in every way)
the have a lovely playground, they go to forest school weekly and lots of trips to give the children different experiences.
my eldest, in year six now is really excited to go to secondary school, she is confident and seems ready for big school - I feel that the teacher has done an amazing job at preparing them for secondary school.