Pre-Prep/Prep Schools in Ealing

[BattenbergCake88]

Hello Mumsnetters!

We are currently expecting a baby and are thinking of moving out our West Hampstead flat to a bigger house in Ealing or Fulham. As this is likely to be a place where we will live for the next 5/10 years, thought it would be sensible to get a feel for the schooling situation for our DD.

Would anyone here be able to steer me on the pre-prep/prep schools in Ealing?

Obviously we have no idea what our child will be like but currently working with the assumption that she will be of average intelligence and will enjoy a bit of sports/creative arts.

Many thanks for your help

We didn't find alot of choice in Ealing for pre-prep/prep....but I am going back 12 years! However because we live towards the south of the borough (Northfields) and work in Chiswick , we found alot more choice in Chiswick and just over the river in Kew, and went with one of those.
Obviously you get more house for your money in Ealing/Northfields than Chiswick or Kew! so if you go down that route, it would mean a journey to drop off/pick up .

Thank you very much, @eagleone. 12 years on I think we are reaching the same conclusion as you did re the schools.

Hey guys, just come across this as we live in Ealing and are facing a dilemma now of where to accept school places/move house to. @eagleone how was it managing the school run back and forth to Kew from Ealing? We’re worried that with two boys, 3 years apart with different schedules, that it might become too difficult. Considering accepting a place and moving to Chiswick instead, but it’s hard admitting defeat over Ealing an area we love. Can’t find decent coed independent schools here though :(

@Londonmamatoboys The school run was ok. About 15/20 mins from Northfields on a good morning, leaving about 7.45, to just over Kew bridge will get you to Kew Green Prep /Kew College/Broomfield/Unicorn.
Post Covid with new LTN's and new cycle lanes it might well be longer.
Had friends with school runs from Chiswick and again at the time it was ok.
If you have time, post drop off or pre pick up, Kew Village /Green/Gardens etc is obviously a bonus ;-)

Thanks @eagleone that’s really helpful.

Our nextdoor neighours (Ealing) do the school run to and from Kew every day - or rather their nanny did, until schools closed. They love their school in Kew.
Admittedly it wouldn't be for me, but I'm happy with single-sex schools. My husband went to Durston House and would want our next baby to go there (if it's a boy).

Thanks @klh386 that’s good to know. We’re also considering Durston now for the sake of the commute!

May I resurrect this thread please? We are in the exact position right now (living in Northfields area and considering Kew schools) and I’m curious how your experience has been post-Covid?
@BattenbergCake88

@lockdownguru

Hi there - We moved to Fulham; discounted Ealing for a couple of reasons one of which was the lack of schools we preferred. DD has just finished at a South Ken nursery and will be starting at a Hammersmith girl’s prep in September. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help! :/

@lockdownguru

We are still in Northfields and regularly pop to Kew. I would say the morning run is probably ok, but haven't done a morning run recently!
The lights at the A4 junction/roundabout have changed for the worse the last couple of years and it takes longer to cross the A4. However after that, the run over Kew Bridge is ok as you are going against the traffic.

It's not great coming back over Kew Bridge in the morning or after school pick up to be honest. There always seems to be slow moving northbound traffic!

We loved the school (Kew College prep) and the Kew green//village/vibe ;-)

Our kids are both very happy at Kew College Prep, and of course there are many wonderful options in Kew. We did the commute from Northfields for 3-4 years as we also did nursery there. Getting there in the mornings is fine, but as Eagleone says the journey back can be really bad, and that’s the truth.

Ultimately we ended up moving to Kew last year. Whilst we loved Ealing, and still do and visit at weekends, we realised all our community and friends (kids and us) were in Kew, which happened naturally after kids were in nursery and school there. So for us it made sense to move to Kew- where we were now spending the majority of our time. I have to say, it’s so joyful walking to school now and I look back at the days of sitting in traffic on the way home and am very glad we moved, though of course I know not for everyone. We both work full time and it was a LOT trying to get back to be on time for meetings, stuck in traffic, or to get into the office. As the kids get older they also have different club and after school schedules which I think would be so difficult to manage if we were not close by.

It’s of course all doable, but I give you this perspective as a family who did it for some years and ultimately found happiness moving to be closer to school.

Thank you all for the responses!

@eagleone very glad to hear that you loved the school, we have been to many schools and Kew College Prep has been on the top of our list!

@Londonmamatoboys thank you so much for the detailed response! May I also ask how your experience has been in Kew after moving - both from school and social perspective? In Northfields, we have a lot of cafes, parks, and very close proximity to Ealing for shopping, but I am afraid Kew would have less going on. Also have you gotten used to the plane noises? I feel it’s much worse than Northfields! :)

We’re super happy, but everyone is different and will have their own feelings on where to live etc. For us, Kew is an absolute fairytale for families, and we feel like our children, and we, are extremely lucky to have moved. We lived in Northfields for 12 years and loved it- but we prefer Kew and Richmond. I was very worried about the plane noise too, and it was probably what stopped us moving there before. Again for us, from night one it hasn’t bothered us.