Wetherby Notting Hill (WNH) vs Eaton House Belgravia (EHB) vs Falkner House Boys (FHB)

[JSmit]

Hello mumsnet community!

Aware that some similar historical threads on this topic exist, however there have been some rather large shifts in leadership since, and was hoping to solicit some updated insight.

3yr old boy has been offered places at all three schools.

Father was at St Pauls (SPS) from 8+. Is very keen on giving our son the same opportunity, should he have it in him. We are aligned on this.

Neither of us are believers in outsourced/private tutoring, albeit we very much expect to be helping our kids ourselves (as our parents did with us).

We were both particularly impressed with the new head at EHB, Mr Montague. For what it is worth, said all the right things! Meanwhile new head at WNH, Mr David, is a highly seasoned professional who knows the system and taught at SPS. We loved FHB, but they are now opposed to 7/8+, and as such do not support.

Would love to hear from any parents that have kids at any of the three schools, and what their experiences have been, both whilst at the school, whether the tutoring is as rife as we've heard, and if no longer at the school, where they headed on to.

JS

We were at EHB with the previous and the current head for a short while, and we went on to a wonderful school. We had an excellent experience owing to great teachers, pastoral care and the small class size. I have only good things to say about our time there, and my son left a confident and happy child. The 3 schools you have offers for are all excellent, I would choose the school that you think is truly the best for your son (trust your gut) and importantly, closest to where you live or easiest to get to.

My advice is not to choose a pre-prep based mainly on leavers destinations - they will spend 4 years at this school. They are so precious at that age, you really want to enjoy it and not just fast forward through to exams and the next school. Leavers destinations can be dazzling, but so much of that is down to the parents and not necessarily proof that one school is better than another.

Thanks so much for this. Sage and welcomed advice.

I mostly echo what the other parent has written here. We also are currently at EHB. Focus mostly on those 3 - 4 years being enjoyable and not necessarily exit locations, also because you may not have noticed but WUS and SPJS have removed 8+.

I could answer questions on EHB perhaps privately if you do have more.

It is worth noting that Eaton House Belgravia and Wetherby in Notting Hill are directly or indirectly owned / backed by private equity firms. As such, they are known as hothouses and therefore are extremely focused on exit results and drilling exam techniques into the children, sometimes at the expense of a more thorough balanced education and letting children be children at such a young age. Being owned and ultimately controlled by private equity, you will also have noticed that these schools are very financially driven, i.e. a) they will ask you for material non-refundable school deposits before you even get an offer from other schools, and b) you will likely see above inflation school fee increases each year to maximise investment returns.

Given the above and out of your three options, I would highly recommend going with Falkner which is family owned and more centred on your child's holistic development without compromising academic excellence (i.e. both Falkner schools consistently have one of the highest acceptance ratios into St Paul's of any school in London). With just a single class per year, Falkner is a lot more nurturing and the entire senior leadership will know each child by name and be wholeheartedly familiar with everything that is going on with your son. And unlike the other two schools, no tutoring by third parties outside school is encouraged as they see little value in doing so over and above what the children already learn in school.

In conclusion, all three schools are very decent schools overall by most national standards but my two cents above can be useful to know when making your choice. Lastly, do not underestimate the value and convenience of school location as this will affect you and your son's daily commute for the next years to come!

I am curious which school did you end up choosing? Your insight will be much appreciated.