Does anyone send their DD or know of parents of Sarum Hall or Abercorn School

[Gidleigh]

basically need to decide between these 2 schools and would appreciate any info from parents.

DD1 went to Abercorn for two years until we decided we couldn't afford north London fees and moved. Has a good friend who still goes there and friend's mother seems happy. School has (had) v large proportion expats and quite a high turnover of pupils, but I understand that it is quite good at getting the one's who remain into good secondaries. And of course there is the split site arrangement - although I loved the location of the nursery/infants dept. The nursery has (had) a lot of children who then went to the more traditional preps in the area, including Sarum Hall. I heard that the latter interviews parents as well as child, which always rather puts me off (as a friend put it, if a school insisted on formally interviewing me to secure a place for my 4 year old I would go covered in woad and tell them I was the king of the Druids) - but then that's just one opinion - in other words I thought SH sounded a bit stuffy. But it's horses for courses. Sadly, as I say, general consensus was that fees in that part of London were higher than any other area - oh and that the school's on Fitzjohn's Ave were to be avoided at all costs as being impossible to access.

Thanks bellissima, not being from England originally, I thought the parent interviews were over the top too. My initial concern with Abercorn was the turnover. I was concerned about the constant turnover of pupils and generally not having long term friendships.
I also have been warned on the Fitzjohn's schools. especially one with a requirement of school blazer in excess of £100 was bonkers!

May I ask which area you have moved too? How are the schools?

We moved out of London - to Bucks, where prep school fees are (at least) £1000 a term lower. On the other hand I miss St John's Wood HS!

Yes the turnover is definitely the main downside of Abercorn - and of course we contributed to that! There do seem to be a few core names remaining in the class though. And I think London preps in general have some turnover, and in particular children leaving to join the 'junior school' (ie Year 3) of schools which go right through to 18 (ie South Hampstead in that area).

Shame a SH parent hasn't responded - to give you the 'other side'. You could always ask each directly which senior schools they feed to (if not in the prospectuses). Depending on your interest - ie boarding or London day - that might be useful.

We have 2 children at Abercorn (the third just moved this year to another school) and we have been extremely happy. There isn't too much turnover before the end of year 2, and the staff has barely changed in the 4 years we've had children there. My 2 older ones still have the same core group of (lovely) friends they had 3 years ago. The class sizes are small , especially from year 4 on, and the education is lovely and broad. They do swimming every week all year for example which is not something you find everywhere. The music department is also excellent. I always found communication from the school to be thorough, and they seem to be able to teach a really wide range of abilities within the one class. Especially in the last couple of years, the track record in getting kids into good schools at 11+ and 13+ has been very good. We came from outside the UK and feel very lucky to have found Abercorn. If you want anymore insights, I'm happy to email with you.

Thanks sobeda, your comments are very helpful. We used to know a couple who sent two of their children to abercorn but they have since moved back to Swiss so couln't really ask what is happending now at the school.

Hi there- we are moving to london soon, totally gone haywire searching for schools near St johnswood area, daughter who is 9 got admission in sarum hall, but not sure about it...any reviews.
My son is 4 i'm loking for a school for him as well....any sugggestions?
Any other good schools you can recommend for both.

I know this is late .. but sarum hall is the most amazing school! I went there a while back and my dd is there and next dd is down for it! It is so comfortable, not at all stuffy and just generally a happy school!

i've heard great things about both schools from local parents. i think sarum hall is girls only and abercorn co-ed? when i was checking North London Schools, I found a lot of very positive reviews of Abercorn here:
Abercorn parent reviews

OP, which school did you end up going for? are you happy with your choice?

wow, this post is a while ago. We decided on Sarum Hall as I liked the new head and the school seemed well organised. I thought the teachers at Abercorn were good too but I didn't like the high turnover of pupils. It almost seems a significant group of parents are looking to upgrade to better schools. The nursery seems very popular but a large percentage do leave for Hampstead preps. Hope this helps

thanks for the update, Gidleigh. Are you happy with Sarum Hall now?

So far yes. And she seems happy too