Milbourne lodge school Surrey

[RobinHobb]

Would appreciate any insight on the school. DD has an offer for y3. She is quite bright I think, quite enjoys learning, not really sporty but will give most things a go.

I'm a bit nervous about the school as even though we liked it, it's such a huge leap into the unknown!

Any insights/comments would be appreciated!

Amazing repomse and very realistic from adventure mum. ML is notnfor everyone, girls tend to be tough and most do move in 11+

There is a lot of favoritism going on, so if your child is not musical or sporty, and you don't want her to feel left out, be prepare to be active and/or make some sort of contribution to the school.

Ps .. the preparation for 11+ is really good. A lot of parents, as in every school, do heavy tutoring, but you can get by without the need if it, but it is recommended.

Hey everyone,

We've recently moved in the area, and we're looking for a school which is focused on the 11+ exams. I am very interested in finding out some news about this school.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

We looked at it a few years ago with DS. We were told his SEN was too severe for a place - he was dyslexic. He went on to get a “top tier” destination school offer for another prep, so more fool ML really. It was rather concerning that they couldn’t cope with a dyslexic child.
We have friends whose children have been generally happy there as long as they are performing near the top of the cohort.

3 boys there in the past.

I did hear that they are now openly admitting children with Special needs or who are in heavy need of English as a second language support, which none of these are an issue IF the school can provide adequately for both, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I am hearing stories of children with special needs screaming the place down. Main language in the play ground is not even English, and the stories continue.

Sadly, rumours about the school going down hill in the past year are in abundance by current parents. It is a great shame as we always highly held the school as a great school.

Behaviour is dreadful. Preparation for 11+ and 13+ has to be heavily supplemented by private tutoring. This has always been the case, but even more by what some current parents are saying.

It does not stream their children any more.

Having other choices such as Shrewsbury House, Surbiton High, and Hampton Boys on the academic front and Claremont Fan Court (current Headmaster has brought a lot of improvement to this school) on the academic and provision fronts, ML would be my last choice if I have to do it all over again.

My advise would be not to make your decision on ML's good reputation, but go and have a look around the school, but also check the other schools in the area.

Thanks a mill for the comments - we've visited the school this week, and we could not form ourselves a very accurate opinion, given the very quick tour we had - the registrar was not super accurate in providing responses, and sometimes hesitant... We'll definitely visit other schools around.
If there are any other things anyone can tell me, would be super gratefull.

Have a great longer weekend :).

I can’t comment on ML from experience but moving into the area we considered it but turned it down as it didn’t seem to fit us as a family etc (a bit too posh and we wanted to move at 11 and it doesn’t advocate for that).
We were waiting for Hampton in younger years due to logistics but took Surbiton when we moved. Surbiton was super - for wonderful 11+ prep I’d go for this if you can get a space. We absolutely loved it! We moved with a heavy heart to Hampton as fitted with my daughter’s school and I took a punt at avoiding the 11+! Hampton gives assured places for seniors as you progress through the years which saves the 11+ but a gamble if you’re not sure and don’t know if the seniors will suit. But I wouldn’t say as focussed on this due to the assured places. Happy for you to PM me x