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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Northbridge House School y4 and y5

27 replies

viio · 13/03/2023 09:41

Any parents who currently have children in these classes? What is your view on kindness between children, Sen support in school, teaching and most importantly children’s happiness? Any other comments thank you so much.

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Dodgeitornot · 13/03/2023 09:51

Which one?

Original poster

viio · 13/03/2023 13:39

its the primary school and I believe there is only one. Thanks

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Dodgeitornot · 14/03/2023 19:46

Ah yes sorry, it's pre-preps they have a few of. I'm not sure to be honest, I've heard good things about the pre-preps. The senior schools don't have a great reputation though but I'm a few years out of date on that.

LondonMummer · 14/03/2023 19:58

I think you mean the Prep school. When you say 'kindness between children' that's a slightly odd first question. I mean like in most schools kids are typically kids - some can be boisterous, some sweet... it's no better or worse for kindness between children than any other school. Children are typically happy and well supported.

Original poster

viio · 14/03/2023 23:09

@LondonMummer yes perhaps I have badly expressed myself, what I meant was if there was bullying… there are schools that promote kindness and are good at making sure that children are well supported… (often children bully due to fears, anxiety and lack of support).

@Dodgeitornot thank you for your input. I have heard the same. My friends child attended the senior school and was not impressed. Hence my question - we like the school but of course would love some current parents experiences of it.

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Dodgeitornot · 14/03/2023 23:57

I've not heard bad things about the prep and it looks like quite a few kids leave at 11+ for other schools. Is that the goal for you? If that's the goal, I don't see how you could go wrong with it. We looked at the senior Canonbury and whilst it wasn't shocking, it just felt like a state school, of which there are plenty of good ones locally. I think the Hampstead one is similar but we didn't visit.
I would probably look at possible spaces in other preps, however I suspect that's hard to find in that area and age group.

Original poster

viio · 15/03/2023 00:49

@Dodgeitornot thank you for your advice. Most likely we would look elsewhere for the secondary and do 11+. You are totally spot on re the difficulty finding a space elsewhere at this age group. However, we do have another option we are considering hence our difficulty as to what to do…

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Tiredmumofthreekids · 15/03/2023 11:40

I dont currently have kids there, but I know quite a few who attend NHS JS and Senior School. Quite a lot of expat families there so very transilient community (perhaps like in any other large co-ed non-academic entry school). What are your other options? If you are looking for a large co-ed school in the area i'd opt for Devonshire House school, slightly smaller classes and they're better in terms of 11+/13+ prep

Original poster

viio · 15/03/2023 15:21

Thank you so much. We have an option which is totally different to this a very small school (the academy) which we liked a lot last year when we had a look around. I did look into Devonshire hse but they have changed the head and there are a few disgruntled teachers with the ‘new way’ of working so I am not sure if it is ok right now. Although I could be very wrong…

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Dodgeitornot · 15/03/2023 15:23

@viio Ah take the academy!!! That school is magical. Would've loved my DD to have gone there.

Original poster

viio · 15/03/2023 15:25

@Dodgeitornot really? Do you know anyone that has gone there? They seem to be so nice and nurturing and just lovely but totally different to any other schools we have ever seen. No idea what’s it like inside the classrooms on a day to day… but seems lovely.

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Dodgeitornot · 15/03/2023 15:36

@viio My DD has a friend from there and we also looked at it but it would've been too disruptive at that point. We needed much more SEN support and ended up looking at specialist dyslexia help. It's an amazing school and I don't know any unhappy kids there.
Their leavers destinations are great and they are brilliant at finding the right senior school for your child. I think they provide something very special, academic rigour and a very loving atmosphere. They remind me of Heathside in its prime. I think your kids are at the age where moving schools can be really frightening and I think they'd be scooped up there.

Original poster

viio · 15/03/2023 15:53

@Dodgeitornot ahh that’s so wonderful to hear. Thank you very helpful feedback. Absolutely there is something very special about that place but I guess having the same staff (head etc) you get that consistency and improvement all the time. In a few other private schools there has been a lot of change recently which takes time to settle….I have friends in Highgate and despite its popularity there are a lot of issues underneath it’s glossy brochure. Yes children there achieve but at what cost…

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Dodgeitornot · 15/03/2023 16:10

@viio yea I hear you. We know kids at Highgate and a number of them aren't continuing into senior, ironically because their parents don't think it's academic enough or that there are too many issues with drugs etc further up the school. That's the case everywhere though and it's a very big school with a lot of monied kids so it's bound to happen. You can never really please everyone but I do think in your position I'd take The Academy over NBH anyday. They really don't have long left at primary and it'll be a magical couple of years for them.

Original poster

viio · 15/03/2023 16:30

@Dodgeitornot thank you. Very helpful and I am grateful for your time and advice.

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Fruitandveg3 · 04/05/2023 13:17

I know this is a bit old post but I had a question regarding the academy. They take children aged 6+. I am an expat so new to the whole school system. How does that work? Do you need your child going to a different school for reception and year 1 and then enter The Academy? Sorry if this is a silly question

Dodgeitornot · 04/05/2023 13:33

@Fruitandveg3 yes. It's slightly unusual as normally schools start at either reception or Y3. However, there's lots of pre preps in the area that go to the end of y2. Contact the academy to see where their kids come from abd how it works.
I do know Maria Montessori in Hampstead also has an exit age 6.

Original poster

viio · 04/05/2023 16:41

@Fruitandveg3 I think the academy is only up to year 6/7 maybe. It’s a great school on many levels but on my visit I was thoroughly unimpressed with some children’s behaviour that we decided not to look into it further. One child in particular (older probably y5/6) behaved badly in front of teacher and they did not say anything. I was unimpressed.

they are very academic really pushing children which suits some but not all children. My review is based purely on what I have seen on a visit and what some parents have told me….

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Dodgeitornot · 04/05/2023 16:49

@viio Really?! Oh no! That breaks my heart. Sorry you didn't like it. Hope you managed to find somewhere good for your kids.

Original poster

viio · 04/05/2023 23:37

Ahh @Dodgeitornot thank you. Yes I really wanted to love it and did on some levels but I couldn’t get passed what I had seen on that short visit….

yes we did find a wonderful new school and are happy now. Such huge relief :)

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Dodgeitornot · 04/05/2023 23:48

@viio I completely get it. We're in the process of changing (hopefully will finalise next week eek) and we saw one school that I was so sure I'd love. I actually saw it before and loved it. One child and one teacher there put me completely off. I never ever thought I'd say no to that school but I already did in my mind before we got the offer. Sometimes your gut is just really strong.

Original poster

viio · 05/05/2023 00:02

totally Agree. Good luck for finishing the right place. It is hard out there finding something good. I just want my children in a nice place with lovely children and do not want to have to worry about behaviour, bullying etc. I also feel so bad for having to pull them out of state school because of schools incompetence at dealing with bullying. I now know that there is a very fast and effective way of dealing with issues… it’s just that our previous school didn’t for whatever reason. Shame as it was a great school. This experience has made me sensitive to how children behave, I was also told by a teacher friend what to look out for and what’s important and what not etc, also what are the private schools like which all helped our decision.

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Dodgeitornot · 05/05/2023 00:09

Yh I agree. I've actually found the opposite- private schools a bit more rubbish when it comes to bullying but it just goes to show its all personal experience and varies widely.

Original poster

viio · 05/05/2023 09:01

@Dodgeitornot I agree that some private schools are shockingly bad (we had experience of one child going to top private school and whilst he had no issues his friends did and school was not great at dealing with it) hence the reason we were very careful to only select the school that is good at that sort of things. The research says that if children are happy (which they often will be if they do not feel threatened) they learn… so we wanted for them to be ok. So far the new school was amazing as we witnessed one child getting exclusion for misbehaving and picking on another child.

still early days but hoping it’s a fantastic school.

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Dodgeitornot · 05/05/2023 17:51

@viio Our friends are experiencing this at the moment. Not with bullying but pastoral care and SEN. Turns out it was all lip service and the state school they left wasn't so bad after all. In fact, it wasn't bad at all, they had no issues with it, they just assumed private would be better. An expensive mistake.

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