Prep school - St Neot Eversley

[rn71]

I'm considering St.Neots, Eversley for my son for year 3 starting 2023. I have been on their open morning, the school facilities look ok, but it's difficult to judge how good academically they are. Do you have any views on the quality of teachers in year 3-6, do they provide enough support, is there proper assessment through the year?
Other school I'm considering are Yateley Manor and Holme Grange. Any views on them?

I am also considering this school for my children, so I'm interested in your views about the academic side not being presented clearly. I have visited HG and YM. Both I thought were excellent. YM had class sizes that I thought were too small, and HG was just too far from where we would be relocating to.

Hi @jollyekj , I'm in the same boat as you😊HG is far from where I live about 30 min drive. I visited St Neot open morning, but the head master address didn't tell much about academics. I couldn't speak to any class 3 teacher and neither I could see their books. I spoke to class 4 teacher, she was telling there's more emphasis on learning than academics and assessment, but she wasn't able to tell clearly how they come out after year 6.

Hi 👋🏻
Just thought I would jump on as I have 3 children at St Neots so can offer some insight.
My children are year 6, year 2 and Tuskers (nursery).
My eldest started school life at Eagle house, great school if your child is academic. However my son was diagnosed ADHD at 5 and it wasn’t the right place for him - he’s very bright but struggled there. I moved him over to St Neots where he repeated year 1. For him it was the best thing I could have done. He is very sporty and the school is a very out door school. Academically he is doing very well and has always had a lot of support from the staff. I think the staff at St Neots is what makes the school so magical. They really get to know the children and bend over backwards to assist any way they can. They have a great SEN department and offer 1-2-1 sessions weekly and I have regular meetings with them.
My daughter is in year 2 and is a little ‘away with the fairies’ so she needs a nudge, she’s been put into some ‘booster’ groups in Maths and English. She is very happy, has a lovely group of friends and enjoys her music lessons.
My youngest loves life, she’s very settled and loves going in everyday.

If you are looking for a nurturing school where the staff really get to know the children and offer a ton of support, I would highly recommend the school. If your child likes being outdoors on the amazing grounds they have that’s a bonus. They have a jam packed curriculum and always learning in fun ways. Amazing trips, my son is off skiing in March, Kip on a ship, Oakwood, Isle of Wight to name a few.

Yes, the headmaster changed a couple of years back but that brought much improvement, however, I was happy with the school before the heads changed but Mr Slot has definitely improved the school. He’s a great man and the children have a lot of respect for him.
For me it’s the facilities and the staff that make is so amazing. I really love the school and my children are very happy.

Any questions you have - please do ask :-)

I should also add my brother has 2 children at Holme Grange and they love it there. Go with your gut feeling :-)

Also - (sorry, more from me!)
Alot of the children are going on to LWC. We have applied for Wellington and Bradfields, I know a couple of others who have applied for Bradfields, another for Wellington. Several are off to Leighton Park, Reading Bluecoats (that has gone Co-Ed) and Luckley House :-)

Many thanks @Emmalouoo7 . My son currently goes to a state school and one thing I noticed is lot of home schooling is required. I don't want the same to happen if I'm sending him to private school. Also most likely I'll look at grammar schools from Year 7 and it's quite tough to get to a good grammar school. I want to make sure my son is acdemically good when he comes out of year 6. It depends a lot on teachers and how much they push their children

I understand. The children in years 3-7 have the option of attending ‘prep’ after school (free of charge) which is effectively a homework club. My son goes once a week and completes his homework with the help of staff, if he needs it. His school day runs 8:20-4:30 and attends prep 4:30-5:30. Hope that helps :-)

Prep is on Monday-Thursday and they can attend as many sessions as they like. For years 3-8 school finishes at 16:00 on Friday - so no clubs run on a Friday. (pre-prep finishes before 3:30-3:45). We don’t do homework at home - for us personally home time is home time with the family and a chance to relax as school is full on! However in the holidays we will complete any work required and if my son asks for help of course I will help however he tends to get it all done in prep x

Many thanks @Emmalouoo7 . How much attention is paid to sports? I have seen their facilities and they seem good. And how are the after school clubs? My son is interested in sports, music, drawing and lego building. So any after school club activities around these would be good.

Sorry for the late reply. I do not have an after school timetable for year 3 but here are the current after school activities for other years, may help get a feel for things :-) It is sporty and musical - my daughter has violin lessons and my son did have singing and guitar lessons. They also do LAMDA in years 3+.

Many thanks @Emmalouoo7 . I'm waiting to hear from St Neots if they can offer a place for year 3. Looks like currently there are no places.