Help! Moving to London w/ 8 year old! Info needed for Hotham/West Hill/John Wolfe/Kingsgate primary school

[WhatADayCremeBrulee]

Hello there!! We're moving to London from California this summer with 8 years old daughter. We're nervous and excited! She will start Year 4 in September.

We're in the middle of apartment/school hunting, and appreciate any info about following schools (I know it's all over the place..):

Hotham (Putney)
West Hill (Putney)
John Wolfe (Greenwich)
Kingsgate (Hampstead)

My questions:

Diversity at school We prefer schools with racial/cultural diversity - I'm sure we can get enough of that in London but curious about situation of each school.

Attention to individual students Do you feel your kid is getting enough attention/support/encouragement from teachers when needed? My current concern is math - I noticed the UK math curriculum and what they cover is quite different from ours and my daughter might be a bit behind when she starts.

Teaching approach/focus I'm not sure how STEM education is a big thing in UK but how is your school in that department? I'm also curious if any schools are trying different teaching approaches - e.g., project based, new math methods like Singapore math

PTA/parents involvement How active is your PTA? What kind of activities or volunteer opportunities do you have? Are they actively involved in the classroom too? (art docent, classroom helper etc)

Communication with teachers How do you get informed about what's happening in classroom or about your child? Do you feel communicating with teachers is easy?

After school care/extra curricular activities What's the afterschool care situation? Do you have onsite care, or what's other option around you? Also, what type of extra curricular activities offered, what's popular?

Overall feel of the school Overall how do you describe your school? Traditional? Strict? Open-minded? Inclusive?

Conflict resolution How do they deal with conflicts, any sensitive political/racial issues (maybe it's just here in the US..but we're started seeing more of these since last year, well you know why )?

Overall feel of the school community I think I am more nervous about getting into the new parents circle! As a parent how do you feel of the parents community of your school? Friendly? Laid back? Demanding? Cliquey? Indifferent?

Ok I stop now but I really really hope I can get some insight about those schools. I'm pretty clueless about UK school system!! Thanks in advance, any info appreciated and please feel free to DM me too!!

It is hard to say why Pupils leave Hotham. Putney is a wealthy area so a large number of residents send their children to Independent schools.

For those that can’t afford it or don’t want to, there is a massive push for the church schools. St Mary’s is Church of England (Protestant) while Our Lady of Victories is Catholic. You have to live very close to one of these schools plus be a church goer to have any chance of a place. This is quite contentious in this country as there is a question as to why the State should financially support religious schools.

Basically when places become available at either of those 2 schools, they tend to take pupils from Hotham as the 3 schools are close by.

I suspect there is not much to choose between Hotham and Brandlehow, btw, it is just that there are no other more sought after schools near Brandlehow.

There is also far more of a mix of children at Hotham than other schools which you say you want. However you may find a small subset of more difficult pupils at Hotham (coming from deprived families). Parents try to avoid this. I am aware that people here may jump down my throat on this but there is some snobbery attached here.

Basically if you are a well off family working in the finance industry, people will be surprised you haven’t chosen an Independent school.

Greenwich is a wonderful place for families. Plenty going on and lovely museums to visit. Putney doesn’t have anything comparable.

Worth bearing in mind it is an hour commute when the trains work. Any disruption and you are completely stuck, as far too far to walk

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast Solasum mmm street food...!! Greenwich indeed looks beautiful.

Anybody know what is like for families in Cutty Sark area, especially around James Wolfe Primary School and school itself?

jeanne16 thank you so much for the intel and your honest opinion..! Now we feel like Brandlehow is nice to happen but it's like winning a lottery. If we're moving to Putney we might still consider Hotham area but put name on the church school waitlist...

Hi
I think you will find Kingsgate is in Kilburn rather than Hampstead. It’s ofsted is old but it looks like it is a very culturally diverse school. However it looks like an excellent school. I always think that schools that do well by the disadvantage pupils in the league tables are probably god schools rather than schools that are propped up by external tutoring www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/132245
I don’t think it will be a green leafy middle class area like Greenwich or Putney though but don’t really know it.

www.tes.com/jobs/employer/kingsgate-primary-school-1050530

Mary19 Belated thank you for the info!

We're still looking in Putney. Hub submitted a bid to one flat then got turned down, then got contacted again weeks later while we're working on another properties. Lots of game playing and negotiations happening right now.... Meanwhile HMRC lost all our documentation for residence application (seriously, how?!) lol, I'm rather amazed by all these...

The catchment area for most schools is around 200m. Have you decided yet where you will live yet as the areas you have stated are not near each other.

FYI I visited Kingsgate last year for my son. Their results are excellent and they are consistently in the top 10% primary state league table for schools in England.

Their campus is split into two - lower school near West Hampstead and upper school near Kilburn. Had it not been for the distance of the lower school I would have put my son down to go here.