We had been planning to send our DS to one of the local faith-based nursery & school as it is Ofsted Outstanding; co-ed; local and linked to our church so offers a wonderful sense of community in an relatively urban area but visited the school and we were underwhelmed. We are now re-thinking going private but we had not previously found any schools near W9 which ticked all of our boxes.
We are looking for something which is co-ed; academically challenging but not a hothouse; a school which equally emphasises the arts, music, language and sport not just offering these "extras" every other week or busing kids to other locations just so they can have a PE class (as the v. expensive school does not have outside facilities). We also felt many of the local private schools were geared to ex-pats and thus had a high turn-over of students and did not offer the continuity we want for our DS. We wanted to keep in local both in terms of our DS's routine, our schedules and having friends down the road but have now realised that might not be possible.
We have heard very mixed reports about Notting Hill Prep, Harrodian and King Alfred. The two latter have been described as "alternative" possibly because of their emphasis on the arts. We are just trying to find a school which nurtures the love for learning and which approaches their curriculum from a holistic perspective, balancing academics with art, sport, etc. but not at the expense of our DS's educational secondary school options".
Feeling a bit despondent as we thought we had cracked this nut. Might any of you have experiences you can share or other suggestions for great primary schools in West or Central London?