From international IB school to UK. Rowan Prep, Notre Dame, Claremont Fan Court

[msms14]

Dear Mumsnet Users, I would be grateful on other people's experiences regarding our situation.

We are relocating back to the UK this summer. My daughter has been schooled in an international school following the IB programme. She has never lived in the UK before. She will go into Year 4 in the UK.

We will live in Esher and really like Rowan Prep School. We are now however worried that it will put our daughter under too much pressure having to catch up/adjust to the UK curriculum and then do 11+ after 2 years.

Would we be better to consider an all through school for her based on our circumstances/timing (e.g. Notre Dame or Claremont Fan Court)? Our daughter is very bright and currently top of her class at her international school.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

@msms14 100% go for Rowan. It's a lovely school in a community where you can walk to school and meet people locally. They will guide you for the best secondary school for your dd and prepare her for the exams. There are loads of options for dd in the area at all levels academically.
ND and CFC are all through schools, they won't prepare your dd for the entrance exams so once she is there they will expect her to stay even though some of her class will leave. Plus they are both slightly isolated and less part of the community although you can live in Esher and walk to CFC and it's known for being social for parents.

Hi @msms14
I think the key thing is to move to an all through school that you would be happy with as a senior school. The 11+ is really painful for all involved, so that combined with your DD rejoining the british system at a later stage than her peers, would suggest that avoiding the 11+ completely would be the sensible thing to do. A few great all throughs in our area, CFC, HCH, ND, MH just a case of finding the right one! Good luck.

My daughters transferred from IB to Rowan prep in Y1 and Y4. Over 2 years on and they are thriving. The school were fantastic in helping them settle and bridge any gaps between the curriculums. Highly recommend Rowan.

DD1 went through Rowan, she was happy. However, for a private school, it isn't very pushy on the academics. If your daughter is very bright, I'm sure she will do well at Rowan, that said, I don't know anybody that achieved a top twenty senior school destination that didn't tutor their child. Rowan has lots to offer across the board and a majority of leavers are happy with their destinations which I think is about what you would expect to hear from a non selective (at pre prep) intake. There is no friendly/easier pathway to other United learning schools in reality.

Other girls and Coed preps in the region, Felton Fleet (Coed), Surbiton High, Notre Dame, St Teresa's. Not to be forgotten, Claremont (Co-ed) which is on the up according to everyone I hear speaking about it. There is also ACS Cobham which runs IB.

There is a huge amount of choice in the area, I've probably missed off some really lovely schools. Take a look at the Good schools Guide online, visit as many as you can. Somewhere will feel right. There are plenty of options if things don't work out as you would have liked.