Co-Ed 4-11 prep in South East

[Yumyummyyum]

Hi
Can anyone recommend Co-Ed prep schools which start from Reception and are within 1.5 hours of London with good academic standards and also have some ethnic diversity? Looking for something in an area which is affordable where we can get a decent sized house so that probably rules out anything in London. I’m struggling on the Co-Ed front as most seems to be single sex. Also finding it hard to assess which areas will be ethnically diverse. Thanks!

Highgate? Since it became co ed it has been climbing in the school ranks.

That's quite a wide question OP. Could you narrow it down a little? Is 4-13 any good? Do you have any idea what the plan might be for senior school?

@ItsRainingTacos79 Unfortunately areas like Hampstead aren’t really in budget. We are looking to upsize to good sized 4 bed property for up to a million. If we can’t get that by moving further out then we will just stay put where we are in our smaller house that’s half an hour away from London.

@Legoninjago1 4-13 is ok too but we would not be going down the boarding route for senior. It’s hard to judge when kids are little what the right destination school would be but hoping for a prep that is successful at getting children into selective senior schools (private/grammar) so that if they are bright they have the right support and are prepared well.

That is a wide question! Sure other people will have suggestions on the north/east/west directions. But if I think about the preps on dc match circuit south of London, the one that jumps to mind is Banstead Prep. Closer to Croydon than the Surrey schools and therefore more diverse.

Close enough in for Sutton grammars/Croydon schools as destinations but far enough out for more space for your money. There is probably a sweet spot for you - further out you get more space but less diversity (at least in the Surrey direction!).

Abedour is also an option near there but I can’t comment on diversity in the same east.

@Twotwotwotwo Somewhere in the south (eg Surrey) or west (eg Berkshire) would be preferable but open to areas in the north and east too. I was actually looking at South Croydon as an affordable but nice area but wasn’t sure about the prep
options. I did think about Homefield for my boy and Sutton High prep for my girl but they are a bit far from South Croydon. There’s also Cumnor House but couldn’t see any recent reviews for the boys school so not sure if things have improved there. I don’t know if Banstead is similar to those schools in terms of academics? Abedour is not that diverse from what I’ve heard.

I am further out so not into the detail of these schools academics I am afraid. They send kids to a wide range of schools including very academic ones but you would probably need to quiz the schools to understand more about what that looks like.

Also with considering what your bar is for diversity. My experience is the preps are more diverse than the local state schools further out. But really, that still isn’t particularly diverse. But certainly DC school makes a big effort to include/celebrate other cultures and backgrounds and is very inclusive generally. Would you be okay with that or not? I can understand the answer being no, but it is more limiting.

And do you want a prep that is a feeder to a secondary school or not?

Braeside Prep, Bromley. People claim it is as good as Blackheath Prep. Both South East London. Braeside is close to superselective grammars in Bromley (incredibly diverse grammars) and you can access some Bexley grammars depending on where you live. You can get a detached 4 bed house in Bromley for that budget.
However, although these preps do prepare well, people still tutor.
Further afield, St Michael’s and Sevenoaks Prep. Kids do leave St Michael’s at 11.
Top co-Ed private schools in South East area - Alleyns in Dulwich, Sevenoaks School in Sevenoaks and now Eltham College in Mottingham.

There aren’t many 4-18 highly selective independents in the South East, you just cannot really assess at 4. Highgate in North London takes a small 4 plus intake and many more at 7 and 11 plus anyway. Alleyns also takes lots of extra kids at 11 plus.

I agree, you seem quite clued up OP, I don't think what you are looking for exists. If you want diversity some of the single sex preps in Surrey / Kingston are quite diverse like The Mall or Surbiton Boys/girls prep but I can't think of a mixed diverse prep with high academic standards. The main reason being the state primary schools are good enough to get your dc into a selective secondary.

@Twotwotwotwo I really want a bit of diversity in terms of the student population just because of family experiences of racism/bullying.
I don’t really have a secondary school in mind but if the prep feeds a top 100 independent school that would be great.
@Aleaiactaest Thanks! I know very little about the south east so will start exploring.
@sailingsunshine Yes I did wonder if what I want doesn’t exist outside London. I like some of the single sex options in Surrey/south west eg Homefield and The Mall but they are in expensive parts of London.

Caterham Prep, Sevenoaks Prep, St Michaels Prep. All are co-ed. I haven’t done an ethnic diversity survey but Caterham and St Michaels are visibly less white than the state primaries near them.

For senior schools, Caterham Prep has a good relationship with Caterham School, which is excellent, and St Michaels / Sevenoaks Prep place a lot of children with Sevenoaks School which is about as ethnically diverse as it gets.

In your positI’d move to Crydon and out the children into Caterham, or move to one of the villages around Sevenoaks and put the children in St Michaels followed by Sevenoaks School.

That makes sense - certainly to the south I would stay within the M25 to keep the diversity high enough then. I wonder whether there might be some areas North of London that might fit what you are looking for? Maybe Harrow/Watford direction? I know nothing about that area though!

@Oher Thanks so much! Those look like good options for us to explore.

@Twotwotwotwo Yes there are definitely ethnically diverse areas in North London. I do have a preference for South/West but if I can’t find anything there I will start looking into north Londo

@Yumyummyyum - all the schools @Oher and I mentioned are ethnically diverse if by that you mean plenty of Asian descent or half Asian. If you want Black African or Caribbean in particular, then please ask the specific schools for stats. Because that is where the diversity can be lacking in certain years in many schools, including those that are quite diverse in the sense I mentioned in my first sentence.

@Aleaiactaest Thanks, we are of Asian descent. Obviously broader ethnic diversity would be better but I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve been looking at mumsnet on Braeside, St Michael’s, Sevenoaks prep etc and reviews are so mixed, particularly on whether it’s the school or heavy tutoring that’s getting pupils into selective schools. I also don’t know if we have left it too late for some (eg Braeside) as we are looking for Sept 23 reception entry. Some schools (eg Caterham) seem to also have an assessment process at 4 so that’s another factor to consider. In south west London where we currently are it seems to be less common to assess so early on.

Hertfordshire has a lot of ethnically diverse private schools (and state schools). A lot are single sex, but I think Edge Grove is co-ed? Easy to access London.

So this might not be helpful but seeing as you are quite keen on heading south I will go into more detail about our further out schools in case it helps.

If you went further south to Redhill area you would have a four preps to choose from: Reigate St Marys, Chinthurst, Micklefield or Hawthorns.

I would expect there to be a number of families of Asian descent at all the schools, but it might be the case that your child would be the only one in their class.

The pluses are that they are all co-ed with high academic standards. Also gives you options to move the kids if a particular school ends up not being the perfect fit. This does happen, because you can't always tell your childs strengths before they start.

RSM is a feeder to Reigate Grammar. Pro to this is 80 per cent of the kids get offered a place without having to sit the 11 plus. Con is that it can be a difficult place to be for a non academic child/child that doesn't make the grade in year 5 for RGS. Inevitably prep for other destinations is not as strong. Chinthurst is also part of this deal but a smaller school with a somewhat wider spread of school destinations.

Hawthorns runs until 13, so a back up if 11 plus process is difficult. Lovely setting and facilities. This is the school I personally know the least. Friend who has a child that goes there fit into RGS last year without tutoring.

Micklefield is more inclusive and smaller. My kids are there they and I love it, the headmaster is great, the school supportive but also challenging. It has definitely surprised me in a positive way. Kids prepped for a variety of destinations, but RGS, Caterham and Dunottar are popular. I have no intention of tutoring (and what is nearing that age) - if child can't get in with the extra prep/support the school provides I don't think it is the right place for them.

For me, the big pro of this area is the secondary options. RGS for very academic children and dunottar for the more sporty/musical. Both day schools. I am not keen on my children ending up as day pupils at boarding schools so Sevenoaks (where my sibling went) wouldn't be for us. We also prefer co-ed for secondary. If you prefer single sex for secondary then Sutton/Croydon area is better.

Edgeborough or Frensham Heights?

Eltham College has already been mentioned, it used to be boys only but is now co-Ed. Main entrance is at 7 so children often start at Farringtons or Babbington and then move. Less academic but getting a bit more competitive is Colfe’s.

Many will head to Bexley, Orpington, Kent or Sutton grammars for secondary. Many also don’t make it or choose to stay in private.

At the private schools many of the more selective ones are single sex (GDST schools, Dulwich, JAGS etc)

There are lots of very good and outstanding state primary schools in Bromley Borough and environs including Crofton school in Petts Wood / Orpington.

@Twotwotwotwo I had just ended up down a rabbit hole and was looking at schools near Reigate! Those sound like good options academically but not sure they’re what I’d want ideally in terms of diversity. It may be that we have to compromise on that aspect if we move further out to be able to afford the type of house we want. I too would prefer day schools for secondary but open to either Co-ed or single sex for secondary depending on what children prefer at that stage.

If you were considering Croydon, then Royal Russell seems the obvious choice. If you wanted to go closer to London, then there are two co-ed preps on the South Circular, Oakfield and Rosemead, which would fit the bill. Most likely you could get a house in your budget around West Dulwich/Tulse Hill/West Norwood eg www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/127893272#/?channel=RES_BUY. Regular trains to Victoria would take around 25 mins.

I think I would agree with your assessment there. You would have to weigh up whether the house/schools balance off against the lower levels of diversity. It isn’t the case that it is non-existent though.

One of DC friends who comes from a non-white background moved schools(from state to Micklefield) with her. Her mum and I had some conversations on this issue but she has been happy with the move. In their class 25% come from Asian/Middle Eastern background, but that really isn’t the case in all the classes. There are plenty of white diversity though too, Europeans, South/North Americans, the headmaster is South African etc.

The Croydon/Sutton single sex day secondary schools feel a bit far for us to consider from here but if you picked the right house location you might be able to keep those as secondary options as well as RGS/Dunottar/Caterham if you wanted to.

@Twotwotwotwo I think you’re right that it’s not non-existent. I’ve had a look at Reigate St Mary’s Facebook page and it looks better in terms of diversity than I had expected (which was based on other schools outside London). Reigate/Redhill still seems a bit expensive but Chipsted/Coulsdon seem more affordable and not too far way. I’m going to look into this option some more! Thanks

Big difference in house prices between Redhill/Merstham vs Reigate.

You pay for the RH2 postcode so focus on RH1 for better value for money. A few friends live around the Carlton Road/Daneshill area which is good for commuting and also good for access to the prep schools.

Something like this:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128297324#/?channel=RES_BUY

or

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/map.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1119&maxPrice=1000000&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=499&propertyTypes=&includeSSTC=true&viewType=MAP&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&viewport=-0.190628%2C-0.174492%2C51.2336%2C51.2466&keywords=

or

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/map.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1117&maxPrice=1000000&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=499&propertyTypes=&includeSSTC=true&viewType=MAP&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&viewport=-0.179806%2C-0.16367%2C51.2391%2C51.2521&keywords=