Salcombe prep school - Southgate

[pickle346]

Hi,
Does anyone have any views on above school at all? We are moving to the area, so would like to gauge a few opinions! It is the lower school we would be interested in.

Thank you

Bump

I live near Southgate so I have a couple of friends' kids and my niece who attends (all Upper School though). The classes are tiiiny and the kids get a lot of individual attention from the teachers - a reason why my sister moved her daughter from state - though I think the Lower School is getting more and more popular so you might want to check how large the classes are there. From the couple of times I've seen it's very friendly and there's always staff on hand to talk about homework and after-school classes etc.

Thank you, that is really helpful!

Hi,
Not sure where you are moving to exactly.. Re: Salcombe, I would ask about the percentage of children who stay all the way from Reception to Y6. I know a few people whose kids have left to go elsewhere.

Do you have a boy or girl? You should also look at the lovely Lyonsdown if you have a girl.

Is Lyonsdown the school where boys leave at Y2? That seems to be the nature of schools around here - lots seem to stop at the end of Y2 for either boys or girls. My niece started in Y3 at Salcombe with a couple of other new kids but most of her class have been together since Reception.

The rolls at schools probably vary from year to year - I attended the meeting at Walker Primary when they were explaining about expanding the state school classes as the population in North London is booming - but then you get a lot of people moving out of the area to go overseas from time to time as well. Guess it's not as stable a population as in other areas.

Bulba - yes I think international mobility plays a part, plus a few who move out to the country.

Lyonsdown takes boys to the end of year 2 only, with boys moving on to local mixed/single sex schools like Lochinver, Habs and Belmont, among others.

Heard some brilliant things about the local secondary schools. Pickle - you'll be wanting to check which local prep schools do the best job for preparing the kids for 11+ entry in the schools you want your child to go to.

Hi Pikle,

We are moving to Southgate in a few weeks and are also considering Salcombe Lower school. How old is your little one?

We went to the open day at Vita et Pax this weekend and was rather impressed with the school, children and overall facilities. Only frustration is that you have to bring in your own packed lunch.
They're down the road from Salcombe Lower school and although it is a catholic school, they accept children of different faiths.

With regards to Bulba's comments- if you request the Salcombe prospectus- it will list out where the kids end up going after their 11+.

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.

^what a scornful post ZAIN1969. I take it your bitter because your child was not one of the dc to gain a grammar place?
Or is it because you had the luxury of being able to "pay" for a private education with smaller classes, that made your child or any other at The prep school more deserving of a place than state children, such as my ds who's parents cannot afford to go private.
Did the prep promise a grammar school place for more children or a percentage? I doubt they did.
These grammars only accept a small portion of the dc who sit the exams, your old prep was not the only prep in London/ En6 that had dc sitting the 11+ exams. So if thousands sit and there are in DAO case only 65 academic places, the chances of gaining a place are slim. You should have known this. Instead of publicly bashing the school.
Money shouldn't guarantee your child an advantage over another who has worked just as hard, or they can be smarter. That would be unfair.
I diy my ds for his 11+ exam, as we couldn't afford to go private or get a tutor. It makes me proud, he passed for the top London grammars and semi selectives. He felt no sense of entitlement, just worked to the best of his ability.

No knowledge of the school but i didnt find zains post scornful - just an honest account of her experience.

Well he/she has been posting this on 11+ forum. Unhappy with the schools results, even though this was Nothing new when Zain took their child out of state in year 3.
Why isn't Zain happy with the school? It seems because of the small % that got into grammars and because they were paying.
I don't think the prep deserves that, because they didn't promise % pass.
What I deem as small and nurturing, Zain could take as unacceptable...

ZAIN1969 The school lists the leavers destinations on the web site, is there any reason why you didn't look/ask for these details before you decided to pay the school for your DCs Grammar School place?

www.salcombeprep.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2017/05/Results-2016.pdf

www.salcombeprep.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/07/4-11-Results-2015.pdf

Thanks for the support and the understanding -Hold back the rain - which other people cannot show for a negative review .

This was my experience and I hope prospective parents can see both sides before making an important choice for their child .

I have not mentioned a sense of entitlement at all but the point of paying for a prep is to PREP which this school does very shabbily ...because every parent here is paying for tutors .
As for not taking my son out , we constantly tried to get pastoral care which the school prides itself on but sadly is lacking ..and it was too late to take our child out in year 5 as we came very close to doing this ..
I am not bitter but shocked at the vitriol and hate for my post on this thread .. best of luck to you all

Surely no prep would expect to get everyone to pass 11+ . Or do we think anyone can pass 11+ if tutored right? In which case what's the point of grammars - just to segregate those who can afford the right tutoring?

There are presumably other options than the grammar schools..?

I don't know the school but the leavers destinations, especially those from 2015 look pretty good to me. You obviously don't realise that the prep schools don't prep for the state selective schools, in almost all cases you need to do that yourself as the exams are in September of year 6. They use the end of year 5 and th first term of year 6 to drill the children for independent schools and it looks like they do that reasonably well. Finally, you assume that all parents want their children to go to the state grammar schools and that is not the case at all, many aren't interested in them or use them as an opportunity for their children to sit the exams to get a feel of a proper exam with no real concerns as to whether they will pass or not but so they feel happier when they sit the exams for independents.

See Zain, I don't believe the preps purpose is to prep for the state selectives- YOU did. People not agreeing with you is not hate. You going around on various Internet forums posting at length your issue with the prep seems like hate to me. Like you are going out of your way to smear the reputation of Salcombe. I've encountered far too many children at Preps in North London/ Herts who used tutors to pass the 11+ state grammars/ semi selectives. But that's not fair is it? What would be fair is if your child got a place because you were paying the fees, right?! 🙄

well... well this post gets more volatile while people try their utmost to prove how good Salcombe is ..

People come to forums to express positive and negative opinions .. and if it is negative then accusing someone of a smear campaign is a serious personal insult and then I can , in the same vein , accuse them of being the trolls from the school itself... well it just proves my point .. which is that I would not recommend Salcombe to anyone I know .. lochinvar .. manor lodge .. far better

It depends on your definition of better. If better is to drill children to pass the 11+ then other schools may be better. If better is to give children a fantastic rounded education then somewhere else is better. Manor Lodge result are better in many cases, not that they publish them on their website, but it's a hardcore hot house applying serious pressure from as early as year 3 and getting more demanding and the children who are less academic don't get a look in. Does that make it a better school for all children or do you judge just purely on outcomes? My children were at a prep school considered less academic and sneered at by some. Was it a good school? It was absolutely outstanding and got the best out of every child regardless of their ability. Those who were naturally able got into the most competitive secondary schools at 11, others didn't. That didn't make it a bad school, it was what made it such a good school.

What co-ed / girls prep schools in North London have the reputation to be hothouses?

Might be a nice school for children,but living opposite svhool is nightmare,no consideration for tenants living opposite, namely,we can't park outside our own homes, especially pensioners,teachers pull up around 7.30am when Green Road is empty but they insist on taking our parking, ignorance,they are in our parking spots up to 10 hours a day.The school is to small to let teachers park inside school grounds.Was told this is illegal if teachers couldn't park inside school,dont Quote me on that i dont know all the laws.With 3 other schools in Green Rd,it was rediculous, to open another one,but i suppose money takes over common sense.

I don't know if you have a girl or a boy. But I took my daughter out of salcombe school to go to lyonsdale and now im 100 per cent happy with it. i have a few friends that have taken their kids to salcombe and where not happy so they took them out.

Well, I don't know anything about Salcombe but all three of my DCs went to selective north London schools and I don't know anyone who came from Salcombe ... not on the radar.