Infant/Primary Schools in Wandsworth and Lambeth

[charlottepierre]

Hello!

I'm currently working overseas and heading back to the UK in 2 years. My kids will be 5 and 3. I've been looking at schools in both Wandsworth and Lambeth. Honeywell, Belleville. Stockwell Primary and Reay stand out in these boroughs. I've read the Ofsted reports, but there's only so much these things can tell you. I'd really value the opinions of parents from these schools. What's good and what's bad?

Thanks in advance.

Don't know anything about Stockwell Primary & Reay

Henry Cavendish & Ravenstone also have good local reputations

Belleville is BIG now and has a split site - not sure if they are due to alter the admissions again or not

You will have to buy on the doorstep for Belleville or Honeywell. Even given expansion of Belleville. Google NappeyValleyNet - local website which has heaps about these schools and their admissions. If renting you have to have been at the address for 12 months before your application goes in to apply from it. Honeywell is much smaller than Belleville, and actually much better in terms of results (not that they mean everything of course). Belleville in many ways is on a par with some other local schools when it comes to actual results, but the others are rated Good, not Outstanding, so for some reason there isn't the same mad rush for places. This may change depending on how successful the new free (secondary) school on Bolingbroke Grove turns out to be as Falconbrook and HighView are also to be feeders (as well as B and H) which may attract a more middle class crowd to those schools as well. Wix might also be worth a look. The bilingual stream looks really interesting (but places like gold dust) - people say that the whole school has massively improved since the introduction of bilingual stream. Sorry I don't have personal experience of any of these - but am also in research mode for my 2 DCs.

Well done you for being so organised already... most people seem to leave it all to the last minute! You might be interested in our new state primary school in Wandsworth.

It is actually a Jewish faith school, but it will be 50 / 50 Jewish children and children from the local community. My daughter currently attends a nursery that is similar in Wimbledon and I have to say it is the most exceptional nursery you could ever hope for. This is why the schools project came about because so many of the graduating parents were heartbroken that there wasn't a school with the same ethos to send our kids to!

At this stage we are well on our way to our final free school application so if you are at all interested we would be really grateful if you would register your interest at www.sljps.org.uk/Register.html This is all private data which will in no way affect any future school applications that you make.

Please feel free to ask me any questions that you have.
Mumptious

Thanks all. Lots of food for thought. I'll follow up on nappy valley and about mumptious' recommendation. One further question - I know nothing much about the ofsted gradings. What really is the difference between a "good" and an "outstanding??