London prep school - ideas please

[SaraMovingToLondon]

Hi everyone! I’m new to mumsnet but I’m hoping to tap into your collective wisdom. We are planning to to relocate from Melbourne to London with a 2 year old boy, and I’m a bit lost in terms of where to live and school options for our son. We are thinking private school and ideally good preparation for secondary entrance exams, but of course that’s not the only factor we care about. We very much value a kind, nurturing environment.

Schools that require application from birth are of course not an option for us, and those that require face to face assessment for 4+ may or may not be an option depending on timing. But we are very flexible on where to live (we do preference inner city areas, with short-ish commutes to the city, and with a good atmosphere). Too much to ask?

What schools would you recommend if location wasn’t too much of a constraint?

Thank you so much!

Sara

Do you want co-ed or single sex and what's your housing budget? Day you know in which part of London you'd likely be working?

Are you only interested in prep schools or also 4-18 schools?

There are loads of great schools in London so narrowing the brief a little bit might get you some more answers!

Consider what type of schools you prefer. Narrow down your options first. Visit schools and take a look around in order to find out more.

Hardly anywhere requires birth registration, but you're in a bit of a bind because first-come-first-served schools (ie those which don't assess) will have their lists full very early

All preps will be sound at preparing for secondary school transfer - that's their raison d'être and why they have the name 'preparatory'

Knowing which part of London you would like to live in, or where you know you will be working (so we can work out a reasonable commute) would be helpful.

But, based on what you have posted, I would suggest that you move to an area of London where there are lots of schools, to maximise the chances of finding one you like. I'd say the 'Nappy Valley' area in SW London (SW11, mainly between Clapham and Wandsworth Commons) is as good a place as any. There are several preps within walking distance or easy bus ride, and the state schools are good too, so if you find preps are full then there is a perfectly good alternative.

One big factor in your favour is that there is a lot of 'churn' in London preps (people often move out of London when subsequent DC cone along, or they relocate for work etc). So even if the main entrance rounds don't work for you from overseas, finding an ad hoc place after you arrive will be possible.

@SouthLondonMommy my husband will be working in WC2. And I still don’t know what I’ll be doing (we are not moving until the end of next year), but I’ll probably end up in Canary Wharf. Our preference would be co-ed schools. And we are open to 4-18 schools as well as just prep. But I guess committing to a 4-18 school feels like a bigger decision, given that we are still trying to get our heads around the UK education system… Apologies my question is so broad!

Thank you @languagelover96

We are going to spend a few weeks in London in January touring schools and trying to decide where we want to live (before permanently relocating at the end of next year) so hoping to short list a few schools by then.

Off topic but how have you managed to get flights to London and back to Melbourne? Many of my Australian colleagues here who have just finished their 2 year assignments have over the past few weeks had their flights (to get home before Christmas) cancelled and there's nothing for them until end of March.

On schools, perhaps narrow it down to areas with grammar schools (ie Kent / South East London) then look at prep schools from those areas. My DDs went to one local to me and both moved into grammar school. There are 2 prep schools within a 5-10 min walk away from me which are both equally as lovely as each other; great pastoral care and did very well with grammar school placements.

You'll also need to work out which school year you would ideally like - ours starts 1 September, so DC whose birthday falls in the 'overlap' could go into either - state schools would always be by birthday, preps more flexible for DC who have already started)

The area I suggested would work in terms of likely commute.

Have a browse on the websites of: Newton Prep, Parkgate House, Thomas Clapham, Eaton House the Manor (single sex but some sharing with collocated girls school) , Oliver House (RC), Dolphin School Northcote Road (proestant), Northcote Lodge (single sex) or a bit further south, Hornsby House. Also have a look now at Dulwich College (single sex) and Alleyns - not quite in the area I suggested but still workable..

Do you like the look of any of them? What appeals/doesn't appeal about them?

Without knowing your housing budget, I'd recommend you take a tour of the following schools in Dulwich / Herne Hill as you can get into London Bridge in about 12 minutes and from there jump on the jubilee line to either WC2 or Canary Wharf.

1. Alleyns (very selective) but once you are in you can stay until 18 though you can switch for senior school
2. Herne Hill Pre-prep which prepares children for the 7+ to various schools with good results
3. Rosemead prep which has an entry point at 4 and prepares kids for the 11+ with results

Herne Hill and Rosemead will be fairly easy to get into and have very good exit results where Alleyns has around 200 applicants for 20 places so can't ever be seen as a sure thing. Rosemead and Herne Hill both have a very warm ethos with a wide extracurricular offering and cater to a mixed ability intake very well, including stretching the most able. The facilities at Rosemead aren't great so they have to go offsite to do a number of activities but that's reflected in the much lower fees than most of the local alternatives.

Boys schools in the area include Dulwich College and Dulwich Prep which are both great options if you'd consider single sex.

SW London has wonderful family friendly neighbourhoods that would also work for your commute (Battersea, Clapham, Putney, Barnes) with direct lines into Waterloo station.

The Thomas chain of prep schools in Battersea and Clapham would are more mixed ability with a strong list of leavers destinations.

Blackheath is a lovely area to live and Blackheath Prep is co-ed. Admission is at 3 typically but many schools have occasional vacancies at the moment as a lot of families left London after covid so would still be worth contacting.

The other major co-ed through school option with entry at 4 is Highgate in North London. Its very selective like Alleyns so may or may not suit a but the Hampstead area is a beautiful part of London to live in.

Honestly, there are lots of great schools so I'd look into the locations that appeal to you most and that work with your budget and then narrow it don't from there.

Hi OP

I’ve PMed you but it may be worth contacting St Paul’s Cathedral School. We are very happy with it and it ticks all the things that you have said that you are looking for.

Anywhere that only goes to 7+ will not be kind and nurturing as they need to get their children into schools at 7.

Highgate school is not in Hampstead! It's in Highgate and it quite pushy. Most of the London schools are.

I'd second looking at Blackheath and Wimbledon and also West Hampstead. Most London preps are not kind and nuturing though - we moved out!

For balance I can say that I know kind nurturing schools that are in London and are preps of different age groups.

However, academically selective schools aren’t appropriate for the majority of kids yet some children are tutored to get in and then find the pace difficult and struggle.

If this is a potential concern go to a mixed ability school of which a number have already been recommended

@underneaththeash I was recommending areas near schools that meet the OP's description of where she'd like to live. I think the Hampstead area is fine for Highgate as its a 7 min drive but happy to be corrected if pupils living in Hampstead don't typically go to Highgate!

Also, I stand by my comment that Herne Hill is nurturing. I'm sorry you and your child had a difficult experience wherever he or she attended.

UCS in Hampstead is excellent. It’s through to 18.
Otherwise so many prep schools in the Hampstead area. Devonshire House, St Anthony’s, Lyndhurst, Hereward House , Arnold House etc

The Thomas chain of prep schools accepts applications for children between age 1 and 2. Once a schools gets 3 applications per place, the main list is closed.
Some schools, including Thomas's and Newton Prep currently invite families who applied for places in September 2022. Tours of families who applied for places in September 2023 will take place in late spring/summer 2022.

Christ on a bike, don’t move to north/central London if you want kind and nurturing schools. It is a rat race crossed with an arms race. It’s all about money and most of all competition. Two year olds with tutors, six year olds doing an hour of homework a night, parents demanding that everyone’s reading level ranking is published, no outside space for play etc etc. Also, nursery-wise (which presumably you will need for a while until he starts school) central London is a total desert in terms of decent year around daycare that allows working parents to work.

Whichever PP said south/east London - that’s not a bad shout. It has an element of madness to it (hello wannabe Alleyns parents I am looking at you) but nothing like as bad as north/central. Within that, Blackheath is nice, and close to Canary Wharf. Thomas’s schools in south London are supposed to be all about mental health etc as seen on the Cambridges. I don’t know how true that really is in practice and how much that’s a marketing gimmick, but in north/central, you wouldn’t even see that kind of marketing gimmick.

[quote SouthLondonMommy]@underneaththeash I was recommending areas near schools that meet the OP's description of where she'd like to live. I think the Hampstead area is fine for Highgate as its a 7 min drive but happy to be corrected if pupils living in Hampstead don't typically go to Highgate!

Also, I stand by my comment that Herne Hill is nurturing. I'm sorry you and your child had a difficult experience wherever he or she attended.[/quote]
There is no way on earth you could drive from central Hampstead to Highgate between 6.30am and 9pm in 7 minutes!

@SaraMovingToLondon

Hi everyone! I’m new to mumsnet but I’m hoping to tap into your collective wisdom. We are planning to to relocate from Melbourne to London with a 2 year old boy, and I’m a bit lost in terms of where to live and school options for our son. We are thinking private school and ideally good preparation for secondary entrance exams, but of course that’s not the only factor we care about. We very much value a kind, nurturing environment.

Schools that require application from birth are of course not an option for us, and those that require face to face assessment for 4+ may or may not be an option depending on timing. But we are very flexible on where to live (we do preference inner city areas, with short-ish commutes to the city, and with a good atmosphere). Too much to ask?

What schools would you recommend if location wasn’t too much of a constraint?

Thank you so much!

Sara

Hi happy to have a conversation