SW London Prep - Hurlingham vs. The Roche

[BananaMommy]

Hi all, we need to make a school decision for DS who will start reception next year. He currently has places in both Hurlingham School and the Roche School and it's just so hard to decide which one to go for!

Both schools are very close to us, appear to be nurturing, have a lot of happy and confident children and produce similar 11+ results. The Roche School seems more like a family which we like, and its after school care that extends to 18:30 also suits our needs better. However, Hurlingham seems to have better facilities for music, science and technology.

DS seems quite bright but is a little bit shy. We want to make sure he becomes a happy, confident and all-around person as well as achieve a good 11+ result for an academic secondary school.

We'd appreciate thoughts or insights from anyone who has first / second-hand experience with these schools or has gone through a similar decision process. Many thanks in advance!

Have you visited both schools?
We did not register with Hurlingham and did not visit.
We visited and registered with the Roche.
The Roche's classrooms looked very small for the number of children they fitted inside. The Roche facilities were not as good as other schools we visited. The open day tour felt a bit over rehearsed.
But we are on Fulham side of Wandsworth Bridge and the other schools are in Fulham or Chelsea.
We received an offer from the Roche but declined it in a hope that we will get offers from other schools. Tbh I regret a bit because I have heard that Fulham and Chelsea preps got too many siblings registered. I am worried that we may not get any place.

We had offers from both schools some years ago and went for The Roche and have not regretted it. Really warm and caring, happy children and sound academics (rooted in personalised approach). The school recently acquired more space for Y6 and although the facilities are limited, the good use of the park next door and all the other pluses (brilliant community, excellent teaching including in the arts, etc) more than compensate.

I have two kids at the Roche and am very happy with it, they were there since nursery. I think the main difference may be size and parent body. I think Roche families are a bit more diverse (ethnically and socio economically) and potentially more down to earth and laid back, it's a very friendly, welcoming environment and no-one is cliquey or snobby. The class sizes are probably smaller than Hurlingham. While there are usually 16-18 kids per class, they have smaller sets and your child may be in a Maths or English set with only 7-10 children, which I think is very good. There's a lot of sport at the Roche (three games afternoons per week), I know the Hurlingham kids are at the park a lot as well but I know some Hurlingham parents (esp of girls) who complain there isn't enough sport, not sure if this is true.

We have some friends at Hurlingham Prep who are also very happy. I think Hurlingham Prep is bit more polished and formal, maybe a bit better on the administrative side too. Although both are non-selective I think Roche has a wider ability range so the results reflect that as well.

Overall I'd have been happy with both schools, my kids definitely too, I just liked the slightly scruffy down-to-earth feel at the Roche but I am very aware that not everybody likes it. It's a bit small so it depends on the year group as well, Hurlingham Prep is probably more of a well oiled machine.

Thanks so much for your replies, Lily7050, AlwaysGoodToChat, chilledparent27. Your thoughts and experience are very helpful for our decision-making which is still ongoing😉

@Lily7050 We visited both schools and had the same feeling about the small space of The Roche. I can understand why you turned it down, and commuting from the Fulham side could be a bit of pain as well. Good luck getting a place at the Fulham and Chelsea preps!

@AlwaysGoodToChat @chilledparent27 Good to hear that you both had great experiences with The Roche. It's reassuring to hear that all other aspects of the school more than compensate the lack of facilities. Do you feel your children were / are getting good opportunities to learn music instruments and computing skills at the Roche school? Also, do you feel the children are challenged / stretched enough in a very nurturing environment? Many thanks in advance!

@BananaMommy Definitely providing enough stretch, including on those areas. My daughter is quite musical and there are opportunities in the choir, chamber choir and orchestra, as well as lessons. On the computing front, the small class size does help too. Our experience has been very positive.

Hello,

I currently have a child attending Roche and I wholly concur with prior comments about the lack of academic rigor (teaching only the 11+ test starting in Y5, with morning cram sessions in Y6 and then focus on residential trips for the remainder of the terms (winter and summer)), mixed english and math sets (research shows that the average and lower than average students may benefit but it has detrimentally impacts the top students) is disappointing considering the high fees. One parent recently equated the Y6 teaching as glorified childcare. Currently parents receive a one-sided A5 piece of paper as a progress report (only for autumn and winter terms) and an 18 min parent/teacher meeting - this is 6 min for Math, 6 min for English and 6 min for class teacher (again twice per school year). This schools main aim is just to reach the national curriculum standards which most independent schools try to surpass.

The large class sizes for a school so small with no facilities (not even a changing room meaning our children remain in wet gym clothes some days) is terrible especially when you consider that every time there is free space instead of making this into a changing room or a art workshop or music room they add other classes (some years have 3 classes).

The administration of the school is very poor. There is no parent/teacher/admin portal or centralised place to do homework assignments and engage with the school - everything is done on paper and by phone (we are in 2022 when most state schools have a portal).

If you look at Companies House you can clearly see that this school is a for profit not charity school so profits going to founders and family. Just in the school year 21/22 we have had a 5% increase in fees followed by a 7% increase in fees in 7 months (not even a full year). For those fees there are no textbooks, limited workbooks (teachers seem to print out worksheets every day, homework only 2x per week from Y2 to Y6), focus on drama rehearsal exclusively in summer terms, no instrument classes (you can pay extra for 1 on 1 tuition), no art studio, limited computer classes, terrible extracurricular activities (ie tennis afterschool seems to be running drills in the small playground behind the school)).

This school has a friendly environment and extols the 'nurturing' experience for children but this is at the expense of developing our children and challenging them to be more than just average and happy.

Thank you,
Anne

We have a DD in Year 6. She has thrived at the school both socially and academically and we would not hesitate to recommend the school - in fact, one of its virtues is that it caters for a wide range of abilities and skills but does not do so, in our view, at the expense of encouraging intellectual curiosity and self-improvement. Children learn to work with others from different backgrounds and abilities (which is, in itself, an important life lesson) but are also stretched competing not with others but to be the best version of themselves.

Class size has been always below 18 kids per class (sometimes as low as 13). There are sets in Maths (by ability) but mixed in English (where some kids might be stronger in comprehension but not necessarily in grammar or creative writing, or the other way round). Prep for the 11+ starts indeed in Y5 and, tbh, to do earlier would probably mean children getting too tired of it (homework is definitely more than twice per week!) / peaking too early. We are currently going through the 11+ process and awaiting results but my DD experience has so far been as positive as it can be in the competitive SW London environment - she has passed all exams and got to final (interview) stage of all the schools she has applied for (in all cases facing stiff competition), relying solely in the guidance and advice from The Roche (no tutoring or additional resources)...an experience similar for quite a few of her friends. Crucially, she has done so with believing in herself and that doing her best will get her into the right school for her (I have seen children from some other more 'flashy' schools sadly collapsing under pressure.

It is not a 'flashy' school and there is always room for improvement (I agree that the comms could be better organised but they are always open and engaged) but the great majority of the families in our cohort are really happy to have made the choice they made.

@AlwaysMoreThanMeetsTheEye
I’m curious to know how your child has done in their 11+.

Very happy to share: She got offers from all the schools she applied for, with a couple of academic scholarship thrown into the mix. She is off to Wimbledon High School in Septiembre (Kingston Grammar was a close second).
Her friends have done very well too, with destinations including Kingston Grammar, Latimer Upper, Putney High, etc. Crucially, and beyond rankings, schools that people are happy with.
As every year, the school will be publishing offers and acceptance data. Definitely worth having a look.

My son is in year 3 at another prep school and we are considering moving him to Roche. Purely to get this opportunity. They open day is today and so far I am impressed with the school. I do find it very tight and like everyone is on top of each other.

what is your opinion on the person who commented that there was no changing rooms and kids had to sit in their wet clothes for the rest of the school day?

Also about year 6 having crammed morning sessions then focusing on residential trips.
Ive read they prep the year 6 pupil for life in secondary school in the year 6 centre which is 5 mins walk from the main school with first aid courses etc.

They also have a computer suite, an art centre at hilden house, a dance studio. This is all written on their website and mentioned at the school.

@Keyz2023 I have a child in y5. Why are you looking to move your son from the other school? I am not sure what the relevance of changing rooms is really, the days that the children have games or PE (which happens to be 4 days a week!) the children come to school in sports kit so there isn't really ever a need to change at school. I don't know if it is an issue in KS1 but I assume those children also come in games kit on the days they do sports. I have never heard anything about children having to change at school or sitting in wet clothes.

And re the year 6 programme (which our eldest went through a few years back), any prep school really will do lots of the extra stuff after the 11+ exams. It was honestly the loveliest time for the children and so good for their social development and bonding. They went on a ski trip to France, a PGL outdoor adventure trip to Wales, visited the royal courts of justice and staged a mock trial, volunteered at a local foodbank, did a cycling course, travel awareness, self defense, all very, very useful stuff. They prepared an incredible musical as well. I think a lot of prep schools do these types of enrichment activities after the exams.

They still did academic work but less formal, I remember they did some python programming in ICT and learned about loops and they did puzzles and riddles in Maths. It was probably the best months of the whole time at prep school and while initially we had thought of signing up our younger child for the 10+, once we saw how much fun our eldest had in y6 and how good it was for her to go through this experience with her friends, we decided to keep our youngest at the Roche till the end of y6. And given the excellent results this year (which I am sure will be published shortly), it seems to have been absolutely the right decision.

I feel like the roche is more established and the leavers destination list is extensive and very impressive. I want my son to have the same opportunity.
I do not think he is gifted academically (his teachers have not mentioned this) but he is very sporty. So possibly a chance at a scholarship in sports
My drawbacks are the change of school, and how it may affect him. Also the teaching style and bulk of work may change.

@Keyz2023 The Roche school has plenty of (successful) experience in integrating DC half way through their primary schooling. The small size and attention to pastoral issues does help. Our DD joined in Year 3 and some of her friends joined in Y3 and Y4 (others were there from the start). Although we, like you, had reservations about a move and whether it would unsettle her, she has loved her time at The Roche.
On teaching style and work, I cannot comment as how different it may be from the other school ... we found teaching very strong and work appropriate (obviously increasing as they progress towards the 11+ but, even for DC coming from a previous experience of no homework at all, absolutely fine.

If you dont mind asking? Which school did your DS finally go? Asking as we are checking Falcon and Hurlingham in Putney for our DD.

Our son joined Hurlingham mid-Summer term in Y4 from a state primary. He is thriving with all the sport, science, arts and extracurricular stuff but most of all he has utterly transformed academically. The staff are wonderful and their positivity along with high standards contagious.

They aim to get the best from each child while ensuring they are happy. The results, for a non-selective prep, speak for themselves. The whole 11+ process is like a well-oiled machine and we, as parents, feel our hand is held every step of the way.
class sizes are about 14-16, with streams in maths and English which works well for everyone.
Sports and drama (and music - though our son plays drums so not sure…) are top notch and although the building is small, they are often in the adjacent park.
i have no qualms about putting my son’s current and future education in their care. They do what a prep is meant to do. Just a shame it finishes at 11 - but then it is set up to feed into 11+ London Schools.