Mulberry house

[Pipiks]

Hello,
We have a place for our daughter to start at Mulberry house (West Hampstead) in Sep 24, when she turns 2.
She is currently at our local, friendly and super convenient nursery where she is happy and learning a lot.

I want her to go to Mulberry to expand her mind at this formative age but not planning to send her to private after.

Has anyone done that or is it mostly an academic school prepping kids for private education? Is Mulberry worth it overall? Or should I leave her at her current nursery?

Thank you!

i wouldn’t send a child to MH unless I was going for 7+ entrance at a top prep school. The children are pushed to ensure they are able to compete for these highly competitive and academic exams so sending a child to this school then putting them in state school where they will arrive having covered a minimum of 2 years ahead in the curriculum will make for a fairly bored child. This could also then have implications for their behaviour and happiness!

Thank you @BuffyFanForever . I am not from the uk so still making sense of how the education system works. You make a fair point!

Just a note, that I am talking about attending Mulberry between 2-4 years.

I think what pp means is that even though we see it’s as a young age and not ideal to start formal education, such prep school linked nurseries will start formal education way too young as they push children to get into best schools later on. Unless you plan to keep your child in the private sector or you have concerns about her current provision, it would be better for your child to stay where they are without the unnecessary pressure

Parents pay MHS and the likes of it a lot in order to support their children in 4+ and 7+ preparation. If you don’t aim for the NLCS, Highgates and CLSGs of the world, it’s pretty much a waste of time and money given your daughter is already happy in a good nursery. Just my opinion though.

Absolutely not true that you need to aim for NLCS etc to send your child to MHS or the likes. I have experience at a school like MHS with two DC going through and there is no so called “pressure” that has been mentioned being applied from the schools itself, learning is done in a fun play based way - it’s more the parents who are putting on this pressure.

You should probably try to talk to actual current or past MHS parents to gauge their thoughts about the schools as so many people “have heard xyz” with no direct experience at these type of schools as the schools have a reputation for being a feeder school but trust me not everyone goes to a selective private by choice. Many don’t even do the 4+.

Your child will adjust easily to a new environment as many have done before. My DC switched nurseries at 2 also and completely thrived (yes there is going to be an initial few weeks adjustment period which is unavoidable but all the kids end up happy)

A good school like MHS will set a very good foundation for your child in a nurturing way. But even for the students with the lowest abilities, these schools cater for them and get the best out of them individually.

Yes most children will go to private but I don’t think that should be a consideration factor as you should focus on your child - I have a friend whose child of the same age goes to a private nursery and then state school nursery and I can really see the difference between the outcomes and what they learnt (this is academic and behavioural) compared to my DC.

Oh and beware of the tiger mums who thinks it’s a do or die situation to push their kid so hard to get into these 4+ schools including unnecessary tutoring at 2 and then blame the school when they don’t get into what they want. No school is going to turn a mediocre kid into a genius. Most parents are normal and just ignore them but you always get the few oddballs each year, poor kid! And these schools do tend to attract that kind of parents.

I would go for it if you have a spot and location isn’t an issue.

good luck