Davenies, Beacon or Dair House?

[KiranGX1]

Hi all,

need to make a decision very soon on school for 4 year old. I hear amazing things about Beacon but it’s such a big school I worry it would be overwhelming for my son and the pastoral care might not be there

any advice would be so welcome.

Knowing a lot about independent prep schools in this area, the school I would most recommend is Caldicott. It's a 10-minute drive from Beaconsfield and top notch. The Beacon, as you observed, has way too many pupils (over 500), especially given its tight site size. Its heyday was in the Noughties (until 2009), when Michael Spinney (amazing, kind, high-profile, highly regarded Head) was there. It's now very much a school whose recruitment of pupils is based on its past reputation, with a succession of Heads (three in the past decade), which speaks volumes...

Caldicott is a prep though so starts in Y3. My boys are at a Berkshire prep, but from chatting to Caldicott parents at matches etc, I know some do use Davenies as a pre-prep and transfer to Caldicott at Y3.

...and/or of course you could always carry on at Davenies if it was working well.

Hi, I am not sure if you decided on your child’s school but my son goes to Dair House and I found it to be an amazing place. The school is mixed which I think is great when children first start out. In addition their pastoral care is excellent. They have a wonderful family atmosphere which I have not been able to find in any other school.

Also looking. What did you decide OP?