Recent experience of Heatherton Prep, Amersham

[Lolli85]

Hi all,
We are contemplating moving DD to this school for Pre-prep and wondered if there are any parents that can provide recent feedback. We are making the difficult decision of moving her from an excellent Nursery (part of a co-ed prep), which, apart from a nightmare commute, has been wonderful.

We have already visited the school and had a very good feeling about it, but remain slightly concerned about the small classes and question whether the sporting and extra curricular offering is good. It seems like a great school on paper and judging from a short visit, but advice based on experience would really help with the anxiety levels.

Thanks all in advance.😊

@Lolli85
I do not think it’s anywhere near as good as Godstowe. Depends where you live as to whether that’s an option of course. There is not really an equivalent of The Beacon for girls in Amersham. I assume you had looked at Chesham Prep and Berkhamsted? I think the Gateway also has its limitations. It also depends on what you want at 11 plus and what your local school is like. Plenty in Bucks are very good. Quite a few do infant to y2 and then move to
prep.

@TizerorFizz
Thanks for your input. We’re in Amersham, so Heatherton is the closest we’re going to get. We also looked at High March and are planning to go to the Godstowe Open Day on the 13th. We think High Wycombe might be too far, however. What seemed to be a 20min journey on paper to her current prep usually takes about 30-45 mins with traffic. The problem seems to be getting into and through Chesham; we decided against Chesham Prep because of this very reason, although we liked it, same with Berkhamsted.

Heatherton gives us the option for an easy transition to Berkhamsted Girls at 11, as the girls have automatic entry, but also sends a large number of girls to Dr. Challoner’s, so that would be the alternative. In fact, the plan is Grammar school if she turns out to be capable enough, but if our finances allow it at that stage, we will consider private.

My reservation is whether the small school size is both their strength as well as weakness, depending on the child? i.e. it is nurturing and can focus on individual child, but can also be a challenge with friendships and team sporting opportunities, or even having enough children for drama productions?

It seems to produce good results, so the academics are strong I would say and spending a couple of hours speaking to the teachers there also showed their dedication and academic breadth.

I would appreciate any further insights.

You are right that its size is both its strength and weakness. Girls are very happy and class sizes are small enough that every girl is “seen”. If you get a year group where the dynamics are off in terms of personalities though or exclusive friendship groups form then it can be quite a tough environment. The girls are on the whole nice girls, kind and inclusive. Small year groups do have the advantage of pretty much always being on a sports team - although if a talented sportswoman this could hold you back.

A few years ago some year groups were very small (I think one class had seven girls?) but the Berkhamsted tie in has boosted numbers.

Their playground is tiny though and this is also used for sport. I believe they now use Berko facilities for some things but this means a minibus ride away. If your daughter is sporty then I would choose Berkhamsted from the off though.

I would question what are you getting for your money though apart from small class sizes? The school is seriously lacking in facilities and whilst this is recognised in the lower fees, it is something to consider. My experience is from a family member who left a couple of years ago. Parents and daughter both very happy with it.

Other schools to consider based on your location would be Maltmans Green (straight down the A413 to Gerrards Cross) and Royal Masonic (Rickmansworth), although the latter is an all through school so prep for 11+ isn’t really a thing.

I have a DD there. We are really happy with it and the class is lovely. We enjoy having local friends and not having to ferry miles for parties/being able to walk or cycle to school. Most girls are relatively local to school.
It is small, and whilst that could be seen as a is an advantage, I feel the benefits outweigh any drawbacks. It is academic – and their results reflect this. Sportier girls get more than a fair share of opportunities to shine at lacrosse, netball, cricket, XC, swimming etc. – and do beat far bigger schools in fixtures, girls do LAMDA as part of the drama curriculum, and the vast majority play instruments and there are lots of music groups. They make the best of the space (X country and biathlon at a local park, the younger girls access local woodland for forest school etc.) and have all the advantages of the links to Berkhamsted. The smaller class is now full. PM me if you have specific questions.

Thanks @DibbleDooDah and @Locksmith55 for your detailed thoughts and sharing your experience. You both highlight some of the points that have us concerned but also the positive aspects that have drawn us to the school.

It’s always hard to know how much of the wonderful descriptors used by the admin during a school tour are just part of the hard sell, or whether the school is genuinely what they describe. Having a current parent share their own experience can be so helpful.

Maltman’s Green seems to to be broadly viewed in a negative light on mumsnet - from the senior leadership, hothousing environment, unpleasantness amongst the girls and bullying - and I also read a comment that getting to the school can be a nightmare during drop off and pick up.

RMS would also be frustrating to get to due to the traffic bottleneck in Chorleywood. It could be a consideration for Senior School though. DH and I have just hated spending so much time with a three year old sitting in traffic, not to mention also traveling for play dates and other school events, of which there have been many.

So I must admit, we are leaning more towards Heatherton, and if there are other mums who could share their experIence, it would be greatly appreciated. It felt to me that although the site doesn’t have the space for the facilities, they do utilise other sites (including Berkhamsted) to provide a similar level of sporting activities etc I don’t mind this if they deal with ferrying the kids to those within the school day.
@Locksmith55 I’ll PM you.

Have you considered Piper’s in Kingshill? This is all girls.

Personally, I would only be considering Co-Ed. I have experience with girls Heatherton > Challoners girls > Challoners Boy for yr12 & 13. All girls formative years seems to negatively affect social resilience and skills. I’d say the same for all boys. I think it is better to bring up children in a way they are more likely to consider each other equitably as adults in the workplace, which ultimately is what education is for.