Brooklands Junior School (Hampstead Garden Suburb)

[workmumlondon]

Hi

We are considering moving to the Brooklands Junior school catchment area so our son can start at the junior school from next year. We would need to have an address in the area by the end of the year.

I would love to hear thoughts on the school and what its like. I read they have an excellent rating and take academics seriously which is very encouraging.

We are torn between private school (which would be a bit of a stretch for 2 kids) and good state option. Ideally we would like our children to go to private school from age 11 onwards so would like to know how Brooklands prepares the kids (if at all) for this. Assume tutors will need to be involved and private would be an easier transition if we started there now.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

No state school in the area prepares the children for selective schools at all, so you will need a tutor from year 5.

Brooklands is a feeder for the Archer too so that's a bonus, even if many think it unfair. (See a previous thread here).

If you want the school to prepare for the 11+, you need a prep school that finishes at that point. State schools, and private ones that go through to 16 or 18, won't prepare at all. Tutoring starts in year 4-5 and the good tutors get booked up early!

Friend's kids were at Brooklands before they moved to Herts for better senior school options.

State primary will NOT prepare your children for the 11+ whatsoever. The best way to get them into an academically selective independent senior school is to send them to a prep school. I do not believe tutoring alone is a good idea, and there are interviews to prepare for too.

Having said that, Brooklands is not a million miles from Henrietta Barnet. Do you have boys or girls?

Well, I totally disagree, plenty of private secondary school places are taken by children who attended state primaries, it is eminently doable. It is a good idea to find a good tutor early, if you have that in place you shouldn't have a problem with the transfer.

Yes, plenty do it from state with a tutor, and I'd imagine (with their eye on their charitable status) that the secondaries probably have an informal quota for children from state schools.

But it's hard. And schools where lots of people do this can turn into a hotbed of unpleasantness in years 4 and 5 as everyone denies having tutors and tries to hide from other parents what they are doing for fear of giving something away.

If you know you want to do private secondary, and you can afford private primary, best bet is a school that goes all the way to 18, next best is a prep.