Hill House gets 'inadequate' OFSTED report

[LocalEditorKensingtonChelsea]

This article from today's Guardian might interest some of you.

I'm not blaming the parents for an Ofsted report, merely pointing out that we all have a choice. If a parent is paying for a child to go to a school and the parent is unhappy with what is happening within that school, surely they would find a school more suiting to their expectations? Why waste your money when it could be used for a better level of education, health and safety etc elsewhere. Maybe I'm the fool for choosing HH and more the fool for being extremely happy with it!

It's all about education. That is all that matters. From what I can ascertain from the pupils I have tutored, the teachers are dedicated but there is so much pressure from on high to prepare these children for 11+, they have to put the emphasis on that or they will lose business...hence the need for tutors.

yes everyone has a a choice (actually not everyone does but in general they do) , but many of the parents will not know of these failings in child safety until it is perhaps too late and it is their child affected. Or may not be aware the teachers receive no support or ongoing training. It may take time for a true picture of a school to become apparent to a parent. Just because their child is there, it is not approval for the lack of safety/standards, etc.
And yes the parent can then go and find another school, but surely it's preferable that the issues at the school are highlighted and dealt with, at least for the sake of the children to come.

Hear hear Marcella88! Loved reading your post and completely agree about happy children and this, after all, is what is important for them to be able to flourish.
I have booked my child onto kings tutor's may half term revision course on flood street (it focuses on 11+ or 13+). kingstutors.co.uk/what-we-do/courses/13-common-entrance-may-half-term-revision-course-2015/
Is anyone else thinking about doing this or has your child done this course before? Would love to know how it went if so.

Dear Hen1818 I wish I could help you but my daughter did not attend any revision course for her 11+…..
And dear licious, I do not really understand why you have taken this report so personally: it is quite clear that you do have any children at HH so why so upset? And why all the talk about it being too late and children being affected, it is not gracious at all and quite unnerving for a parent.

I'm sorry I don't understand why you say I am not gracious and that it is unnerving for parents? What do you mean not gracious? Do you mean rude? And do you mean it's clear I DON'T have children at HH or I DO? I wasn't sure if that was a typo.
I feel very concerned about the school as Ofsted have unearthed some very worrying information. I don't mean to be rude.

The main question, as far as I'm concerned, is not what % of HH pupils get tutored compared to other schools. Ofsted report make no mentioning of tutoring. The main questions as far as I'm concerned surround the lack of due attention to the safety and welfare of the children, the lack of leadership, the lack of support/ongoing training for teachers, etc.

I don't have children at HH. I have children at an Outstanding state primary and the vast majority of kids are tutored because the school is really rubbish. Its Ofsted report is glowing.

I wouldn't rely on anything Ofsted says.

Why is an indy prep being inspected by Ofsted?

I live in Surrey and know children in both local state and prep schools who are trying to get into either the highly, highly selective few local grammar schools, the well regarded selective independent secondaries (where they are competing with all the kids coming out of south London) or the one local state school that has an entrance exam for non catchment children. They ALL (talking entire year or all not just going to bog standard state comp) - ALL ALL ALL! have tutoring to pass these exams at either 10+ or 11+.

I know nothing about this school but the tutoring is a non story. Unless we are talking about the story of how this generation of kids have been failed by successive governments and are provided with such a terrible choice of secondary education that parents of any with vague academic aspirations feel they have to cover their bases with tutoring, rightly or wrongly, to try and get them into a better secondary school. But that is not the story of this school, its a (London and Surrey?) crisis of confidence.

I thought ofsted could only inspect private schools in the Early Years areas so up to Y1 only? ISI take over after that. So this is not a whole school inspection right?

We removed our child from Hill House last year after a year at the school. The criticisms made by are OFSTED are right and will hopefully bring about much needed change.

We were shocked by our experience at HH, it maybe a good school if nothing goes wrong but if there are any problems the head staff close down on you and don't want to know, in fact they shout at you and turn the situation around on you, even going as far as putting us parents down! There are no procedures in place in regards to any complaint issues you may have, there is no rule book at Hill House or any complaints procedures whatsoever, what is written on the website in regards to any procedures being in place is totally untrue.

It wasn't just us either, I met a lot of shocked, disappointed angry parents at this school who feel very let down by the way its run. Don't be impressed by what its reputation may used to have been and the cheap school fees, it's cheap for a very good reason (to get in as many children as possible, bit like what Ryanair does but a school instead).

I think you are wrong about the tutoring
At the prep schools I know well (Newton Prep, Eaton House etc...) hardly any kids have tutors. They don't need to because the schools prepare them.

Hi everybody, I have been following this thread with a LOT of interest since I registered my DS to join in September.
It was a tough decision for us to take since our DD attends another local independent, but we did not want him to go through 7+ or 8+ hence the decision.
I have heard so many friends raving about HH, it is almost an institution so the report came as a bit of a shock. But after much discussion and having again consulted with people who actually know the school DH and I have decided to stick to our guns and send him there. We value happiness and a sensible approach to education above all and that is what HH apparently is all about.
BTW CaptainNjork are you absolutely sure that at Eaton House hardly any kids have tutors? It is quite a funny statement…..

why are ofsted inspecting an independent prep school?

My dd spent 7 happy years at Hill House and our experience was mainly positive. However, health and safety at the school needs to be addressed as anyone can walk into the school and there appears to be no security in some of the buildings. The teaching was good when dd was there and she could read well beyond her years from an early age and the whole class knew all of their times tables off by heart by the age of 7.

Dd now attends one of the best girls schools in London and achieved 10 A* at GSCE last year.

Hill House teach the children how to study by themselves and instil a strong work ethic. I think the ofsted report was unfair and failed to highlight the best aspects of the school. Hill House certainly did not deserve the lowest scores for teaching and leadership.

Actually quite telling that the HH parents find the idea of not having a tutor so unbelievable.

Here is the policy on it from my DD's school. They are serious about tutors having to be revealed to destination schools. No tutoring goes on unless school have advised for a SEN or particular weakness. Results are stellar compared to HH.

"TUTORING
All school x girls have a very full programme of academic work and we do not generally consider it is necessary or advisable for them to receive any extra tuition. If, however, we ourselves have identified a particular area of weakness, we would be in touch with you immediately to discuss things and make recommendations. For the vast majority of our girls though, we strongly believe that tutoring:
? Blurs our perception of a girl’s abilities (she might do brilliantly on a particular paper because it has
just been done with the tutor)
? Gives a girl even more work at a time when they are already at full stretch
? Gives less time for things like reading (very important for English), simply relaxing (they do need to do this), observing life and people around them, questioning, discussing, pursuing hobbies or just using some imagination
? Gives less time for spending time, talking to and learning from you
? Often involves just ‘doing more papers’ or drilling rather than anything more constructive
? Many senior schools are very good at spotting the ‘tutored girl’ and in some cases are even able to identify a particular tutor’s style. This will NOT add to your daughter’s chances!
Finally, irrespective of their possibly stellar CVs, most tutors are simply not good enough! All schools want girls who are individual, with their own backgrounds, ideas, interests, quirks and differences to contribute to their community. This will never be achieved by coaching. Many parents, who have wisely resisted the prevailing mood, panic when they hear that other girls are being tutored and it takes a strong character to hold firm. But please consider the impact on your daughter and the fact that we have 60 years of experience in preparing girls for these exams. Many senior schools will also ask you or us point blank whether or not a girl has been tutored."

By contrast I gather a lot of HH teachers have a healthy sideline in tutoring it's own pupils after school.

Yes many many hh teachers do seem to have a healthy sideline tutoring their own pupils.

I'd think prospective parents would fund it more useful to speak to those hh parents who have encountered serious difficulties with the school.

There is a definite lack of leadership and interest from the owners in the children's progress it seems.

A huge number of children receive extra tuition to get into secondary school and there is nothing wrong in wanting to give your child the best possible chance.

For those criticising Hill House for sending a large number to Emmanuel this year need to look at the Hill House website leavers destination page where you will see that over the last 5 years the majority of children have entered the more competitive schools in London/country boarding schools.

Yes Rowena the results definitely used to be good but the decline in the last few years would concern me if I had kids there.

it's not entirely true that Hill House is non-selective. It is at the 4+ level but in recent years it has been oversubscribed and any occasional places that came up along the way in Y2 / Y3 etc. were selective, you could have up to 5 candidates for one place opening up and they would select via assessment.

So you might have had children with weak English joining in Reception, but they would become fluent over the years, whereas in higher years only children doing well already would be selected, and some weaker ones would leave (HH was never known to be a great place for those who struggle with learning difficulties etc.). So if you look at 11+/13+ results, the children who end up taking those exams are still only a selection of those who started out at the school.

I agree though that for a broadly non-selective school, the results are quite good (though declining in recent years, as London Day schools have become more competitive). And yes, no tutoring at Eaton House is a very funny comment! Whoever said that clearly has no idea.