St Pauls in Dorking or Belmont prep in Holmbury St Mary

[coxyloxy123]

Hi - does anyone have experience of either of these schools?

I am a bit concerned about class sizes of 30 at St Pauls and considering Belmont - but that seems a bit too small (class sizes around 10)...

Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) of either of these?

Thank you!

I worked locally and always thought st paul's had a good rep. More kids means more friendship choices over the years and more staff. What if DC doesn't get along with the nine others there? its a long 5 years if that is the case.

It all depends on how they arrange the staff they have. I would recommend going round both and seeing how they feel to you...you really can't beat gut feeling.

Hi, I'm sorry if this response is too late to the thread as I have only just joined mumsnet and just looked to see if there was anything written about Belmont In Holmbury St Mary. My son is there in year 1, having been through the nursery since he was two,and I think it is a fantastic school. Very caring and friendly with a fantastic outdoors-y attitide. I have heard people say that it is not very academic, but this definitely isn't the case any more (may have been so under the old headmaster 5 or 6 years ago) - they get lots of scholarships to senior schools every year. I'm certainly very impressed with how much my son is learning in year one. I can't comment on St Pauls as I have no experience of the school but when the children are so young I am really happy to have smaller classes of 10 or 12 as I would think this helps their learning. Would be interested to know if anyone else has any thoughts on Belmont or other local prep schools. Always interesting to hear others' experiences.

I'm concerned that st Paul's is 'very' religious? Is this true.?

Belmont and St Paul's are both schools with a strong christian C of E ethos. St Paul's School has fairly strong links to St Paul's Church. However plenty of people send their children there who go to other churches or no church at all.

Having been round most of the schools in the Dorking area, the one we felt was "very religious" was St Joseph's (catholic).

If you don't want a religious school, Powell Corderoy would be your best option.

We had to leave St Paul's after reception to move north. I could not fault St Pauls as a state school. Lovely children good discipline and he had a very good start in reading, writing... he still really misses it. My background is prep school so I understand small class sizes but the colour and social mix is beneficial too. It has an ambitious if a little too safe headmistress who expects parental support...essential in early years. Powell and St Jos very good and happy schools...

Thanks both for your advice. We did a tour and apart from a lot of crosses everywhere, as a school it seemed lovely