Reception/primary schools West Hampstead NW6

[Hpbp]

Hi, i am completely at a lost when it comes to look for school for my DS, 3.5yo now. The good state schools are CofE, we are Catholic. Lots of private schools but where do i start ? Need your guidance. Thanks

Hmm, well Emmanuel will have non church places as of this year (if you don't mind faith schools) but I would expect you'll have to live very close by to get one. There is Beckford, meant to be excellent for early years and when I lived round there I knew a few parents who were very happy with it

ifink, thanks for your input. Emmanuel is on my list. But I am confused about Beckford, the Ofsted report is not great but feedback from parents is... weird, is it not ?

Hi, obviously Beckford has the 'harder', more uphill job....lots of children with english as a second language, bigger, no new building (now) etc - Emmanuel is very much the middle class school with lots of very educated/engaged parents (I say that in the nicest way and not as any kind of dig, just it's overall profile is certainly not the same as Beckford's) - lots of Emmanuel parents send their children to Beckford nursery which they really like and then move them for reception. When I did my tours I was more impressed by the Beckford headmistress than the Emmanuel one in terms of approach, forward thinking etc. Go see it! Emmanuel is certainly cosier as it's smaller (although will get bigger) and lots of parents already know each other from church which really helps with it's family feel. Hearsay (I have nothing to back this up) is that Beckford is great for 'early years' - I think people mean upto year 2, not sure what the position is thereafter. HTH

You could try the Maria Montessori Primary School at 26 Lyndhurst Gardens, NW3. Your child will probably need to go to the pre-school first. There is one in West Hampstead as well as in Belsize Park

Hbpb, how old is your little one? Boy or girl?
Emmanuel is lovely - my son goes there, it'll be interesting to see this year what the non church attending catchment area is!
I though Beckford was okay, it was just some of the other parents that put me off and the slight smell of urine!

Hello, thank you for your replies. Karoleann, My little boy is now 3 year and 5 months, will be almost 4 in sept as he was born at the end of Oct 2008. I will try Emmanuel, i have not seen Beckford yet but i will, in the light of what ifink felt. I have heard a lot of montessori in hampstead, i have looked at the one in west hampstead and it will also be a possibility, twodogs. Thanks again.

We've just heard from school that next year will be a double intake ie two classes of 30, the 30 will all be community places. Whether they'll do it again next year?

St Luke's in kidder pore ave is worth a look too - the new free school.

Anymore thoughts ? How about state schools in NW3? Thank you. I am seeing the schools one by one from end of April in NW6, wish me luck....

St Agnes is a very good catholic school
Emmanuel is very good have 10 local places, and if you go the church even it is catholic you could still go for a church of england and Emmanuel is very high church and one of the clergy is a catholic female. Fitzjohns, New End are very good non-church schools but don't appear to have the social problems and poor discipline that Beckford seems to struggle with. Don't forget St. Lukes that also seemed like a nice school when we looked round, places given out on locality.

Depending on where you live in West Hampstead, you might look at Cricklewood schools like St. Agnes(Catholic) or All Saints (CofE). Our son is in reception at All Saints and we are very happy with it. Excellent staff, nice big school yard and nice families. About half the students come from the church so there is space for the community.

Hi there KatieMcG! Just wondered whether you could tell me a little more about All Saints? We had a look round and it was on our application list as it's close, but not my first choice as it finshes at 3:30pm and I work full time, so would prefer a school that has some kind of after-school club or facility like Emmanuel and Beckford do. However, as the other schools are going to be over-subscribed we may well end up getting All Saints due to distance. Could you let me know what good/bad points it has? I'd love to know more. Thanks! Also, does anyone have experience of St Luke's?

Sorry, also meant to ask whether you have an advice on how to find a child minder/somebody to pick up my child from school if we do get All Saints as both my husband and I have full time jobs. I imagine child minders who want this kind of work are very booked up in advance and not that easy to get... Could you let me know (if you work) how you handle it? I'm a bit worried about how we'll cope. Thanks!

I've only just seen this. All Saints works with the after school club at Childs Hill School. The staff from there walk the kids to the centre. I think latest collection is 6.30PM. There are also lots of before and after school clubs.
The school staff are fabulous. I don't really have anything negative to say. Seems to always be a good place for my son.

Ahhh Emannuel school my 2 eldest went there, was a great school back then. I met some lovely people there too