Hello,
I am a mum of one (5yr old DS), who is currently at a West London Prep school and seemingly happy however I am starting to have my doubts about the school. I am now at a stage where I am questioning if the school is right for him and if our education values are being met. On viewing the school at the open day it gave the impression of a modern, laid back but still academic school and in particular offering a nurturing and creative outlook which is exactly what we were after. Since joining I have realised the school is far more traditional than it seemed and the teachers have quite an old school view on things, the art and drama side of things is quite standard and not as stimulating as we thought. There have been staff changes and key members seem to have left that contributed in a positive way. My son is quite sensitive and self conscious already and I fear a high pressured environment will make things worse. Although he is progressing well, he struggles to sit still and to be engaged which in my mind shows he is not being stimulated in the right way. Our goal was not St.Pauls when we sent him to a prep school, it was to offer him a great all round stimulating education so now I now do not know what to do. Having moved school myself at 6yrs and finding that hard I always vowed not to move my child but I just have a gut feeling the current school is not meeting my expectations of what we wanted from a school. On the flip side the parents are lovely and are on a similar financial level as us and not driving around in luxury cars and living in 6million pound house which is not us (as much as that might be nice!) and my son has made some great friends. I worry that the grass is always greener and I may be jumping the gun a little considering he is so young and he has never expressed unhappiness. Does anyone have any experience of a being in a similar situation or of moving schools or sticking it out? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated as my head is in a bit of a spin!