Single sex prep schools in Sevenoaks

[DeboDevonshire]

Hi ladies,
We are moving to Sevenoaks this summer from South West London. We have places at both Wally Hall and The Granville for our 3 year old DD, and a place at New Beacon and Solefield for our 5 year old boy. I was wondering if anyone had any experiences of these schools; I have visited them all myself, but as I don't know anyone in the area I am not sure what the local perspective is on these. Many thanks, Debo.

I am a nanny ,I look after a girl who is at The Granville and boys at New Beacon .I think in Seven oaks you will always find people who are keen on one or the other schools that you have put your children s names down for .The children I look after are doing very well at the schools that they are at ,they are both popular schools ,they have good results most boys going on to private schools such as Sevenoaks and Tonbridge and grammar schools in Tonbridge such as Judd .The mother of the girl I look after recently moved her daughter from another private school in the Sevenoaks area to The Granville and she is very pleased with how her daughter is getting on.I find that when parents go around these schools they all seem to have a feeling at the visit which they prefer .I have done the school run at Solefield and at Wally Hall but not for some years so I cannot give you up to date knowledge on these .

Hi Debo, I don't have children at prep school yet but I've heard the following from other parents:

The Granville - good results, very academically focused, quite a yummy mummy "set", some people have said the Mum's are a bit snooty (not my words, I only know one Mum whose daughter goes there and she's lovely).

New Beacon - very results orientated, they expect their boys to be good at something (can be sports or academic, told to me by a Dad at the school). Really push the boys there to do their best. More focused on steering boys to public schools, rather than the 11+ and grammar. Great record of getting boys into Tonbridge and Sevenoaks schools.

Solefields - small school, very family feel, parents really rate it as it's small, friendly and very focused on getting the best out of the child. The parents are supposed to be friendly. People say it's not the academic "hot house" of New Beacon though.

Don't know much about Wally Hall I'm afraid.

Hope that helps some, I have been doing my research too. We were considering a single sex school but have decided to go for mixed, either Sevenoaks prep or St Michael's.

I agree with marathon mama especially the part about new beacon and solefields although it is a few years since I looking after a child who went there .I`ve found most of the Granville mums to be friendly towards me [The Nanny]At any of these schools you find people whe are friendly and some who are a little shall we use that word snooty.
On a side note I also look after a boy and girl at St michaels the parents are very down to earth and friendly there.There is also the big advantage of just one school run .

Both my daughters go to Wally Hall and are enjoying it! All the state and private schools are good schools in Sevenoaks. It just depend's on personal preference and what is best suited for your child, academic, sport, creativity etc...