Moving to Epsom, need help with Prep Schools please!

[Daffyduckaroo]

Hi All,

We are a family who will be moving back to the UK after many years abroad. I'm looking at relocating to Epsom, as we love the area and ticks many boxes i.e, being family friendly and open spaces.
I'm looking for a prep school that is not too pushy, nurturing and kind, good pastoral care, and looking to bring out the best in every child. My DD aged 7 is currently in an international school that is very academically driven and although she is coping very well, as she is very bright, I don't want achievement awards and 100% test scores to be the only aspect in education that she will value. I would like a school that encourages children to be children and not push them beyond their years, at the same time academics should be strong (after all why pay the fees if not for good results!) Am I asking too much? I have read on a few threads about schools having 'fast girls' this certainly makes me very nervous.
Please could a mumsnet wonderwoman/man kindly rescue me from my dilemma.....?!? I am going crazy looking for the right school and so very difficult with all these boxes that need ticking.....
Oh and if that wasnt enough, my DD and DS (aged 4) have so far attended very international schools and we have loved having this aspect of cultural diversity as part of their schooling experience.
I have looked at (browsed websites and threads) for Aberdour and Kingswood House, does anybody have any other suggestions? In your opinion are these schools anything near what I'm looking for?
We are coming in to London for Christmas by the end of this month, I could look around before schools close for holidays.
Sorry for my long post, really look forward to advice
X

I think you may find that not too pushy and academic are incompatible ! Ewell Castle may be what you are looking for in pastoral and social terms, also Greenacre, Aberdour. I had thought Priory Banstead was going co-ed but maybe not yet. However for more academic focus with junior/senior you may want to look at City of London Freemans or one of the GDST schools in Sutton etc or think about the selective schools at 11.

My son went to city of London freemans for 7-11 and hated it. He moved to RGS at 11.
I would say though that it was an awful school for him but his situation was unusual. I think it is a better school for gils than boys.
The children were nice. It had way more people worrying about what car they drove than I expected but the grounds are fab and the facilities are excellent.
I'm not sure what to make of your comment about 'fast girls' so I will ignore that.
The head of PE is a really, really nasty man. I think his wife is in charge of girls sport.
I would have considered it for DD but I prefer single sex after experiencing freemans.
Hths

If cultural diversity is what you are looking for, Epsom isn't really the place... Kingswood House very nice, though not strongly academic, but as I say not in the least bit culturally diverse!

Milbourne Lodge?

Thank you so much for your advice and feedback. I will look at Ewell Castle and definitely Aberdour, so thanks Lizzy. Actually, academic and not too pushy are compatible but I have found them to be more in the central London schools. This is not an option for us. I guess ditto for international schools too.
Pagwatch interesting comment about city of london freemens, I have read many many threads about both parents and children there into 'wealth'. It's the same school I read about the 'fast' girls. Almost an obsolete term i know but I understood within the conext of the thread to mean young girls sexually advanced??? I don't know could be wrong, but gave me jitters nonetheless.....
I have not heard about Milbourne Lodge, so will definitely look into that, thanks Spindelina.
Any thoughts on Downsend? I read somewhere that there are quite a few families from Australia and South Africa that go there.....does anyone have any experience of the school?

Sadly IME limited cultural diversity in Surrey prep schools. Also given expense there isn't much diversity of any kind. If you want international bent, ACS in Cobham an option but not sure how well it would match your academic requirements.

Kingswood House a lovely friendly school for boys - they seem to be a friendly bunch of boys - confident without being arrogant. From what I know seem to do well with range of abililities and boys seem to go off to range of schools. Other schools maybe worth a look -priory Prep, Daneshill, Downsend, feltonfleet. Some of these may be bit more acamedic I'm not sure. They are also bit further from epsom.

Sutton GDST or Seaton House

Theres a lot of building work planned for freemans school, and they dont have a swimming pool. Kingswood House is lovely.

For your younger one take a look at St Christophers. We found then to be very good but it was a few years back.

Epsom College is very good and is close to St Christopher's so if you were to move into the college Ward they would both be walkable distances.

I'd recommend GDST for your purposes, not overly pushy but enables academic girls to do well.