Devonshire House or North Bridge House for Year 3 entry?

[punimitsu]

hi mums & dads
We have Year 3 places for DS at both North Bridge House and Devonshire House - and are trying to decide what to go for

I've spoken to parents at both schools - and they're happy with the schools they've chosen...

Devonshire seems to have a better reputation on here, but we felt NBH was a bit more fun / relaxed - which would suit DS much better!

Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated!!!

Not NBH .....

Why’d you say that @PipaJJ?

We have been very happy with NBH

Thanks @LondonMummer
We chose NBH in the end

We are in NBH at the moment, we feel soooo luckily we received an offer from other school starting this September. Finally can leave NBH soon. Some of the teacher there are lovely, but not everyone! Just depends on if your kids are lucky enough or not. While, the management system are horrible, cannot complain more about it. So don't choose NBH if you have other options in NW3 area, I would said even heathside is better than NBH

@KatyRyan

We are in NBH at the moment, we feel soooo luckily we received an offer from other school starting this September. Finally can leave NBH soon. Some of the teacher there are lovely, but not everyone! Just depends on if your kids are lucky enough or not. While, the management system are horrible, cannot complain more about it. So don't choose NBH if you have other options in NW3 area, I would said even heathside is better than NBH

Are you talking about the pre prep or prep? The prep isn't in NW3

@LondonMummer good point, we are in Pre prep, maybe different campus are different

[quote KatyRyan]@LondonMummer good point, we are in Pre prep, maybe different campus are different[/quote]
Exactly. Be careful what you post. You are writing off a school you know nothing about.

@punimitsu, I have sent a pm. We are very happy at NBH Prep.

You are writing off a school you know nothing about.

Hardly, they know about a preprep department of the same school, and the feelings are echoed frequently at different levels within the school.

Thanks for your inputs - it has been interesting!

So.... I’ve now spoken to a lot of parents at NBH prep, and have had an overwhelmingly positive response from all of them. Significantly more so than parents at Devonshire and other schools I’ve researched.

Not sure why, but NBH (whichever section) does seem to have a poor reputation on mumsnet. Most of it unsubstantiated: see pippa’s comment above for a good example of that.

They had a change in head in prep a few years back, so maybe it’s changed?

But in any case, I think it is important to comment only if you have direct experience, rather than perpetuating hearsay; and to explain why if your experience is negative.

I have two boys in the Prep. Both Mr Bibby the previous head and the current head Mr Stenning have lots to commend them. My boys have thrived there and are set to go on to great (non-NBH) schools afterwards.

The PrePrep is a wholly different school so as you say I would only focus on Prep feedback. Many children join for the Prep only as we did.

Thanks @LondonMummer / great to hear

@LondonMummer, I completely agree, that's been our experience too. Fun, busy, friendly atmosphere, great preparation for secondary school entrance exams and generally excellent teaching .

I'm interested in both schools - are they easy to get places in all year groups or are there waiting lists? Thanks

Hi @LondonMummer I can see that you chose NBH, could you share your thoughts as to why you did not choose Devonshire House? What did parents say that put you off? Thanks a lot

@mumofan8yearoldgirl, think that q was for me!

So it was a mixture of things. Really liked the head at NBH, the school facilities, and the focus on music.

Devonshire seemed a bit too formal for my son - the teaching approach is very traditional, and he learns best when it’s a bit more fun.

One of the main things was speaking to parents - the Devonshire parents I spoke to had one niggle or another around child wellbeing. And I know two who have left Devonshire on that basis. NBH parents were universally positive.

And the clincher: my sis said the NBH kids in her son’s football club were the nicest I want my son to be around nice kids, and to be a nice kid

But the decision wasn’t easy - Devonshire has an amazing reputation and great record... at the end of the day it come down to where you think your kid with thrive.

@firstppp
Depends what entry age you’re looking at...
Devonshire is hard to get a space in later years - or at least they made it feel that way!

Both have an entrance exam, so you need to register, everyone takes the test, then they make offers when they know how many spaces they have.

@punimitsu Yes meant you of course, thanks a lot!
The traditional approach does not scare me, my daughter actually prefers the structure so that's fine, but could you elaborate a bit more about the child welfare concerns that were raised?
Ditto on raising nice, kind and sensible kids!

@mumofan8yearoldgirl
If your kid likes structure, then Devonshire is prob a good fit! I’ll PM you on the niggles...

@punimitsu I am looking at reception entry as I understand their main intake is nursery? do you think it will be difficult to get a spot?

Sorry @firstppp no idea!

Surely this depends on what you want for senior? Devonshire house will prep for their end point, NBH will want you to stay for senior and so if you want to leave you'll have to do all the preparation yourself

@sparemonitor actually nbh prep school prepare all the children who want to go to different senior schools extremely well for the 11 and 13 plus exams. Some children choose to move to nbh Senior schools for secondary and they are put into different classes for some subjects so that they aren't doing the exam preparation.