North London prep schools- help please!

[angelpuffs]

Hello everyone
I'm new to mumsnet and would really appreciate some advice from people with experience of private schools for 4+ entry.
My May born DD will be due to enter school in sept 2017 at age 4 and we'd like to sit her for the assessments at NLCS, SHHS and Channing. We've applied to SHHS already, and looked at NLCS last week (and loved it). I know how hard all these schools are to get into, and initially I wanted to sit her for a back up school- we were thinking of Grimsdell. However we've decided that, instead of Grimsdell, the best thing would be to try for a small prep school which would be able to prepare her well for 7+ or 11+ entry to a good school, rather than her be at Mill Hill which is not great academically (so I've heard).
I'd love to hear opinions on any good prep schools that don't require the child to be registered from birth- I'm looking at St Christophers in Hampstead soon but don't like the idea of the staggered entry in reception and year 1 that they have there. Anyone know anything about Hampstead Hill school? I'm also looking at Norfolk house in Muswell hill but it's first come first served there, and non selective. It's so confusing! All advice would be welcomed.
Feel free to suggest anywhere else I haven't mentioned. We live in East Finchley so anywhere within reasonable distance of there.
Thanks xx

Every preprep head says don't tutor (certainly they do at GH and HH). and the majority of parents ignore that advice. It's an arms race, if no one tutored then no one else would need to! I wish you the best of luck Helen but if you think that most of your child's peers won't be tutored then I think that's a bit naive.

Well good luck to those (lying?!) parents, they are certainly paying an arm and a leg for it and perpetuating a ridiculous system. Private schools once had a good mix of pupils from various walks of life, not now. I hear of children doing badly at good schools once in and others doing great at non-5 star ones because they are NOT OVERLOADED. I think it is the parents' fault as much as the lack of grammar schools etc etc/the private system being a sellers' market. It's only an arms race for your child if you choose to join in. If you turn out to be right and 'only tutored kids pass the test' then I only hope there is a backlash or something is done about this in future years to come.

Agree is ridiculous, though no more crazy than discovering God for a few years or paying over the odds to live near a good school. The point I am trying to make is that other parents in the same year who may be reassuring you that you don't need to tutor are directly in competition with you so have a vested interest in you not tutoring, you'll get a more honest answer from those who have already been through it.

Yeah, but average God squad and moving house probably won't have potential negative impact on child. Ok, some parents will BS and one I know already does so fair enough, but I think I know my genuine friends. Thanks for the advice!

Also, let's face it- if the head of a pre prep school was telling parents they should be tutoring for the 7+ everyone would be up in arms- they are already paying school fees and are then being told to pay tutors on top! It's obviously just one of those unspoken things that a lot of parents know about but don't mention....

I went to see one school where 23 out of 26 kids also had tutors, despite the head asking the parents not to bother. I guess it just reflects the parents who choose that school.

How did you find out how many of the kids had tutors, Crucru? Was it a school going up to 7+ only?

I asked the head at the open afternoon. No, it was one that went from 3+ to 11.

Which school was that.....?

Charterhouse Square. I actually loved the school and liked the head but it operates a ballot and my son's name didn't get picked. You need to register before 19 May the year BEFORE your child would be admitted so you may have missed that one.

A ballot? So only random children get picked for assessment?

There is no assessment, the kids whose names get picked get offered a place. However, the kids seem to do well regardless.

Oh ok, so completely non selective.

Angelpuffs, I think you've got a good range of schools there, maybe find another couple of academic ones to add to the list? Highgate is stellar. I'm not personally a fan of Habs (heard a story of a girl who had to leave due to extreme pressure - she believed she was a total failure as she wasn't quite getting straight A's).
I think if DC doesn't manage to get in to any of the schools you've mentioned this pretty unlikely she would get in to a pre-prep which goes to 7+ as I think they're v v selective and in my experience preps which go to 11+ / 13+ will not put a huge amount of energy into preparing for 7+.... So I think if she doesn't get in to the academic ones maybe aim for a decent prep which can take her to 11+ but which is a bit easier to get in to? Devonshire House in Hampsted perhaps? Lovely school.
I think Mill Hill would be a very good school as a backup option. I agree it's not amazing, but I'm sure any DC would be pretty happy there and do well academically.

Thanks, needanadulttotalkto. The list we will be applying to is currently NLCS, SHHS, channing, Annemount and St Margarets- the latter going from 4-16 and less selective than the others. Ruled out st christophers as too chaotic and didn't like the staggered entry. Did you mean I should look at a couple more academic options, or a couple of less academic options? I think the first 3 on my list are v academic, with Annemount being a good in between but still good for 7+. Highgate only has a 3+ or 7+ entry as far as I know- though correct me if I'm wrong. We don't want her to go to school at 3 and are probably too late for that anyway. Plus I've heard from several people that you have to have some prior connection to the school- which we don't have. A friend of mine applied for her September born DD a year or so ago and didn't even get an assessment. Don't think my May born daughter would get a look in!
X

North London doesn't have nearly as many prep/pre-preps as other parts of London. In particular there seems to be a gap below the top tier (academically) schools. Friends living in Sw and West seem to have a far greater range of schools to choose from. If you don't want to do the hellish cross heath commute and your DC don't get into one of the top tiers at 7+, the only other option is Belmont. The chances of getting a state school place in year three seems a very slim chance. I think all of these factors create the pressure to tutor. It's either that or move.

Angelpuffs, I saw your comment about St. Christopher's being chaotic. I have only heard and read rave reviews of this school, so it's interesting to hear another side. Can you give more info about this please? We are interested in St. Christopher's, but would like to hear the good and the bad! Thank you.

Alice- that's interesting. I'm not averse to tutoring if that's what's required. Really wasn't keen on Belmont so will have to find another option.
Stretto- we were shown around st Christophers by 2 year 6 girls who were very nice and gave us a good your- but were a bit unfocused when it came to answering our questions. The classrooms were all a bit random- they had one room that was designated for chess and history for example- and subjects seemed to be kind of scattered around. When their tour was over the school secretary asked for our visitors badges back, then looked as us as if to say "you can go now". When we looked a bit surprised by this, she quickly said "oh, do you have any questions?!" But I felt like she was rushing us out. In addition, as I mentioned before, your child enters reception in the usual year if their birthday is between September and February. However if your child is born between March and August, they don't enter until a full academic year after, in year 1. In my DDs case this would mean she wouldn't start school until sept 2018 rather than sept 2017- and we'd have to find somewhere else for her to go for that year. All in all, we ruled it out.

Op would you mind sharing what you didn't like about Belmont? I've not been to see it but others have been happy so it's always interesting to hear why schools have dropped off someone's list. What about The Avenue preprep? It seems to tick all the boxes you want? Has that one been dropped?

Hi Alice
The Avenue hasn't been dropped- I called them about a week ago bad they told me to call back in 2 weeks when they were back from half term. So that's still an option- though they seem to have v few places available at 4+ as many children start at 3. They also favour children who are walking distance of the school- we are about 35 mins walk so not sure we'd fit but worth a try.
Belmont just seemed very big and impersonal compared with Grimsdell (which we liked) but my main reason for discounting it is that it isn't great academically. If DD doesn't get into any of the more academic schools, I think we'd prefer somewhere smaller and more cosy for her than Belmont. I also found Belmonts big concrete outdoor area and school hall depressing and a bit like a comprehensive school in terms of the building and general feeling.

Someone mentioned that it would be difficult to find a places in year 3 in a state school. I'm not sure this is right. Some children switch from state to private at this stage, freeing places. At our school, I know of a child who did not get an offer at reception but got a call with a year 3 offer i.e. easier to get in later. Also, some families move out of London looking for more space/secondary places, so there is a bit of movement from that too.

Three, are you in North London? Any idea if there is a way to get that info from our closest state school. When we visited the various preps near here none had a student who had come from our local state school. It makes me think perhaps there isn't that much movement but it would be nice to know actual figures.

Hello, yes, we are in North London. Children from our primary head off to some of the schools mentioned at 11, so not a million miles away. I guess you would need to ask the primary school about how many leave at 7.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were state places in year 3, NW London has quite a lot of "state til 8" going on. But of course it's very random.