Primary State Schools Richmond

[Sarah016]

Hello 😊 Really hoping for some advice
We are relocating to London in 2/3 weeks and we need to submit preferences for school - hoping my daughter can join reception now and Year 1 starting September . Most schools mentioned they cant confirm availability as of now - but was hoping for general insights/recommendations/previous experience

• Marshgate Primary School
• The Vineyard School
• Deer Park School
• Thomson House School

Any advice is highly appreciated please

It will completely depend on whether any school actually has a space. You are aiming for year groups with very strict limits on class size.

Have any schools indicated they have a space?

@Sarah016 the birth rate is way down and many Richmond borough primaries are having to reduce their intake, so you may find there are places at most of those schools. But nobody can tell you whether places available now will still be available when you move.

They're all pretty good. Thomson House is out closer to Mortlake and traffic around that area is awful so if you're moving to Richmond as opposed to East Sheen or Mortlake avoid Thomson House.

My preference is Deer Park School for no reason other than the Head is excellent. The Vineyard has a pretty good provision for SEN I think.

If you are going to join reception and Y1 now, Vineyard still have spaces for both years. If you are joining reception after Sep, there is rumour talking about Vineyard may downsize the forms from 3 to 2, so it will be hard to get space.

thanks alot for all your replies - i guess it all comes down to availability. Just wondering if there is any feedback on the above schools from experience

Vineyard is a very happy school, you can receive almost like private school activities here, all sports you can imagine, including American football or girl football. They also focus music these years, kids can learn piano, cello, and rock bands. YR and Y1 have Forest school.

However, headteacher mentioned school won’t help anything for 11+, if parents expect academic success, they need to find their way. This made some parents upset.

I don’t think any state primary schools actively prepare for 11+, hence all the tutoring.

A lot of the local ones do go mad for SATS, are parents not satisfied with those as a measure of academic success?

Bumping this as we are considering Marshgate for Reception 2026, but have also been offered a spot at Kings House - really keen to hear from current Marshgate parents as it seems they have an interim Head at the moment