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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Glendower prep

16 replies

mummyru · 01/10/2013 12:13

I was really wondering if there are girls who travel from other boroughs or the school takes only local children.

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sanam2010 · 01/10/2013 12:22

I definitely know parents from Fulham who send their children there...

Original poster

mummyru · 01/10/2013 12:41

Thanks for your reply. I just read their website and it says they will give preference to the local children.

OP posts:

sanam2010 · 01/10/2013 12:45

Where are you based?

Original poster

mummyru · 01/10/2013 12:51

well, we are based in Berkshire, it is about 40 min trip by car

OP posts:

Herisson · 01/10/2013 12:58

I think it might be a bit more than 40 minutes in rush hour traffic!

jokebook · 01/10/2013 14:07

Seriously?!!! You are going to travel from Berks to South Ken for a prep school?!?! Why are you contemplating this?

sanam2010 · 01/10/2013 14:13

Why not choose a prep school in berkshire? There are definitely girls from neighbouring boroughs at Glendower but i doubt there's anyone from beyond zone 2!

Inclusionist · 01/10/2013 14:21

There are loads of great preps in Berkshire! Which local ones have you looked at?

Original poster

mummyru · 01/10/2013 19:12

Well, this school is quite good. We will consider to move for the right school. The schools I have looked (Lambrook, Eagle House and few schools in ascot) are not academic enough. At lambrook they showed me what children were doing at reception and year 1. At that time my daughter was 25 months and she could already manage some of the tasks so I am not sure I liked it :(

OP posts:

Herisson · 01/10/2013 19:38

Oh, you're one of those. No school will ever be good enough for you. I'd home ed if I were you.

Inclusionist · 01/10/2013 20:02

Haha- ok. Each to their own. Think you are missing out though. My DH and I are both very experienced senior teachers, he's in the Independent sector and I'm in Primary. We are Oxbridge graduates, DH has a PhD in Educational Policy and we are keen on our son having a top notch education. We did a huge amount of research before we chose a school and I can assure you the education at Lambrook is excellent.

We are moving to be nearer Lambrook!!

Inclusionist · 01/10/2013 20:27

In 2013 Glendower got scholarships to Benenden and Sherborne, neither of which are very academic (and Queen's Gate which I've never heard of) and Lambrook got scholarships to LEH and Eton amongst many others.

If you want a hothouse do you not need to be looking at the North London schools (Habs, NLCS etc) and moving there?

sanam2010 · 01/10/2013 21:51

Would also suggest NLCS if you can move, and also sign dd up for the Bute House ballot. These are probably the two schools worth moving for. Neither Glendower nor Falkner House had great results last year, for whatever reason, but usually they're very good.

MLP · 02/10/2013 10:10

We got a place there for DD a number if years back. Most if the kids there were in the general local area. We liked it but decided to move instead. I simply wouldn't come in from Berkshire for it - it will be hard on your kid and a real pain for play dates etc. I would get a decent well performing prep in your local area - sounds like there are several which would be absolutely fine.

MLP · 02/10/2013 10:11

I am clearly incapable of typing of instead of if on an iPhone

muppet3 · 29/11/2013 10:49

My dd is at Glendower at the moment, and interestingly we looked at Lambrook before she ended up there (job move meant relocation from Bracknell area into London anyway). Glendower is lovely and yes, academic and a bit pushy, but honestly I wouldn't journey in from such a distance for it, and I'm not sure it's worth relocating for. Lambrook looked just as good. We plumped for Glendower partly because our dd is one of those who always ends up being top in most things and I wanted her to be with other girls who were academically great, and who could beat her! I thought that would be healthier for her ego ... All we ended up with was her being top of her year for everything in Glendower - no difference at all. There are a lot of lovely but very un-academic girls in her year, and quite a lot in her class with learning difficulties who require extra assistance. I see the less hot-house, more mixed learning environment as a good thing for the girls, but quite a lot of parents of bright girls in our year are pretty naffed off about it. There's a general feeling that you pay a lot for not masses of teacher attention for your child, and not very academic classmates. (Watch the staff-pupil ratios - they try not to talk about those. Reception to Year 2 children get 1 teacher per 18 children, and no full-time teaching assistant support in the classroom. That's arguably a worse ratio than the 1 teacher + 1 TA to 30 kids state school norm.) Plus the parents who donate the biggest cheques to the school see their children get preferential treatment (you should meet the mum who actually doorstepped the headmistress with a blank cheque demanding that her daughter get an achievement certificate in the next awards assembly!). This summer my dd will be moving on after 3 years at Glendower, and while there are some lovely things about it that we'll miss, I'm slightly relieved too. It's a hell of a lot of money to pay for less-than-great education.

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