Private schools? Keble prep or St. John's school or Salcombe prep??? Please help us!!! or Salcombe prep ??? Please help!!!l or Salcombe (1 Post)

[SunshineH78]

We have 3 offers on the choosen private schools for our son, KEBLE prep for boys in winchmore hill, SALCOMBE in southgate and St. JOHN's prep school in Pottersbar Ridgeway. It s difficult to decide between those. Has someone got any experience with the above named private schools????? Or has heart anything good or bad??? Please help us!!!

Hi I too have been looking at salcombe prep and have been told exactly the same points that skiphop has highlighted, which has worried me. I have heard it from two sources now. However they seem to have a lot of children going to top grammars and other private schools.
Any mums out there from Salcombe, I would like to know more. Now I am looking at vita et pax instead. Does anyone have information about it?.

I didn't look at Salcombe so can't comment.

Keble we loved. It felt very nurturing and our son loved the headmaster immediately and would only do the tour walking right next to him. It was our second choice because although I loved the feel, it felt slightly too small and they didn't have their own sports field.

St Johns... Well that one is a bit like marmite. You either loved it or didn't. I know parents who took their kids out e.g. Being told not to turn up for exams because of bad grades etc. But I also know a couple of families who swear by her methods and have all their kids in the school. You will have to make your own judgements on that.

A whole bunch of kids from my son's nursery went to Vita Et Pax and they all love it and are thriving. I didn't look at it as we are not religious
but I know families in there who aren't. Because they are quite small, I think the parents and kids all form quite nice bonds with each other. I
think they had 10 kids last year? And that meant 2 teachers divided
among them so A LOT of personal attention. A bit like Keble which to
me, was a bit small but it is a selling point for lots of parents there!

Hope this helps!

Thanks Jubato for your info. Do you know if Vita et pax is successful at preparing children for the 11+ and how many get grammar school places.?Also I thought that the classes were about 24 to a class which I thought was similar to state school and this did concern me. How can they adequately provide for 24 children?

Sorry, I don't know the statistical info as we didn't look at Vita ourselves. I think it is ranked 70 or so in that Times league thingy...not too sure.

Re class sizes, I can only go by what I'm told. My guess is perhaps they have the ability or wish to cater to 24 per class but whether or not the school actually fills up to capacity is another matter. With the credit crunch, I think quite a few of the smaller independent schools around here didnt fill up last year. Or maybe I just misunderstood what my friend meant...

It seems to be quite popular with the families from my son's nursery. We had about 5 there last year and there're 3-5 again this year- a couple of them my son really enjoys playing with. I'm starting to doubt myself for not looking at it. I think Vita is packed lunches? I might be wrong!! That's my excuse anyways!!

I wouldn't get too tied up on ranking etc a good prep can prepare for 11+.Chose a nurturing, supportive environment that suits you and your child personality,abilities. Keble, has placed into Habs, St Pauls, City boys

I have heard good things of Vita too.

The only ones I know people have visited and not liked are Salcombe and Norfolk House

Given the situation of Salcombe at the moment I would avoid - Four head teachers in five years, something is wrong. There was talk of some parents suing the school and withholding fees.

Sunshine, have you been to the open day etc?

I'm going soon and this thread makes me slightly worried! I wonder if anyone on here is a salcombe parent?

SkipHop - not sure where you're getting your information on Salcombe! They've had the same head for the past two years. She's doing an amazing job at the school - you only have to go there to see it!

The fact that most of the years are now full show's how popular the school is.

I don't understand why you would want to bad mouth a very good school with very good teachers, pupils, parents and results!?!

Salcombe 4 head teachers since 2005.
Mr Guha left 2005 after 9 years
Mr Floyd Steadman 2005- 2006
Mr Bernie Curzon 2006- 2009
Mrs Christina Leach 2009-Present

Do also check the website for list of Head teachers since 2005

Mrs Leach HT arrived 2009,lots of staff changes and unhappy parents. lots of upheaval.also junior school on separate site so bit estranged from "big school". Mrs Leach is a New Zealander brought in by Cognita as new Head Teacher after various problems at Salcombe. She had been out of teaching working in human resources and then returned to teaching. This much she told me.

Some parents did leave, some did not - but all of this is factual account

I am not trying to be provocative but 2005-2009 3 head teachers is a lot. Now if you are a happy parent,then super. I do not seek to diminish that - But on a thread asking other parents opinion I have given mine. Other posters, have said they have heard similar of Salcombe too.Now, I do not know why my post was deleted it was not provocative,nor did I seek to upset anyone.

Hi

My son is six, at St Johns, and is so happy and doing really well.
We moved him from another local school because he was really miserable. St Johns have been brilliant in settling him in but also getting up to speed with the rest of the class.

However I do agree with the Jubato people seem to love it or hate it.

One thing I do notice is that people do seem to move their children around more so if you do start one school and you dont like it I'm guessing its not the end of the world to change

My Mum was a teacher at Keble many years ago, so I know it was great then and I still hear good things
I don't know anyone that has children at Salcombe so can't comment

Hope this helps, good luck with your decision - we haven't regretted ours only that we didn't move him sooner

Hi

I'm looking for a prep school for my son for Reception 2012 entry. Have a friend who also moved her son from a local state school to St Johns and raves about it. So far, have only perused the website and heard/read all the various anecdotes about the school and, to be honest, had ruled it out, but have decided to at least visit it and have written to them asking about open day info etc. Was particularly pleased to hear today that they teach French from Reception. not because I am some nightmare pushy mum but because DS has been learning French at his nursery (had no idea that they would be doing this when I chose it) and he loves it and seems to be picking it up pretty quickly, so was planning on looking into a club for him anyway....

Do you know where leavers go onto if they dont continue to the senior school?

Also went to see Keble, where a number of my friends send their boys. Liked it but didnt love it. Attended the Lochinver open day which I loved. Think would be perfect for DS, but live in Bush Hill Park and dont know if I am taking leave of my senses in considering the commute (DS is an only as well so would like him to have local friends). Was considering moving to Potters Bar/Cuffley a little while ago, so even if commute not possible, it is still a strong maybe.....

Hi Sweetmelody. I'm in Bush Hill Park and my DS starts at Lochinver this Sept. We did/are considering moving to Potters Bar/Cuffley as well but not going to make any moves till I'm sure DS is doing well at the school. We should have lunch

The commute is a bit daunting, but really liked the school so decided to go for it. I figure if I go up Crewe's Hill, it'll be quiet and traffic-less, unlike the Ridgeway.

Re French: I did ask Jeremy Gear why they didn't offer it from Reception and he said they've employed someone to do a study on this and came to the conclusion that it didn't benefit the children all that much to start from reception as they were just parroting the teacher--something along those lines.

Re St Johns: When you got your information pack, didn't it come with a list of schools that they fed into that year? I could've sworn I did but memory of a sieve so might be wrong.

Its official - I'm not alone in taking leave of my senses!!

What a small world, Jubato. Would love to take this offline. PM me? Interesting view on the route. Have you managed to do a rush hour dry run? Would you go along Baker Street to go up Crewe's Hill? I know someone who leaves at 7.20 (so probably beating the worst of the traffic) and the journey takes them 20 mins (25 max).

Funny that you asked Jeremy Gear about doing French from Reception. I did the tour with my Mum and she asked the French teacher the same question. She looked at us blankly but did say it might be something the school would consider in the future. His comment doesn't make sense when you consider the ease with which children become bilingual, compared with adults??

Only requested the St John's prospectus today so hopefully find out more when I get it.

The only 2 early morning runs I've done were both for our 9am appointments at the school. I left at 8:30 and it took me 25 mins.

My son goes to nursery on the Ridgeway-- traffic is horrendous till past Chase Farm starting from about 8am. But if you leave before 8, it's smooth sailing. So, might be an option going that way early, early morning.

The boys are such early risers, I'm not too worried about getting out the house on time. Been up since 5.30 today... weep

Hi Again, When we went to see St Johns they mentioned that many of the children stay for the secondary school, though some do go onto private schools in the area. I do remember being really impressed that a good percentage had got places at QE Boys and Dame Alice Owen.
Now we are there it does feel natural just to stay there

Sweetmelody and Juato....have your sons started Lochinver? we have a place for Sept 2012 but dreading the commute (we in Finchley) and very close to sticking to our local state!

St Johns... Well that one is a bit like marmite, you either love it or hate it, in our case we love it. My two children go to St johns, one is in the Prep School and the other one is in the Senior School, they are happy children.
St Johns is a very academic School, your child has to be prepared for hard work all year round, but at the end they get high results.

Hello

Let me tell you that I am never going to recommend this school to any of my friends , family or colleagues and it takes a lot for me to do this .

Today was the last day of my son's sojourn in Salcombe. We came in year 3 from a state primary. We came for the perceived good pastoral care and small class sizes and great 11 plus preparation.

Obviously we came from the state sector and we thought that because it was a prep school , our work was done . But sadly this is not the case ...

Today out of the 2 classes of 15 children , only one got into QE, 2 in Henrietta Barnet, 1 in Latymer and 2 in DAO... This is a total 6 children out of 30 kids giving a success rate of 20 % to grammer schools which was very low .

The teachers have been obstructive and resistant to hearing any feedback regarding one's own child . I am not alone in this .. There are many who feel this except a handful few.

You only succeed in Salcombe if you are there from Pre Prep or you are in the PTA or you are close to the head.

My boy was so self confident when he first came to this school but he is unsure of his abilities because this school has constantly put him down . He has no self esteem and cannot stand up or even talk to the teachers to tell his side of the story as he is so scared that he will be reprimanded.

We have constantly taken up these issues with the school but have not been listened to.

Zain 1969 what a bitter and sad posts you have been spreading across different threads on mumsnet and other websites. You are of course entitled to your opinion but such bias is hardly fair on a school which received Outstanding in all areas only last year?
I have had all of my children go through Salcombe across many years and you are not describing my experience at all. SPS always had amazing pastoral care, small class sizes and most importantly teachers that care.
However, it was not for me to give teacher's feedback on my children - this was their job and one they did very very well!
Your statistics are also sadly misleading. You describe only destinations the children are taking NOT offers made. I know for a fact that many students received offers to state selectives but declined these in favour of Independent schools, as did my own family.
I am not close to the current Head, nor on the PTA and feel awfully sad for any parent who departs SPS with such a bitter attitude. You paid for 4 years and what a shame this is how you feel. You claim this is a school which 'constantly put your child down' ? I question if this were really the case, why did you stay for the 4 years? Does this really ring true? North London has an array of schools you could have moved to.
Maybe take time before moving onto new pastures to reflect and think about the positives rather than erode memories that your child has of his/her time at SPS. I know that my children loved their experience - have made life-long friends and still chuckle over memories made - whether in France, the plays, the teachers they had... Wishing you a less bitter future!