Needing advice on Ealing schools

[LagoMaggiore]

My husband's work has just appointed a new colleague who will be moving to the area from Italy.

He is thinking of Hanwell as a possible place to live and is looking for advice on local schools.

He has secondary and primary aged children. I don't have children in school here so I can't help him.

Can anyone give me a parent's view of St Mark's, Fielding, Elthorne Park, or other schools?

TIA

They are all pretty good in Hanwell. Oaklands and St marks both have good ofsteds and , fielding recently got an outstanding. The first two are smaller. The catchment secondary for all 3 is Elthorne and that's good too. There's also Ealing Fields a secondary free school in its first year. I don't know much about it except the kids seem to have excessive amounts of uniform. To the north of Hanwell there mayfield and Hobbayne as Primary also good and Drayton manor for secondary. Again that's good or outstanding. I don't think you can go very wrong in the area. There's also a catholic primary , a boys Catholics and a mixed catholic secondary which they may qualify for. All schools are pretty full but there's often in year movement. It's such a personal choice and I've had 2 kids in one of these primaries and because of changes in heads and government curriculum changes they had such very different experiences at the same school.

Fielding just received outstanding in its last Ofsted a month or so again. It is a great school with a wonderful big outdoor field; new play equipment, outside shaded eating. I am a fan of the headmaster too, who has been there maybe 3/4 years. He's done good things for the school. It's a very supportive school with excellent SENCO if needed. Lovely atmosphere, friendly parents. It is a big school but it doesn't feel like that somehow. Good after school clubs, sports etc.

Where the child will go will depend very much on where they live. Fielding and Little Ealing are oversubscribed, so the closer you are to either, the better. I also have some experience with Little Ealing. Really I thought it was a wonderful school with a 'village' feel. The outdoor space is small too. But a good school.

No experience yet of Elthorne but I've heard good things about it.

As previous poster mentioned; there is Mount Carmel which is Catholic and a catholic boys school nearby.

Thanks so much to all for the advice.

I will forward this thread to the family.

Does this man know that he won't be able to just pick a school for his children? He will have to make an in-year application to Ealing Council. They will allocate his children places at the nearest available school. This might not be in Hanwell.

A list of available places at primary and secondary schools across the borough are is available on the Council's website.

Yes, I've advised about the in-year application scheme.

Good to know about the list. Thanks.