Jack & Jill Clarence House, St Catherine's prep and Old Vicarage School

[DancingbytheRiver]

Looking at these 3 schools for my girl to start in Y3.

Clarence House: we were very impressed by the ethos, however it is a new school, with small pupils numbers yet, and also wonder about academic standards as the pre-prep feeds into LEH juniors, so why would you stay here? We like the attention to detail and ethos though, probably top of our list, does anyone have insights?

St Catherine's prep - heard very good things about the HM and the facilities are good, including swimming pool. All through to the senior school, so no 11+. Wonder about academic attainment although we hear the senior school is upping entrance standards - again any parents? Also they have very small classes in the lower years, and we wonder why.

Old Vicarage: perhaps does not work so well for commuting, but having read all the reports on Mumsnet, seems to be a marmite school too. They seem to produce good results, but wonder about the parent base and the ethos, and focus on extra curricular which is important for us. Any current parent out there?

We have really a dilemma as none are straight choices. We are looking for an academic school, but with a ethos focused on resilience and high moral values.

Not fair for me to comment on Clarence House but I will tell you that st Catherine's is changing its business model and dropping entry before year 3. They are going 2 form now all the way through as their numbers grow. Think this is mainly due to new HM, academics being on the up and dodging the 11+. I moved my (fairly academic) child from another local prep to avoid the process and have been very pleasantly surprised. That said, they won’t prep you for 11+ so if you have your eye on LEH, I would go straight for that at 7+ and not bother with Clarence House.

@after8itsgrownuptime, thank you for your post. Do you mean entry to St Caths will be from Y3 only, or that they are dropping the Y3 entry? Since St Caths is less academic, can I ask why you did not consider LEH if your child is academic? We have a middle of the road child (or don't know what we have really) but value pastoral care and the attention a school can give to each individual child, we think our girl would benefit from a nurturing environment and the performance will come more naturally for her this way.
Which brings me to Old Vicarage School which has a good reputation academically but have not heard much pastorally, we like the small classes.

@DancingbytheRiver st cats is dropping entry at key stage 1 as part of a phased plan and going 2 form entry from year 3 onwards due to rising numbers. They are going to build a new music block and upgrade existing facilities.
LEH was never on our list for DD as it’s 100% not the right school for her. We did like surbiton and loved swips , but decided that surbiton was to big and swips was to far away.
She is fairly bright, but is happier in a smaller nurturing school and this is where she is now thriving.
LEH is a great school for the right girl but not the right fit for her. Also to be honest , fairly bright wouldn’t be enough to get in to LEH - it’s a highly academic school and the girls I know that got in this year at 11+ are very bright and good all rounders as well. (Think CATs of 125+ and top set for everything in their prep)
Having just gone through the 11+ with an older child, it’s not a process I want to repeat so we moved her to a through school where she has the option to sit 11+ if we prep her, but can stay if she is happy. Pastorally it’s been excellent and the girls are all very friendly. I also like the idea of local friends.
Why don’t you apply for 7+ at LEH - at least then you would get an insight in to the highly competitive process and if you get it, you wouldn’t have to sit 11+. They also give you useful feedback if you don’t get offered a place.
If you want to go through the 11+ process for LEH at 11, then really she needs to be in a good prep.- Newland house, twickenham prep, etc etc
Preps finish the key stage 2 syllabus by end of year 5 and then spend the rest of the time teaching the kids how to do VR/NVR, and answer exam questions and how to interview well. Theu are there to prep for the exam process and you won’t get this at St. cats or the vineyard. Prep heads will also advise you on the right school for your DD academically AND pastorally. We found this incredibly useful when we went through the process this year for older child

@After8itsgrownuptime I'm in a similar boat now. Would you kindly share your views on what schools did ur kids go to a) for 11+ and b) the second kid that you mentioned as fairly bright? I ask as I haven't figured out yet which of the two routes to take for my DD (maybe middle of the road but shows great aptitude at home in math) while current school (state) is just bad!
What schools did you prefer or not prefer and why? Im stuck between Clarence and Staines prep but do not simply understand the letters academic rigour while Clarence seems only academic

@DancingbytheRiver plz share your views in this. In the same boat