Help! - which school

[birdseed]

I would appreciate any opinions on which school to send my DS to for reception.
I realise that I am very lucky to actually have a choice.

The choices are:

1. Prep school reception class, 10 mins or so drive away. He has spent the last half of term in the nursery class there and is settling well. There are small classes, but seems to get to more formal learning pretty quickly and they won't allow part-time, even for summer borns, and I am not keen on him going full time straight away.

1. Local state school - double size reception class (55+) in one room. But walking distance and I think a slower start in terms of formal work. But seemed fairly chaotic when we visited, and DS is shy and so not sure how he will get on. I would love to walk him to school rather than drive, but want to do what is best for him.

He won't be that bothered by doing formal learning, but it is me that thinks that 4 year olds should be mainly playing rather than doing more formal learning.

.....?! Any thoughts anyone?!

Oh gheez... that's a tough one.

My son went to a really bohemian prep school as a child and although private and full time, they adopted the more Scandinavian method of teaching which was not to formally educate before the age of 7, which leads them to then soak up the information more readily. It was a massive leap of faith (his Dad would say they're making hats out of your money), and to a degree I loved it, but eventually they get go of the ropes a bit and it was no longer working. Nonetheless, I still agree with it in principal.

By the time I moved him to a regular independent (which was a struggle to get him into), he had a whole load of catching up to do, but did, and as predicted, absorbed the information like a sponge.

Eventually he did end up in a state school, not the best (there are of course many more great ones that are much, much better than what we ended up with), and it was chaotic with virtually no lessons on a Monday, for no other reason than they had a supply teacher every Monday, who couldn't control the class, so it morphed into St. Trinians - literally!

I say all that to ask, are they really your only two options?

Unfortunately, yes. We lost our appeal for the other primary in the area, which is single entry.

DD is summer born & I was terribly nervous about her starting school, but as it turned out I needn't had worried. She devoured learning & begged me to ask the HT if she could stay all day after her first term.

DS was one of the eldest in his class & was terrified of full time school, but again it worked out for the best.

Both DC were in private nurseries then state primaries & it was the right choice for them. Your DS may well surprise you & just because the prep is full time & gets them into formal learning quicker, doesn't mean that isn't the right school for your child (and visa versa). Have another chat with both school HTs if that's possible & you may find that chat reassures you?

Mmmm....then if money is not an issue I would go with prep. 55+ kids in a rowdy class sounds a bit overwhelming for a small quiet child, especially coming from the setting he used to. There may well indeed be homework every day and, although to a degree it defeats the object of being in a private school, you don't 'have' to do it. I'd certainly try to arrange a meet with the schools HT like Mtteroo said and if possible, whoever will be his teacher to explain your concerns. 55+ kids in an rowdy environment, in my ds's formative years, doesn't sound like something I would choose, if I had an alternative tbh.