Feedback on prep school- Shrewsbury house school in Surbiton ( Kingston upon Thames)

[CoffeeAndChaos]

Hi everyone,

Iam looking for some honest feedback from parents who currently have or previously had DC at Shrewsbury House School in Surbiton, Kingston. Iam considering the school for DS and I would love to hear about your experiences, especially around the primary years up until Year 6.

How well does the school prepare children for the 11+ exams? Where do most children end up after leaving Shrewsbury House?

Any insights would be really helpful! Thanks so much.

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@CoffeeAndChaos , I saw you on the Hampton prep thread. Shrewsbury is up to 13, they encourage the ds to stay until 13 and then go to boarding schools. It's really tricky to get into Hampton school at 13, much easier at 11 and more secure if your dc is academic and at Hampton prep. You can see from the Shrewsbury destination list on the website where the school aims to send pupils at 13.

Thank you. I was thinking along similar lines. One goes up till 13+, while the other ends at age 11 with a high probability of an assured place at a senior school. We want a strong prep school but within Kingston/ Richmond borough max. We haven’t found anything comparable to Hampton Prep in the area. We want to keep both as options which is why I’m also considering Shrewsbury House School. I’m not sure how easy or difficult it would be to get into Hampton Prep at 7+ , so I want a backup since we’ll need to change schools at 7+.

Surbiton High boys prep is the best comparison with Hampton prep, it may be a small site but it's totally focused on 11 plus. You can see the destination schools on the website. I wouldn't worry about 7plus too much, the Richmond primary schools are so good that you can get into Hampton school at 11 from a primary plus a tutor.

Thanks a lot. I will have a look at Surbiton high boys prep also.

We have recent/current experience of both Surbiton and Hampton preps if that’s helpful. Feel free to PM x

Thanks a lot. I have just sent a PM to you.x

My son has done the full journey at Shrewsbury, firstly at their PP and my son is now in Y4 at the house. We’re very happy with it, it has a broad curriculum, academic and has as a broad range of sports and extra curriculum clubs. There has been some criticism of the headteacher Mrs Hubbard on here which knowing the school was definitely from parents of older boys who were die hard Mr Dobble fans whose sons have now gone onto secondary. I feel that feedback is unfair and my experience is she listens and makes changes for the better. She also recently won the Tatler head teacher.
their Instagram provides a good overview of school life.
My one criticism of the school was last year there were too many educational apps. It’s great they’ve embracing technology but they listened to feedback and consolidated them so it’s a lot better this year.
we ruled out Surbiton on the basis it wasn’t as academic so didn’t have such success in onward schools and felt their campus was too urban. Never looked at Hampton as too far for us and difficult to get in. Feel free to message me with any questions.

Just to to add I don’t think they’re focused more on boarding schools for future schools either. I’m not pro boarding so would not keep my son there if that was their focus. They recently held an information evening for Y 4 & 5 parents with the headmasters of St John’s and Brighton College and the pros and cons were discussed.

@Eshermum73 Thanks for the response. I personally liked the school a lot during the open day. It seems very focused and academically oriented without compromising on extracurricular activities. Still the main drawback for me is that the school only goes up to Year 8. Honestly if it were a full-through school or ended at Year 6, I wouldn’t have hesitated at all. Not keen on the idea of changing schools at 13+ in teenage years. By default choices are more limited at 13+ and families often have to opt for boarding if they really want a top-name school. The destination schools from SHS tend to be mostly boarding schools, with very few of London’s top schools showing. The options are more Surrey-oriented. We live in London and SHS is already a bit of a stretch for us distance-wise. And definitely, Surbiton Prep is not comparable to SHS.

Yes they are keen (obviously..) for boys to stay until 13. I was originally anti this but having heard from the headmasters of Brighton and St John’s I no longer am. They were clear that places are held back and they believe boys who join at 13 settle in better and offer something additional to those who join at 11. It’s a personal choice for each family and child.
The onward schools are not mostly boarding though certainly not from last year or the set of offers which came through this year. Most of the parents in my year are certainly not looking at boarding for their onward school and if this was the schools focus I’d be out of there…

good luck in your search and wishing you all the best.

SHS is one of our preferred schools for our son. I’m glad to hear that parents are now showing less interest in boarding which means 13+ schools will likely work harder to establish onward pathways to day schools :) Let’s see how it works out for us. once again thanks for all the input.

My boy is 5, going into Year 1 in September. I am edging towards Shrewsbury house which now will be in Surbiton for all kids. From parents who have their kids there, are you happy? I am slightly concerned about it being boys only... it's wild for where I come from as I am from Central Europe :) Is there more bullying as its boys only? Does it create a strange dynamic? I liked the school facilities and the small classes ...

I know this is a bit out of date but I had to come on and refute this from experience. At 11 there are around 8 applicants to every place to Hampton. At 13 I think it’s closer to 4. Happy to be corrected. We didn’t do Hampton but I know many who tried from SHS and were rejected. A few got in on second attempt.

SHS is really pushing boarding. They don’t want people moving to day schools at Y7. You won’t be supported to do that, we know boys who did for my older ds (we still have one there) and they were effectively dead to the school as soon as the head found out they wanted to go.

90% of the work towards exams is done out of school if you want one of the academic ones. but I don’t think that’s unusual.

I’m just jumping on this thread as I’m also considering Shrewsbury House pre-prep, but am disappointed that Mr Akhurst was not carried over, as I felt he was one of the reasons why I loved the Claygate pre-prep. I’m also a bit unsure about an all boys school, as my son is quite timid, and worry that an all boys environment might be too boisterous etc. Does anyone have any feedback on this? The Is it still very nurturing in the prep? How does SH compare to Milbourne Lodge? Is it more nurturing overall?

Apologies, this is a delayed response, my son was at SHS and I would not send a timid boy there. In my opinion it is not nurturing, my son suffered anxiety there and since leaving have discovered the same being said from other parents. It was totally overlooked by SHS, but a confident, sporty, academic boy staying until 13 will thrive I'm sure.

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anyone with more recent experience

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