SW6 - Eridge, Sinclair or Fulham Prep

[2girlfam]

Hi we are entering the minefield of schooling and finding a reception place for our DD! Does anyone have any experience with Eridge House or Sinclair? Our nursery thinks our DD will be better suited to a smaller school than Fulham Prep but I am worried about lack of track record for 11+ and it being too small, especially as Eridge drops down to one class from year 4 onwards. Any insight is much appreciated :-)

Sinclair always had excellent 7+/8+ results. 11+ results for EH and FP not great, especially for girls, so I would actually have more confidence in future 11+ for Sinclair House than the other schools. It's a non-selective inclusive school so you can't expect everyone to get into St Paul's (just like EH/FP), but at least the able children at Sinclair will likely move on to King's College, Latymer etc.. They used to get girls into Bute House / Ken Prep / Latymer Prep every year in the past.

reddress123
SH advertise that they are going to 13+. They have no track record of 11 or 13+. You need to have confidence in the advice your prep is going to give you re:exit, the relationships it has with secondary schools and the quality and experience of teaching at that 13+ exam level.

FP goes to 13+ so you can't just look at the 11+ exit results in isolation. Many boys take pre tests in yr6/7, stay for yrs 7/8 and then do 13+ exams. Several each year go to KCS, SPS, Westminster, Dulwich, Eton, Harrow, Winchester etc many with awards (esp music) or academic commendations. These results reflect the boys system of pre testing in years 6/7. For a 13+ school, fewer boys leave at 11, unless they go to a 11+ entry school (like Latymer, Emanuel, Ibstock), so read the exit results tables with that in mind.

Good luck.

Thanks both for your replies, really appreciate it.

It is true that Sinclair had really good results at 7+ so they should well be able to prep the children for the 11+ and 13+. What I really liked about the school were the brand new facilities in a small enough school which seems to care about each individual needs.

If I were to send my son to a top prep school like colet/latymer/or kings, would you say they would help him prepare for the exams or is it a no no since they would like to retain all their students? (which is understandable)

Basically I would like to send my quite bright son to a very good prep school at 7+ in the hope that it will make it easier for him to go to a very good secondary school. At this stage (and because we arrived in the UK just over a year ago), I have the choice between Sinclair and a really really good state school which is minutes away from our house.
I'm visiting the school again next week so I'll be able to ask them more questions.

if you're aiming for 7+ why don't you go for a pre-prep like Merlin or Lion House just across Putney Bridge which will provide much better preparation than Sinclair or Eridge House as they are quite gentle in the first years, you'd really improve his chances by putting him in a pre-prep.

sanam2010 Why do you think EH doesn't get good results at 11+? Both my daughters got into their first choice (academic) schools, and their friends too. Girls have gone on to St Paul's and G&L, the school is non selective but they get the children in to the right school for them. They have years more experience at the 11plus than Sinclair House. Their exit list is on their website, just as good as anywhere else with much smaller numbers. Sinclair House no longer prepares boys for the 7 or 8+. You need to try a pre-prep to 8 for this to happen. BTW we love the name change to Parsons Green Prep and the new logo is fab, it looks so much smarter and gives the school a location. Clever.

fulhammother, just based on their exit results as published, they are very vague about it, and I know many families at EH by the way, they all say the numbers towards the higher years dwindle as people move away and they say it's great for younger years but they wouldn't do EH if they were planning to stay in the UK long term. So I am basing it all on what current or past parents have told me. I easily know 10 families who have or have had kids there, so this is not something I am making up.

My son went to SHS nursery and total waste of time and money. I would highly advise against it unless you really believe in Montessori and have a highly self motivated child. Started reception totally behind the other kids even one of the older ones in class. 8 in his year left Shs for Merlin many kids were already reading but not too many of the SHS kids. I did not send his younger sibling there and same with lots of my friends who had elder ones there. Sinclair house School is a joke! He is at merlin now and given the choice I would go for merlin over and over again. Honestly the commute from sw6 to merlin is about 10 min (back roads) and half the school lives in sw6. Shs had amazing results at 7+ bc there were like 4 kids in a class which is crazy small. On top of it all tuition is constantly rising each term as to cover costs of new site. There are only a couple of excellent teachers there and if you don't get one of the more experienced ones then it's completely and utterly useless.

We paid a term for FP but just felt too big and not intimate enough for my DS so ended up not taking the spot there. Plus the results weren't amazing for the cost of tuition (Thomas better). We found out about Merlin too late but luckily got a spot. Kids are all super happy there and learning a ton. They don't realize they are being prepped for exams from day bc they genuinely are happy learning.

Good luck!

Hello,

I don't want to start a new thread since this covers most of the schools we are looking at for our children. We are moving to London probably Fulham and looking at Fulham Prep, PGP (Eridge House), Sinclair house and Hurlingham school.

PGP gave us a cozy vibe with their building and grounds. What has been the story since with them. The number of students do go down but they say that's the way things are in London with expats moving in and out, boys going to prep schools and preferring bigger schools with sports teams? sounds a bit off Is this true? Also I got lucky to speak to one parent in the area who said that all parents tutor on top in order to get into their top schools at the exit (is it like that with all prep schools), can't retain good teachers and they had another change of principal just two years ago....

Hurlingham seems to have that cozy feel , good results ... no swimming (this can be done on weekends) and they start with two languages. Loved their staff and principal seems inspirational. a bit concerned about the distance from Fulham how is the traffic to/from Putney.

Fulham Prep is slightly bigger but seem to be a solid no nonsense type of a school.

I haven't looked at SinClair house yet but they said they have expended. So seems to be similar to PGP in it's ambiguity .

Also, why are some comments deleted? Were they negative reviews? (concerned)

Thank you in advance for any input. It's very difficult to make these decisions without a good understanding of the system and the area.

DD left Hurlingham last year. She loved every minute of her seven years there. It is a very buzzy, happy school with lots going on.

As it's non-selective it will always have mixed ability classes but they stream for English and Maths and a good percentage of children go on to very academic schools such as G&L, LU, SPGS and LEH. Others go to KGS, Ibstock, Emanuel, Harrodian, Wimbledon High, etc. The staff are very good at pointing you in the right direction when it's time to move on. DD's Year 5 tutor told me which secondary school would best suit her and he was spot on.

There are lots of Fulham families at Hurlingham and many of the mums walk over the footbridge next to Putney Bridge station and only use their cars if it's pouring with rain or snowing. One of the mothers said she always felt uplifted by walking over the river every day as there was always something different to see and it was interesting for her DCs. Some did drive though and it didn't seem to be too bad.

I think comments are removed if there is a complaint from the school or if they are just too rude.

Thank you Cleo1303! Good to hear about Hurlingham. I find there's a vacuum of reviews from parents. None of the school pages are reviewed. It's all word of mouth here it seems.
It's a shame negative comments are deleted even if they are rude. Are there other resources I can look at? I found goodschool guide utterly useless. OFSTED doesn't apply to private schools. Anything like tripadvisor with good and bad reviews? (googling all the acronyms for the future :))

Ofsted applies to some private schools. Fulham Prep had an outstanding Ofsted report in 2014. 3 of my DC have been through FPS. Your description of a "solid, no nonsense type of school" is pretty good. I would add happy, inclusive, down to earth, not a hothouse. It goes to 13 but prepares for the 11+ and for the 13+ pre tests taken at 11. They have just purchased playing fields. New Head starts in September, although founder and previous Head to remain as part of governing body and broader ownership group.

Check the exit schools for each school at 11/13 .

Do you have boys or girls - what age?

PM me if you want further info.
Hope that helps

Hi MovingtoLondon1,

All schools should have an Ofsted or Independent Schools Inspectorate Report and a link on their website. Otherwise type the School name and Ofsted or ISI Report into Google and you'll find it. Most preps are ISI but some do have Ofsted inspections.

I don't know of any school ratings sites. I was completely useless and faffed about for ages and DD's nursery suggested Hurlingham would be good for her. I was actually on the waiting list for another very selective prep school and begging for a place. DD had behaved appallingly when she sat their assessment paper and had an interview at the age of three because I had said she could look at their fishpond after and not before the exam! I finally accepted we wouldn't get a place at that school and went to visit Hurlingham and just loved it. I accepted the place and the other school offered me a place two days later, but it was too late and I'm very happy it was. I went to that school on several occasions for matches and I don't think DD would have been happy there. It's an all girls school and much more formal. DD is clearly more suited to a co-ed school.

DD was at nursery in Fulham and a lot of her friends went to Hill House in Knightsbridge. That was too far for us. It's quite an unusual school and was totally slammed by Ofsted a year or two ago. However, all the parents seem to love it, and a friend whose two DCs were there a few years ago thought it was terrific. You might want to look at their website and see if it appeals.

With regard to deleted comments, I posted about another school which a friend's daughter had attended and which is clearly not very good in many areas. Then I got an email from mumsnet saying the school had complained and said what I had said was defamatory. It wasn't. Clearly though mumsnet doesn't want to get into litigation so I agreed they could delete the comment. Other threads mentioning that particular school also have deleted comments so I think the school is very defensive, watches forums like this like a hawk and threatens to sue if they don't like what they see - even if it is true!

dogchewedtoy1 - I like down to earth. I just thought that it's a bigger school in comparison to others. They are still very little at 4 years old :). I also heard that it's a respected group that bought ownership. So might not be a bad changed. Thank you for that information.

I have a boy and a girl . boy entering reception. so I was looking for a co-ed school if possible.

Cleo1303, thank you. Yes I read the reports of ISI and OFSTED I just feel that inspections is only part of the picture. Their phrasing is... good and outstanding curriculum, good and outstanding ethics... across the board. I guess the schools are generally good in this area and that's great. :)

I'll take a look at Hill House. I haven't heard of it, but I think distance wise it's probably not the best option for us.

Re deleted comments. This doesn't make for a very useful or constructive review board. It is not a good sign if the school can't handle complaints and have to resort to deleting them and bullying a review board.