Moving back to London - Prep Schools

[Prosiey]

DH has recently been offered his dream job in London, we have been living in Paris for the last few years and we have 2 children, our eldest is 19 months, our youngest is 3 weeks.
We have both lived in London before but this was as students or young professionals so we had very different priorities.
Before we settle on an are we want to know what our school options are.
The main priority is a school which is nurturing, small, academically supportive but not necessarily pushy. We have two daughters so we are open to all girls schools, we are also open to 4-18 schools.
We’d like good sporting facilities (so probably none of the super central schools with limited space).
Obviously our children are too young for us to know their exact personalities yet but I guess I’m looking for multiple options to consider.

We are most likely to house hunt in south west, west and north west London, potentially open to other areas but areas like Dulwich is a no from us, probably also no to Greenwich too.

Any schools anyone can recommend?

Sevenoaks has many desirable schools I believe

https://www.locrating.com/the-best-schools-in-Sevenoaks_Kent_England.aspx

There’s lots of choice around the Putney and Barnes area. Either two girls you could look at Putney High from prep, but I’m not sure that counts as small and nurturing. Also Harrodian in Barnes if you want a through school, Ibstock might be too.

If you are open to preps then moving there’s Hurlingham and The Roche, although I hear the Roche is struggling for numbers.

Whatever about primary schools, I’d locate tithe area where the best secondary school is and ideally the one that has 6 th form, as I now have to find my kids another school/ college for A LEVELS

plus Sevenoaks has beautiful parks in Knole house.. just gorgeous place for toddlers to run and play ..

Chiswick/Richmond/Kew have lots of options

We are sort of hoping to look at a school which offers IB diploma for secondary school. However we are many many years away from that and we might change our mind once our children’s personalities become clear.

Children travel all over within London (and travel out of London as well!) for secondary. Or even board. Move to the area to like which is close to the prep school you like.

Sevenoaks isn’t in London…

I too would suggest thinking about secondaries - wish we had when dc were toddlers, rather than just prep schools. Putney, barnes, Wimbledon Clapham all have good prep schools and private options for secondary. You’re missing out on some
of the best private schools in London swerving Dulwich though

Between the Commons (clapham and Wandsworth) is a lovely area for young families and if you’d be ok with a prep school there are loads of good options.

Does it need to be a prep school?

Most people I know opt for state primary as they are typically very good - with tutoring to get them into the selective private secondaries.

Fees for prep schools in some of the above areas are getting on for £30,000 a year now, so it’s a big consideration.

See this is why I’m really leaning towards a 4-18 school. I don’t like the idea of my 9/10 year old having a tutor or being exposed to exam pressure. I. Understand it’s fairly normal but I went to a 4-18 school so was never exposed to that (girls moving up from the prep got automatic entry, new starters had to do an entry exam).
I really don’t like the class sizes in state schools so won’t be considering them.

Highly recommend the Cavendish School for girls in Camden - very nurturing. Only prep, but then there’s a wide choice of independent secondaries in NW London to choose from after that. Northbridge Prep (now Alleyns Regents Park) is also great (co-ed).

What about Highgate? You’ve got Highgate School (co-ed) and Channings (all girls). It’s a lovely place to live.

ETA - I don’t know the schools well as we have left since having children. I think Highgate in particular seems to be quite well regarded though. My recommendation is more related to it being a fab place to live.

My dc are at a 4-18 school. They still have to take the entrance exam to go from prep to senior and have to get certain grades at GCSE (and meet behaviour expectations) to proceed to sixth form. So starting at 4 is not a guaranteed education to 18.

Most 4-18 private schools are selective at 4+, and often with no guarantee of sibling entry, so it's a bit of a gamble to move nearby before getting offered a place, as you might move down the street but still not manage to get offered a place, or at least not for both dcs. There are some excellent school options if they do get in - Channing, South Hampstead, North London Collegiate (which offers IB), Highgate. Channing is probably seen as more nurturing and less pushy out of those (but it still selects at 4+). Hampstead is a great area for private schools, there are lots of preps to suit different personalities, the Heath, and tons of extracurricular and holiday camp options.

Cavendish, mentioned upthread is friendly and nurturing, with excellent 11+ results for a non-selective school, and close to Primrose Hill which is lovely family area. It's a good backup option as there's no selection process, so a place is guaranteed as long as you apply early enough.

Alleyn's would tick a few boxes if you re-consider Dulwich. LEH is very nurturing but doesn't do 4+. I liked WHS when we did 4+, their grounds are not amazing but it's a good down to the earth school, academic enough but not extremely pushy, our friends are happy there.

Highgate used to be quite difficult to get into at 4+ and probably not the best option for girls, but depends on the personality.

SHHS is good but fairly central so the grounds are not great. Channing's sports grounds are even smaller and it's usually a backup option.

St Margaret's is probably the smallest all-through school in Hampstead and I heard good things about both its academic and pastoral support.

There are quite a few GDST schools south of the river, they're vastly different and maybe worth researching https://www.gdst.net/schools/about-our-schools/ We sat 4+ at three of them and had friends in Ken Prep which sends a lot of its cohort to top senior schools. SHHS is the most selective of them and probably the most academic (though I've heard various opinions), could be pushy but I think within reason.

If you want IB in London, your options would be limited, the best ones are Godolphin and NLCS but the latter is definitely pushy (I don't know much about Godolphin) and you would need to prep for reception entry.

We applied to all-through schools only as I also wanted to avoid 11+ but as it turned out we've moved for senior school anyway, for various reasons, mostly because DD developed very musical and our initial first choice school which we got at 4+ would no longer be the best fit. It's very difficult to predict so I wouldn't be dead set on anything.

Schools look at different things at 4+ so we got some top academic offers but surprisingly didn't get our backup so this can be unpredictable too.

Ealing common, Notting gill
and Ealing

if you're looking for 4-18 for girls but don't want a Dulwich school, have you thought about Streatham and Clapham High School which is in Balham?

Putney High for 4-16 and then reassess. Many girls want co-ed in Sixth Form now, just a fact so I would not worry about IB at the choosing primary stage. There is also the Lycee (if your children are fluent French speakers) - some do make the Grande Ecole from there, for example.

Kings in Wimbledon does IB as well as offering A Levels and is going fully co-ed.

Wimbledon as an area which puts you in close proximity to Wimbledon High and Putney High. Both 4-18 schools and highly regarded/ranked in the area.

You have to think how selection/aggressive academically you want a school. SW London is one of the few that can still be very selection, eg Putney/wimbledon/ibstock/Emanuel. Not easy to get into and will push you hard. Not many softer schools in this area

I also suggest area like Hampstead - all the best schools are either close proximity or have school bus and lots of options to choose from.

Also For your dd- if you want a top preschool you should put their names down now (doesn’t matter if it’s south west or north west - places go fast)