We are new Rydes Hill parents, starting our DS in nursery this academic year. Apologies as I have no real experience of the rest of the school, only the reasons why chose it and our feel / impressions to date.
The school's atmosphere and feel was a massive draw for us, the school feels like home, it's small, friendly, the girls are always well turned out, smiling and polite. You bump into a lot of the older girls during pick ups and drops offs as they go about their daily routines, and they are girls I aspire for in my own little one. The nursery has just reopened into a new building, and although there we're teething problems with equipment missing at the start of term, it's all been fixed quickly. The Headmistress is very personable, and although they clearly run a tight ship, its quite clearly a happy one.
We intend for our DD to stay all the way through to when she leaves for her 11+, and the academic side is there too. It is not as academically focused as some of the other local preps, and if academia is your main goal, you will find Rydes Hill frustrating. However, if you want a school where they focus on the individual, nurturing their talents and bringing them on where they are perhaps not so strong, then this is the place. For us and my DD, all of this in a happy environment was key, as this is the type of education we see for her. Don't get me wrong, they also get a lot of girls into local big-hitters like GHS, Tormead, St Cats, etc.
Basically, highly recommend.