Academic primary near Fulham for a boy

[Lily7050]

We live on the border between Fulham-Chelsea-Wandsworth.
So far I registered DS with Thomas's Fulham (closest to home, just 15 minutes walk), Fulham prep, Falkner House, Garden House and the Roche School. Basically I registered with the schools I liked that are within half an hour walking distance.
DS has just turned two but he is ahead of his peers in talking and numbers/counting. He is also very outgoing and happy chappy.
If I understood correctly the only academic school from my list is Falkner House which seems to have very peculiar environment.
I wonder whether it is worth to register for at least one more academic primary.
I have read good things on MM about Newton prep, but it is in Battersea, one hour walking and driving can take 40 minutes depending on traffic.
Is there another academic primary MM would recommend which is with easy commute from Fulham?
I am tempted to register with Newton though.

Prep school life is very local, and being able to walk to school is a big bonus. Children's parties will be a nightmare for you, and to be blunt, parents won't want to trek all the way over the bridge from Battersea to Fulham to go to your DS's parties.

Although generally I’d agree that most people don’t want their small children commuting a huge distance to school, we’re at Newton Prep and people seem to travel far greater distances than I’d think normal to get there. I assume that it’s because parents think it’s a great school and willing to go out their way to get there as there must be closer options. We’ve been to birthday parties all over the place, mostly in Chelsea and Wandsworth but a few in Fulham and Lambeth and to be honest everyone expects to travel for them. Weekday play dates are hard so we tend to organise for weekends and holidays but I think that’s been the only issue we’ve had with choosing a school a bit further away.

Newton and Thomas's Battersea are accessible from Chelsea, but not so good from Fulham. There are lots of great preps in W London, so I'd still advise anyone to look for a great school near to home. It becomes more important as they go through prep school. If you live near Falkner/ Glendower/ Bute/ Ravenscourt /Ken Prep/ Whetherby/ Fulham Prep/ WUS/ SPJ or one of the Thomas's you really need to go to the closest one you can get into.

You need that local cluster of parents around you for help with homework, forgotten items, pickups, sports fixtures, etc. It makes life much easier and more pleasant if children can go to playdates whenever they want or wander down the road and find their playmates in the park.

[quote Lily7050]@bluetowers: My DS is still in nappies :) Of course he is taught to hold a pencil and other items. The nursery follows EYFS. He can do everything else 2.5 can do. The nursery has never told us he is behind. He got good memory and learns very fast. He started talking before he leaned walking. Every child is different and learn at different speed. I have not heard EYFS curriculum prohibits to teach a child something beyond or ahead of curriculum.[/quote]
You say he's working at the level of a 4year old but a child who is still in nappies is unlikely to be truely working at the age of children twice his age. Rote learning reading out numbers & letters is very different from learning & explaining maths concepts at reception age. He won't be reading phonics books I doubt which lots can at 4. Can he write his full name neatly? Can he spell words out properly.
That's my point. He can't yet take himself to the toilet.

@themanwithnoname

You need that local cluster of parents around you for help with homework, forgotten items, pickups, sports fixtures, etc. It makes life much easier and more pleasant if children can go to playdates whenever they want or wander down the road and find their playmates in the park.

Having one child at a local school and two at Newton, which is a reasonable trek for us, I can see how having school friends in walking distance is preferable for many. I’m just making the point that if OP thinks that Newton is the right school for her son, distance may not be an issue as plenty of other kids travel to get there and school life adjusts to take care of it. We still manage lift shares and swap homework (there are a few families who live near us and most people will find a local cluster) and overall we’re quite happy to travel to what we consider to be a good school, despite having more local options.

Hi there, are you able to PM me with anymore detail as to why you think this? I am strongly considering this school for my soon, so keen to hear more. Do you have first hand experience? Thanks very much!

Interesting to read almost one year later after I started the thread.
My son is now toilet trained, passed nursery assessment and got a nursery offer from Newton Prep.
It felt an easy journey for me to go by trains from Imperial Wharf station to Queenstown Road when I visited Newton prep myself. In theory I could drop my DS and go back on train to continue to Waterloo to get to my office. But DS is still not good at holding my hand and staying close when we are out and about. The thought of him running through platforms at Clapham Junction station makes me 😰
Tbh, I still cannot tell whether Newton prep is the right school for him. Not sure how people decide.