Private schools 3 - 18yrs up to 1 hour from London

[JoanneEmily]

Hi there,
we are planning to move south as my husband will more than likely be taking up a position in London within the next year. Can anyone let me know of any private schools for my DD that take them right up to the age of 18?

She would be going into year 4 and we really want somewhere she can stay without having to move to another senior school. Any ideas? Hubby doesn't want to travel more than an hour really to London.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks

Have you checked here . Also there are several GDST schools in outer London and the Home Counties which go from 3-18

Hi, We are in Mid Sussex, commuter land, 1Hr train to London. Two choices here that stand out are Hurstpierpoint College and Ardingly College. Both very good. If I think of any others I'll come back.

Thanks so much for the suggestions so far. I am already starting to worry that we won't be able to get a place as we will be looking for year 4 (2011 start) and I guess it's just luck as to whether the school has a space.

Also, many curriculums in England seem to have French from year 2/3 but the school my DD is at starts with German so DS won't have any french at all! Oh dear...

Bearwood College just south of Reading. I don't know anything about the school, but it's a nice area to live in and about 1h from Lobdon (depending on time of day and where you're going to in London).

This is another school, in Ascot, where a friend sends her dds.

I used to live in Croydon just round the corner from Croham Hurst School. Having just had a look at their website I see that they have merged with Old Palace which used to be considered one of the best girl's schools in Croydon.

Commuting by train from East Croydon to Victoria takes about 15 - 20 minutes.

Guildford High School, used to do German from 4.

Think it is more common to start German/Spanish from Year 7. I don't think having missed a year or two of introductory French would be a big obstacle tbh - it is often only one lesson a week - and some pupils will enter at 11+ with minimal French.

Do you want single sex, academic or more balanced. Get the good schools guide or use their internet site - you will see that your list of possibilities is very large indeed.

And also - do you definitely want to be out of London? There's JAGS and Alleyns in Dulwich (depending on where your DH works still a commute involved), both of which go to 18. I think with JAGS you join JAPS - the prep bit - and although acceptance to JAGS is highly likely, it's not guaranteed. Both are notoriously selective, so probably only suitable if your DD has an academic bent.

an hour's travelling time would encompass a lot of London suburbs too (depending on where exactly your dh works), which makes the number of possibilities even bigger!

Which mainline station would your DH be commuting into?

In West Berkshire 1 hour on train from Paddington or if you live in North Hants 45 mins Basingstoke to Waterloo here we have several good girls schools from 3 to 18 years here within easy distance The Abbey in Reading, St Gabriel's in Newbury and then I think St Helens and St Catherine's is 7 to 18 years. None of these schools are completely over subscribed and they all have different benefits.
DD is at St Gabriels they do French from Nursery, start Mandarin at year 1. At the start of Year 3 they start the St Gabriels modern languages course which will give them a good grounding in French, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin Chinese by the end of year 7 and they choose two of the eight to study in year 8 and 9 in more depth. German is offered at GCSE and A-level.

What's your view on The Abbey out of interest and does it take boys in prep? Thnks.

As far as I am aware the Abbey is a completely all girls school.
A little girl has just moved from the Abbey to DDs class (going into Year 2) and her mother has made two comments about differences between the Abbey and St gabs firstly that the girls at St gabs seem to run around more at play time and secondly that St gabs places more emphasis on creativity in writing and worries about neat hand writing, spelling and grammer after, where as the Abbey worries about hand writing, spelling and grammer first and creativity after.
Final thing to bear in mind with the Abbey's results is I know from my business partner's experience that girls whose results will damage the Abbeys position are actively discouraged from entering public exams.
But it is horses for courses.

Hi everyone and thanks so much for your input so far. It's so useful and I really appreciate it.

Mmeredwhiteandblueberry - I think the station closest to DH's work will be Victoria.

We are open minded about co-ed or all girls. Currently at co-ed but I would also be happy with all girls too so any suggestions are really helpful!

Thanks again and keep any more ideas coming!! It's been so interesting looking at all your suggestions. I was starting to panic that all the schools would be full and we wouldn't be able to find a place. Feel a bit calmer now.

Don't worry, you'll be able to find a place :)

You are probably looking at east Surrey (from Leatherhead eastwards and parts of Kent), not too far outside the M25.

My advice would be to look at the train services from Victoria and note the towns that are served. Next, go to www.isc.org.uk and do a school search.

MmeRedWhiteandBlueberry that's a great suggestion I will do that tonight! Thanks again.

I would look at the GDST schools as well - so Sutton High, Croydon High etc and then round to Bromley.

What about Felsted School in Essex, my kids are there, it is boarding and day and goes from reception to 18

Ardingly fast train service from Haywards Heath

South West Surrey very, very, good for Girls Schools, but then you would be going into Waterloo. Good range for abilities too, from high performing to nurturing, some offer boarding too. Not all are 3-18, but I don't think that should limit you. Don't discount some of the smaller pre-prep private schools, which feed in to the local independent secondaries. There always seems to be enough places to go round.

What kind of place do you actually want to live in? London suburb? Further afield? The high speed train in Kent means you could go to Canterbury which is 56 minutes into London (Kings school for example if you want mixed).