Fulham prep

[obylady]

Any parents here form Fulham pre prep pls... we are looking to place our son there next year for Reception in 2022 and would our your inputs pls.
Our aim at 11 or 13 plus is for Kings or St Pauls so want a great academic school but with nurture as well.
Also any recommendation for green places where we could live which is easy commute to school... fulham is too much building for me... I would love some nature!
Thank you

Sorry am not a FP parent but we were facing the same issue with placing our son in reception for this September. After some fairly extensive research (including a consultation with good schools guide) we formed the view that FP does not really prepare pupils well for these type of exams as it an all through school anc geared towards keeping children at the school. There are other more ‘ academic’ schools or certainly preps that will focus on these exams. Hopefully others will be along to comment on the nurturing question, though I have heard nothing negative in this regard.
As to where to live, Barnes would be a good choice save for Hammermith bridge being closed atm, or Chiswick?

If you want leafy you could live in Wimbledon but that would be rubbish for St Paul’s and not great for Fulham Prep.
Chiswick would be not be great for Kings.
I often say this but I think you’re probably over thinking everything particularly if your child hasn’t even started school yet.
Choose an area you like. Find a prep school ( or state school) within walking distance and think about Secondary in a few years when you have more of an idea of what type of school will suit your son.
Fulham Prep is absolutely fine and sends children to a wide variety of schools which suit the individual child.

It’s way too early to tell if your child will be the right kid for SP or Kings at the age of 4.
But generally speaking, FP won’t be the first choice school if you have high academic ambition. As others said - it is an all-through school and they don’t have much of an incentive to prepare best kids to leave.
So - while it’s not impossible and does happen at a small scale - it requires a lot of extra work for the parents to get their kids ready for the exams at the top academic secondaries.
Great academics but nurturing - made me smile. It’s nice in theory, but this area of london is just too competitive for that. I think it’s also driven by parents who put a lot of pressure on the kids to get into the few top schools - irrespective of whether those schools are best for their kids.

As others have said - in your place, i’d pick an area you would like to live in, then chose the best prep in that area and then see how your boy is doing. And then decide.

If your boy is an early developer - say he is reading and doing numbers already - I’d try those schools at 7/8+.

Thank you very much for your insight guys.
Yes am probably thinking way too much about it all.

Nothing 77, any insight from your research about the possible schools that you found pls.

Yes of course.
We are based in north Fulham so we’re advised to choose a stand alone prep if we were serious about giving ds the best option of going to the top school eg St. Paul’s, kings etc. We were looking at Parsons Green prep, northcote lodge, wetherby and falkner house. We only decided upon Merlin specific ally once it was pointed out to us that ds may have a good chance of succeeding at the 7+, after visiting the school.

Got 7 plus squirrels (Wimbledon common prep) and merlin are very good.

Fulham Preprep is a very good school in terms of nurturing. Staffs are nice, children are very happy. But if you want st paul's, it will be your job alone(maybe with tutors), hard work outside of school hours. Like another comment has mentioned, the school has all years so will be aiming to keep the children with them. That said, the teaching is not bad at all, just no exams, zero pressure on the children, they can have a very relaxed and happy childhood which probably is a good thing for anyone not wanting to change school in a few years.

@CCLOVE2014: Do you know if Fulham prep curriculum is one or two years ahead of the national curriculum?
I believe the school curriculum is the main thing. As long as it is in line with where St Paul's (and other top schools) expects children to be tutoring for exams should be just practicing mock exams. For 7+ majority of parents should be able to help DC themselves.

@Lily7050

You are being naive, or, more likely uninformed. I presume you haven’t had children going through 7/8/…+ in West London yet.

It is not difficult to be ahead of National curriculum, at least not in the primary school. Most private preps are ahead of national curriculum in some way.
But results, especially for boys 7/8+ are quite different in, say Wetherby pre-prep and Fulham prep. It is due to teaching, practicing, testing, etc that happens in the school.
A parent with a kid at FP has to do a lot more than parents of boys at Wetherby to try to get their boy up to the level of SP or WU.
And most parents don’t have enough time and patience to do it. Or knowledge of what needs to be done, really.

I am not saying these are the only schools to aspire to. Or that at the age of 2,3,4 when parents of boys pick schools it’s known where their boys will be applying to.

But if if you are thinking of choosing schools now - it’s better to at least understand how the system works.

@MMmomDD, thank you. I came across an old thread about Wetherby where people were saying how badly Wetherby children treated their nannies.
I guess those families now moved to Thomas's Battersea to be close to royal children but still the thread left unpleasant feeling.

If I understand correctly Whetherby is the "hot house".
I do not want to set my DS in the mode "get into St Pauls' or die". If he is upto St Paul's he will make it. If the ultimate goal to make it to a good university, bright children from ordinary state schools get to Oxford and Cambridge.
I do not want my DS to spend all time outside school hours for never ending tutoring into someone he cannot be.

@Lily7050

Not sure what the point of your comment is.
Of course one doesn’t need to be in private system. And smart kids from state schools do go on to Oxbridge.

But here on this thread people are discussing the private prep path, specific to the west london area. And general points like - if my kid is StP-smart - they’ll make it there - is naive, if we are talking about 7/8/11/13+.

Those exams are highly competitive around here. And the preps focus on helping smart boys show their best at the exams.
A more relaxed school, like Fulham Prep - doesn’t focus on getting their kids to the top secondaries, so they won’t prepare their buys in the same way as academic preps.
But kids can of course stay on in FP all through. It’s a choice.

FWIW… All Wetherby kids aren’t rude to their nannies. You can find rude kids everywhere. And people don’t move from academic preps to Thomas’s to follow royals. This is just silly.

In another thread you talked about your child being advanced for his age, and about looking for an academic prep for him.
I think you are still at the beginning of your journey through the maze of primary education. Good luck!

Thanks @MMmomDD. Our neighbor is a school consultant, retired headmistress from one of West London well known schools. She did not recommend to register from birth, whereas to get to Wetherby a boy needs to be registered soon after birth. The same consultant also told us that Garden House School is not for us, i.e. we will not fit with the families of Garden House.

@Lily7050

Figuring out schools is tricky. They all have +- and no school is perfect. In any school you will find people who love them, and those who hate them.
Also, choosing the first school for your first child often feels daunting, as if you are somehow defining their whole future.
But as time goes on, you realise it’s not quite like that. And there are a lot of our own anxieties we bring into that.

Yes Fulham preprep is ahead of national curriculum but not enough at all. Way way below the standard St Paul’s or Westminster under 7+ basic requirements. If a child wish to go down the exam route, he will need to learn a lot of things he’s never been taught in school, not just learning the concepts, he will need to do enough practice works to really master it. Because the exams are time sensitive, just knowing a concept doesn’t guarantee how quickly he can give correct answers, he needs to be able to give accurate answers within a blink of eye, otherwise won’t finish the papers within the time given. On another note, sometimes it’s not even that the parents don’t have enough time to teach because lots of people use tutors, the real problem will be the child won’t have time. Hours of tutoring required after school means no time to enjoy nature, minimum time spent on eating and sleeping, the rest of every breathing minute of the child is spent on doing papers. It is a blood battle, there’s no one foot in one foot out. Either both feet in or better just avoid the whole thing.
But having said all that, there really isn’t need to have to enter that blood battle. FP is a perfectly good school for parents looking to have happy children, unpressured children, children who can enjoy sun and park after school. Also has a variety of lovely after school clubs. FP provides all the years so no pressure to transfer to another school. Btw they prepare IB down the line.

I would suggest basing yourself somewhere like Wimbledon and choosing a local prep.

Wimbledon is green and has lots of independent senior schools close by or accessible, a range of academic levels, so you will be able to pick a suitable one when the time comes.

For prep you don’t want to be doing a long commute, local friends are really important.

You could also look at Teddington and Hampton, again these areas have good local prep schools and a range of senior schools that are local or can be accessed from there.

I certainly wouldn’t pick FP and live elsewhere!

Thank you @CCLOVE2014. All private preps say that they would stretch the child if he/she is up to it.
I understand exam format practice is necessary to get used to it and be able to complete questions on time.
I have been reading 7+ threads and it looks like quite a few children from state schools get into St Paul's just with parents' help. Those must be very bright children, but then my understanding is St Paul's is for very bright.
I do not want to push my DS into St Paul's if he is not up to it and would struggle all the years in the school.

It's ahead of national curriculum but way way behind the few top schools' expectations. It's not FP's fault though because those schools are asking a lot from the candidates and we as parents make the decision if we want to go through it or not. Hope the best for your child's results.

Hi everyone,

We are choosing between these 3 schools and would appreciate any feedback.

Our daughter did not get into Ken Prep even though her nursery manager and other feedback we got was that she is a very strong candidate. Might have been an off day as her brother woke her up very early etc and she looked quite tired, not sure. We are now choosing between these 3 and my gut feeling says PGP but I wonder what any recent opinions are.

Pros and cons that I see

PGP - great facilities (better than most top schools tbh), outdoor space, small classes, convenient commute, seem to have good results for its size
FP - goes to 18 (which concerns me if they would bother prepping for 11+), seems popular, I did not love the facilities though seems a bit dated
Thomas's Kensington- new building coming up, results do not seem better than PGP but has stronger reputation, more posh, commute would be harder though and significantly more expensive

Thanks!

Hi BC23 you might get more answers if you start a new thread.

I don’t know those schools well but for prep age I would always always choose local unless you really aren’t happy with any local options.