Wimbledon Common Prep (Squirrels) vs The Rowans

[mnmio15]

Hello,
our son has got an offer from both The Rowans and Wimbledon Common Prep school, we weren't expecting the luxury of choosing between both!
Are there any existing parents of either school who can share their recent experience (curriculum, extra-curricular activities, ethos, is your child enjoying it, is there constructive and regular feedback from teachers etc)? Previous threads go back to 2014-2018 with not much to go on, so resurfacing this for any recent feedback.
My initial impression is that The Rowans is a bit more welcoming and has a warmer appeal (less academic pressure on the kids, bigger grounds than Squirrels for running around, but a bit cagey about leavers destination stats), and the current Head Teacher has a laid back, relaxing personality.
The Head at Squirrels, on the other hand, has a more ruthless and business like attitude, the school seems a bit more rigorous academically (is that at the expense of fun? They only offer an average of 2 PE hours a week which seems a bit tight).
The ISI reports for both schools read well but unfortunately don't shed much light on how they compare academically.

I’ll try and add a little bit here as my son also got an offer from WCPS/Squirrels, which we will be accepting.

Your understanding of Squirrels pretty much mirrors mine. The new Head is pretty focussed and straight to the point, which I liked. The whole idea of getting into Squirrels is to ease the transition into KCJS and quite a few boys take up the option. This is helped by the fact they have to prepare ALL the boys to move to Prep school and that all entities (Kings College School, KCJS and WCPS) are owned by the same trust. It is academic, pushy which is great for our son who loves to be challenged and gets bored quite easily and can switch off if he already knows the answer to something.

I know of others who didn’t get into Squirrels and had Rowans as their backup. Rowans is slightly more relaxed and focuses more on all round development rather than purely academics – though one mum did regret quite a bit not getting into Squirrels as she wanted her son to go to KCJS. The boy sat for his 7+ exams this year and got offers from both SPJ and KCJS (amongst others) with the support of a lot of home based tutoring and preparation – so it’s perfectly possible to get into any of the top schools even from Rowans.

I guess it depends on what you value – if you think your child can thrive in a competitive environment, Squirrels is maybe the better option. If you want a more rounded experience including extra-curriculars and PE – Rowans is a good fit. At the end of the day, they’re both fantastic schools and its hard to go wrong with either option.

Hi. Our son is currently at The Rowans. We also had offers from both schools, and not an easy decision between the two. In the end we turned down WCPS as we preferred having spoken to both schools at length, former teachers, and current parents at both, that The Rowans has equally impressive leavers destinations (Kings, St. Paul's, Hampton) in equivalent proportion, alongside a smaller, warmer, and slightly less competitive environment. Also at this age, it is perhaps difficult to determine just how academic a child is going to be, and being able to support children of all abilities was something that was called out in the most recent WCPS ISI report as an area to improve. Plus a personal choice is we preferred co-ed at this early stage. As SWLondonMum00 says, both are great options and in reality I think the difference is marginal. A personal choice I believe as to where feels like the best fit, but I don't think choosing The Rowans in any less academic in terms of actual outcomes from my understanding.

Currently at Rowans. Amazing school. Great balance of academics and nurturing. Kids are confident, happy and independent, and they love getting exposure to leadership roles. Parents pick two 7+ schools for their child and school focuses prep around this for the child. They provide candid feedback on their views of child’s abilities for chosen schools to help parents understand natural ability better. They also support prep for 7+ with holiday homework packs, and extra creative writing and maths during term, depending on the parents’ chosen schools. This year basically half of the boys have offers from Kings, some St Paul’s, Latymer and Hampton. If I had to choose again, I’d choose Rowans again.

Presently have a child at Rowans. We're very happy with the school. Our son loves school and goes in every day with a smile on his face. It's a very friendly, warm and nurturing school and in our experience places a good deal of emphasis on the children having fun and having a positive experience as well as academic progress. The kids love the playground and there's a good range of extracurricular activities for the size of the school. I can't comment on WCPS as we didn't apply for any single-sex schools - we wanted coed at least at the start.

@Sw19momma thanks for your detailed comment. That answered most of my questions. I agree that this new headmaster is absolutely amazing and has lifted schoo's level up massively in every aspect. I love the fact that he emphasises a lot on "learning through play". We have been lucky to get an offer for entry 2024. Looking forward!

Resurfacing this thread. Need to make the same decision on Squirrels vs Rowans. Interested to hear about any further experiences of either school from current parents please?

Hi @SWLondonParent , I can obviously only give my views on Rowans (and have given my general impression above) but is there anything in particular you would like to know?

Hi, Really pleased I came across this thread, I am a Mum of two boys one has attended WCPS and we have been lucky enough to gain a place at WCPS for my younger one. They are both extremely different characters so I explored many other schools for my younger one as I felt it was important not to go for the same school as my older one.
The Rowans is a lovely school and the co-ed aspect is a plus if you have a sibling that is a girl, saying that my friends at WCPS still choose it and sent their daughters to Wimbledon high or the Study.
Mr Forbes (Head at WCPS) eloquently explained the advantages of single sex education at the open morning, girls learn and develop faster than boys and therefore single sex education takes this into account.
My older son attended WCPS under the old head Mrs Buck, the difference between Mr Forbes and Mrs Buck is extraordinary, he is present, available and knows every boy and their family, he has time for people and is more than willing to explain anything you need to know, he is very approachable, something that could not be said about the old head. Although I liked Mrs Spratt at the Rowans and she is a positive change from the old head there (who I should add is now the head at SHS), I felt that she lacked the authority that was needed and perhaps wouldn't deal with things in the same way as Mr Forbes.
I understand the frustration that parents feel about not knowing the numbers for the leavers destinations, I think this is because they know some parents become obsessed with numbers and percentages and Mr Forbes advises parents carefully on which school will be best for the child. WCPS is the biggest feeder into KCJS, this has been the case for many years and has not changed since Mr Forbes or Mr Lougher (Head of KCJS) took over. If you look at it from a business perspective, WCPS is owned and governed by KCS, Rowans are owned by The Shrewsbury house trust, therefore the focus of each school is to try and secure as many places as possible in the next school of the ownership. WCPS do not have any guaranteed places into KCJS no school does, but what they do have is the best understanding of what is needed to gain a place at the school and the teachers (whom may I add are extremely lovely and nurturing) will prepare the boys in the correct way for the process. Rowans from what I understand do have places guaranteed for their boys at SHS and are not as familiar with the process and what KCJS are looking for, make of that what you will but WCPS in my opinion gives your child the best opportunity for a place. I echo what has been said above in that the new headteacher is very open and honest about the possibility of your child's chances and the Head of Academics is present in a meeting and will give you accurate, excellent information on how your child is doing in Year 1, as the exams come very quickly once they are in Year 2.
I agree with some of the comments regarding the academic focus of WCPS but feel quite strongly that this has changed since the new head started, the boys have so much fun that many do not want to leave! From Reception to Year 2 the children are given so many fun filled opportunities, dance workshops, Great Fire of London recreation, visit from authors, the police, they play sporting fixtures from Reception and the Extra-Curricular offer is better than any of the other schools I looked at. Speaking to Mr Forbes at an open morning, he spoke of their plan to introduce peripatetic music lessons from September, they have a new music teacher who is planning lots of new initiatives too.
Ultimately, no-one knows there child better than the parents. All I will say is that is you want a school, that will bring out the best in your child and help you to navigate the best pathway for their future then you cannot go wrong by sending them to WCPS.

A slightly different viewpoint here. My kids went to a school on Edge Hill and we would regularly have kids join that were asked to leave Squirrels at the age of 5/6 because they weren’t academic enough.
So they are very pressured there and is it worth it to have you child told at Reception/Year 1 they don’t make the cut ?

That is excellent feedback thank you! We’ve accepted a place at Squirrels for September, I’d just wish they could provide extra curricular activities until 6pm (as a lot of other local preps do) rather than 5pm to cater for working parents. Spanish lessons would also be a bonus (again as a number of other local preps do), rather than French, but can live with that.

@EmptyEnvelope I think I know of one or two of the families that you are referring to. The departure were not down to the school not wanting them more that they were told (honestly) that the chances of an academic school - which was their focus, was not going to be the best route for their child. Going to Donhead - which I presume is the school you are referring to as the only other school on Edge Hill is Wimbledon College (state and secondary) By changing to Donhead there is no need for the 7+ and this means the children have longer to develop before having to take exams. There are + and - for the different systems that operate. However what is important is that WCPS put the child at the focal point not wanting them to experience the pressures of taking an exam they were not ready for and another important factor is that these parents would naturally be disappointed and therefore maybe not recount the situation to put WCPS in a positive light.

@mnmio15 I can understand your frustration at the earlier finish but it was explained to me by the office that the reason for this, is the age of the children who attend the school. The youngest are 4 oldest 7 - by the time clubs finish they are exhausted and most are in bed by 7 - with a 6pm pick up you would be looking at a very short turnaround for dinner, bath, bed. This then impacts their learning moving forward as a tired child is less likely to learn.
If a later pick up is completely necessary then PlayDays do operate a collection from WCPS.
Personally I felt that WCPS could cash in on operating a later childcare service but don’t for the well-being of the children - which for me meant a lot.

I’m delighted that you are joining WCPS perhaps our paths with cross in the playground.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I found the Wimbledon Common Prep School leavers lists have been published on their website here: https://wcps.org.uk/media/4537/wcps-leavers-alphabetically.pdf

I’m not sure why they haven’t posted them previously as they are VERY impressive!

Hope this is helpful.

Helen

Thanks, and also thank you for the tip on Playdays nursery pick ups, will definitely be taking that up for a day or two a week!

Thats great news. 😊

Thanks for the updated info Helen. Are these the stats for 5 years?

Yes it would appear that they are the places achieved from 2018 to date

Hi all, just a quick question on the back of all this… to get into Squirrels or Rowans, did you feel it mattered what nursery your child went to? I have been told to do so, I must send my child to castle nursery but the hours for that nursery are very restrictive as a working mum. I’d be really interested to know what the assessment was like and which nurseries your kids went to. Thanks!

Absolutely not! I asked the question when my son was going for assessment and was told the best nursery is the one that fits your family circumstances. Some nurseries do know the process and can help the boys prepare but I was told that even boys who do not attend nursery get offered places. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much - that’s really helpful to know!

@Rafeysmum The assessment of WCP was like a playdate at school. They asked us to drop kids at allocated classrooms and to leave! Obviously for some kids it took a while to settle. My son went straight to the arranged tables to explore them. We were waiting in the school hall for 30 mins while kids were there. I saw few kids were guided outside to their parents due to not settling well. But honestly at the end, even those ones received an offer (the ones that I know). So its not an academic assessment. I will advise to choose a nursery that your child enjoys his/her time in there. Hope this helps.

Thank you! Do you mind sharing what nursery your son went to?

I have three kids at the Rowans and could not be happier! I honestly couldn’t imagine them having a happier, more nurturing start to school life while still being academically ambitious.

As mentioned above, leaver destinations are impressive with well over half of this year’s boys going to either Kings, St Paul‘s or Hampton.

It truly is such a happy place, and I think the fact that it’s co-ed also plays largely in the school‘s favor!

Rekindling the thread - does anyone have any insight on how The Rowans is for girls? Currently considering the school for my daughter as my son will be joining the school the following year. Also comparing The Study but from first impressions I prefer Rowans but don't want my daughter to feel uncomfortable/at a disadvantage as I know the school has a lot more boys.