New Beacon, Somerhill, Rose Hill, Hilden Grange or Holmewood House

[xmas2024]

I am currently exploring school options for my son and would greatly appreciate any insights or thoughts on the following schools: New Beacon, Somerhill, Rose Hill, Hilden Grange, Holmewood House. We are considering transferring him in Year 3.

Additionally, we are contemplating applications to Sevenoaks, Brighton College, Eastbourne College, and Tonbridge School for his later years (we are aware this may change depending on our son's academic performance). If any of you have experiences or thoughts to share about these schools, including the application process and overall environment, I would be grateful for your input.

Thank you so much.

Something to bear in mind about Hilden Grange is that they have been bought by Inspired Education. Have a look at the thread on this in the Primary Education section as it is worrying. Not sure what impact if any this will have and probably too early to tell at the moment but it has made me a bit wary. They do have a very good track record of getting boys into Tonbridge though.

@Brigadoon23 thank you so much for this, I had no idea - will definitely look into it. Would be great for any input from current and previous parents of these schools.

Also I've noticed Rose Hill have reduced fees for years 7 and 8. I'm curious if this adjustment suggests any challenges in attracting pupils?

Our daughter has been at Rose Hill from the Kindergarten to Y6 and she has been very happy there. It's a smaller school (in terms of number of pupils) compared to many other independent schools in the area, which I think is a plus.

They have great grounds and facilities, small class sizes and each child gets a lot of attention from teachers. All teachers seem to know the name of every single child and they have regular meetings discussing the progress of every child. The school is purpose built as a school rather than a converted mansion, which means it's not Harry Potter pretty, but in my opinion it's better organised and it's a better teaching environment that allows for 2 small forms they have in each year to sometimes learn and play together.

Also, I suspect that smaller portion of your fees will go towards maintaining an ancient, badly insulated property and looking after wast grounds than with some other independent schools. This means that more can be spent on actual teaching than heating and landscaping.

Looking back, there would be very few complaints we'd have about something, nothing major, but no school is perfect I guess and I'd expect that to be the case with any school.

Years 7 & 8 are very good value now and are essentially subsidised by all previous years fees. They historically had extremely small classes in Y7-8 (single digit) so a few years back fees were reduced for Y7-8. This is now attracting more and more parents that move their child there just for Y7-8, especially if the child was not successful on their Kent Test.

As a school they always had good grammar school acceptance rate overall.

Traffic can be an issue in and around Tunbridge Wells in general and especially around the school where the main road gets constantly gridlocked especially between 3.30-4pm as it's right next to a massive secondary (which by the way is an absolutely outstanding state secondary, just very big). That said, included in your fees are all lunch and after-school clubs so if you sign up for those, you can expect pickup at 5.15pm pretty much every day.

Most children typically continue to either TW/Tonbridge grammar school (like our daughter :) ) or a local independent secondary.

I would not recommend RH at all. Many disgruntled parents have left earlier than planned (3 with SEN kids) . Complaints are handled are appallingly at stage 3.
Staff turn over high. Parents warned me before I stared who weren't staying past year 6. Little of the retoric is actual carried out. Better places to spend you money. Search RH in here and elsewhere and you will see other comments similar to this.

I don't recognise @Fussyrealfussy's description of RH at all. One of my children is currently being assessed for ADHD and we have had nothing but support from the school. I'm not aware of any sort of mass exodus of disgruntled parents as suggested.

I have a son and daughter at Rose Hill and we couldn't be happier with the school. The school is really nurturing with excellent facilities - lovely indoor pool, theatre and fab science lab. The children use technology regularly, with iPads in class and after school clubs in coding, with robotics and AI topics of discussion. There's a club in the older years where the children make and race an actual car (green goblins), which my son can't wait to do. They have a fabulous woodland and the kids are always out there exploring, den building or toasting marshmallows. There's a big focus on Scouts/Cubs/Rainbows/Brownies etc, and its all very much part of the school. It's also incredibly sporty for children that are into that, with matches with the local schools etc and the teachers are all very switched on and push the children without it being a hot house.

It's often harder to attract children into Years 7 and 8 because a large proportion of the children will leave at 11 to go to the local grammar schools. The reduced fee structure is just an incentive for children to stay on, and nothing to worry about. Whether we stay on for 7/8 will ultimately be down to whether our secondary school choices are predominantly a year 7 or 9 intake.

Sadly, it is the same issue with Holmewood.

Sadly, it is the same issue with Holmewood, with a very aggressive management team. They wouldn't listen to you and would talk over you when you try to complain.

Sorry to hear. Sound like some independents like Rose Hill and Holmewood are not carrying out their own policies and following complaints. I wonder how much actually gets logged and seen by the inspectorate. (ISI). Defensive and aggressive and then try to off role the parents.

The issue with schools is the reluctance of many parents to submit formal complaints, particularly when it concerns their own child or children. No one wants the school to be aware that they are filing formal complaints while their children are still enrolled. I checked the ISI reports. The latest inspection report for RH was conducted in 2021, whereas HH's was carried out in 2017.

Maybe someone could set up a platform so parents could provide honest and balanced views about all the schools in the UK? 😂

In deed! The complaints procedures are too long too intimidating, and in the private sector parents just leave and vote with their feet. Easier than seeing a complaint all the way through. Oddly they don't seem too concerned about reputation.
I would urge people to leave a review. If I was inspector I would look at reviews first. (Google, Mumsnet etc. don't mention individuals though)
I would urge people to just copy their complaint to DfE then will hopefully they will send to ISI. At least they will aware of the issue in the next inspection. Often they won't intervene unless you complete all 3 stages of the complaints procedure, and how many stick around to do that? Easier to just leave. Then this doesn't get monitored of course. It's the slight minority that suffer.

I can talk about new beacon. If Tonbridge is your aim, this is a brilliant school. If Sevenoaks, you may want to stick to HG, Sev Prep or SoleF.

Pros:
Brilliant in sports and music. Although, they compartmentalise boys. Sports preference is given to boys going to Tonbridge or Caucasians. Asian are chosen for music.
Gets everyone to Tonbridge, even the undeserving not so smart kids as long as you can pay up.
Have access to tonbridge school Chapel and labs and can create interest in sciences and musuc using such facilities.
Brilliant mental health department. They have lady who has is brilliant in managing mental health for the boys.

Cons
Not great in Academics.
Have an unspoken preference to provide opportunities to boys going to Tonridge school; definitely withdraw at 11 plus if Tonbridge is not your goal.
They say that they will prepare of other schools, but that is more of a hoodwink. They just suggest you to get an Atom subscription.
Ill suited for academic boys not much interested in sports. The sporty boys don't like them and bullying is prevalent.
Not good for minorities, Indians, Chinese. The school has a colonial mindset.
The school had a stream class for high achieving boys. The streaming is a joke. My boys re regularly asked to help out the not so capable boys.
Also, heard on the grapevine that the street class will be abolished. There is a big debate on between Asian and White parents. You can take a guess who wants it and who doesn't.

I posted about Eastbourne College here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/3452285-Eastbourne-College-my-experience?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2766EzG_H5rgOu7kNcbU5en3j1UJKAOQ4-DJZSs5wuB45oFpgHDXlK4wc_aem_Af5BwtJ1AA4nKBVcOZuIarn2pcMP0c4ZRyXJNmmlWj8BDNRhGg1QIs_BEEx9u9YnCXllHIJ7vQ49Hobf7KTxxF1H

An incredibly fair assessment. Don’t forget the failures on safe guarding as recently as 2023.
www.newbeacon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The_New_Beacon_School-ISI-Report-2023-1.pdf
Thank you!

It's a big no for Somerhill. It's gone down drastically and parents moving on in droves. Take your hard earned money to a better, more inclusive, dare I say, safe environment.

That’s a very harsh comment. My son is there, and we love it. The school isn’t perfect, but none of the independent schools near Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are perfect. Look at schools like Holmewood House, Rosehill, and New Beacon - they all have their own issues. I think the value for money of independent schools in Kent is very low overall.

If you are looking for a better school or schools with higher standard, then you need to look at top schools in London e.g. Westerminster, St Pauls.

@@Sora2021 but shouldn't they improve their standards then? Rather than having disgruntled parents? I just don't understand how people pay these fees without being entirely satisfied. London is too far but yes I think having looked at schools in Kent private and state, they do seem below par.

@noodletimesthreeI agree with you. The issue is that not all parents have the same mentality. Most of the private schools in Kent are non-selective i.e. you can get in if you can afford the fees. There are many wealthy families who don’t particularly care about academic outcomes; they are happy with the schools as long as they believe their children are happy. Additionally, there are many families with old money, where grandparents pay the tuition fees. The top London schools are selective, requiring students to be "excellent" to gain entry. The entry level and standards from day one are fundamentally different. Because of VAT, fewer people will be able to afford private schools. I am more concerned about the quality of private secondary schools. I believe the standard will decline even further in the long term.

@noodletimesthree One more point. I also believe that the quality, qualifications, and mentality of the management and teachers in Kent schools are at a different level compared to some of the top schools. We visited a top school last year, where 20% of the pre-prep and prep teachers had Oxford or Cambridge degrees. At least 20% held master's degrees from a top 10 university in the UK, and even their teaching assistants had proper university degrees.

Unless your school or the teachers uphold the same standards and mindset, they might think you’re crazy when you talk to them about standards :)

Yes, totally. I think the astronomical fees just don't add up with the quality of teaching and expertise. Most of the parents work in London companies and earn high salaries. Many of the Kent teachers do not hold university degrees, I'm not even sure they need to in private schools.. I believe most hold QTS. Yes, London is a different ballgame for quality and everything really (restaurants, eating out, coffee, nightlife) Kent could never compete.. I do find so far the Kent private schools to have an air of sales/money making as opposed to genuine/authentic care for the child. I can see through a lot of them 😂😩 I've seen one prep in London (but we know it's just too far and unaffordable to move back to a decent home/location) but that blew me away in many ways.. the quality of staff, teaching etc.,

@noodletimesthree I am curious about Somerhill -is it the academic standards that have slipped? There seems to be the same issue at Holmewood with many parents moving children on due to sliding academic standards, lack of stretch for able children and lack of teaching support (with local state schools seeming to be doing far better). I was quite shocked by some of the work I saw on our tour when I asked to look at books (our state primary was more impressive) and they were also very vague about things like reading levels. The work I saw at Hilden Grange, Sevenoaks Prep and Somerhill was on another level. The work I saw at the Granville didn’t even compare and was much more like the London preps we viewed. We had thought Somerhill might be the one as the facilities outshine Hilden Grange and Sevenoaks prep (and there is a reason we moved to the countryside) but perhaps this is misguided? We have heard glowing reviews of Solefields and the Granville but just a bit too far and the campuses are a little cramped and more London/surrey like in feel. I am starting to think Hilden Grange and Sevenoaks Prep might be worth another look or is this issue widespread?

@Pip290 The main issue with schools like Somerhill and Holmewood is that they are very large. They need high student numbers to be financially viable, so they accept children regardless of ability. Teachers mainly focus on students who are below the national average. They also pay very little to TAs and a lot of them do not have degrees. This means the support they provide to children is quite limited. Many good TAs left for nanny jobs.

I mentioned in a previous post that many parents don’t prioritise academics (or don’t fully understand its importance) or believe in a more relaxed approach, questioning, "Why push your child so hard?" If parents don’t care, why would the school?

I’m not familiar with Sevenoaks Prep, but Hilden Grange is definitely on a different level academically. They are more down to earth. However, their small campus and limited facilities (e.g. no swimming pool) put many people off.

Many children at Hilden Grange go on to grammar schools, while most children at Holmewood and Somerhill traditionally moved to independent secondary schools. These schools don’t really compete with each other. It will be interesting to see how things change this year and next following the VAT changes.

We have friends and family with children in London schools, where academics are at a completely different level (these are not top London schools). You should also consider places like Cambridge (The Perse School Cambridge), Oxford (Magdalen College School
), or Manchester (Junior School Entry - The Manchester Grammar School - boys only) if you are willing to move. Most good schools in these areas are selective, with strong teaching resources, excellent facilities, and plenty of space.

@Sora2021 - I don't think you can be very familiar with Hilden Grange as they do have a swimming pool (although it is an outdoor one, and mainly used for the younger children). I wouldn't describe their facilities as 'limited' as they have lots of sports pitches, and also have the use of Tonbridge School's astro for hockey. They 'only' have around 20 acres compared with Somerhill's 100, but what 7 year old actually needs a school with 100 acres? Also, although many HG pupils do go to grammars, a large proportion also leave for independents, including a lot to Tonbridge School. They have a very impressive record of gaining scholarships to Tonbridge. HG pupils have won the top scholarship (the 'Ainslie') twice in the past five or so years.

As another poster mentioned though, HG has been bought by Inspired which is notorious for its ruthless cost-cutting ways. HG used to be known for its specialist teaching but I have heard of non specialists teaching subjects now (e.g. maths teachers teaching PE) which is a worrying sign and more what you would get at a state primary. My children have now left so I haven't experienced at first hand how things are under Inspired. Hopefully other parents might give you some reassurance on that front.

Also, most prep schools around here 'accept children regardless of ability' - thank God. Selecting children on ability at age 4 or age 7 sounds horrendous. A good school should be able to cater to all ability levels.

Does anyone have any insight into what Hilden Grange is like for girls? Are there enough girls for decent sized friendship groups and sports teams? It seems there is still a 2:1 boy girl ratio but is this just because of year 7-8 being boy heavy but more balanced further down?

Equally any insight into what Somerhill is like for girls? I am aware they split into girls and boys in prep. If you have a bright girl are they supported / stretched sufficiently to get into schools like Sevenoaks/ TOGs? Numbers/ percentages seem similar from HG/ Somerhill in this regard when looking at leavers destinations at 11? We have no idea if DD/DS will be academically inclined but don’t want to close doors and want them to be able to reach their potential whatever that may be. Our daughter is sports mad so there are pluses to Somerhill eg more girls to run sports teams etc what is Hilden Grange like for sporty girls? To be honest I can see our son being happy at either (and HG is clearly brilliant for boys heading to Tonbridge) but I really would prefer one school run!

Somerhill books/ work on walls seemed leagues ahead of the work I saw at Holmewood so thought it might be a good fit with a nice balance between academic and cocurricular (lots of sport, amazing forest schools particularly in nursery, lots of enrichment activities) but some of these comments make me question whether it’s worth a rethink.

Sevenoaks prep is another option .