Private primaries in Southwark, Waterloo, Westminster, Canary Wharf or Shadwell?

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Hi everyone. I have name changed as this thread needs to be fairly location-specific and I don't want to out myself. DS is due to start primary school in 3 years and I want to be prepared. Our local state primaries are OK but not fantastic (Southwark) and so we may consider moving out of London to an area that has better schools. However this feels like quite a drastic step to me and I love where I live at the moment, so I am investigating other (ie private) options. The ideal place would offer 'daycare' as well as school, possibly with a nursery, so that if we had a DC2 they could go to the same place.

Does anyone have experience of:
Hill House (Victoria Area)
Eaton House (ditto, looks v expensive!)
River House (Canary Wharf)
London Christian School (Borough)

or anywhere else nearby? Or would like to comment on the state primaries in the area? Ideally I would prefer a state primary but I think things could get very difficult with before/after school care, plus a possible DC2.

Any help very gratefully received.

I moved my DS from River House (don't get me started ) to London Christian School. I'm not sure if I've already told you about this as you've name changed so I won't go on unless you want to ask questions. DS and I both love LCS though.

Re: before/after school care River House is very good for this as it does year-round 8am-6pm if you want it. LCS doesn't have any wrap-around care but there is a nursery across the road from the school that will do drop-off and pick-up and there are at least 2 children at LCS that go there.

I know a few people who send their kids to the Faraday School (east of CW) and are very happy with it.

Thank you. I had seen an article on the Faraday school but I think it is a bit far away from our home/work at present to consider it. I had heard from LCS about the link with the nursery, but at present my son is at another nursery and we anticipate him staying there until primary school, so it is after school care for school age children I am looking into.

I would be interested in hearing a bit more about your River House experience, and why you prefer LCS. Do LCS have strict religous criteria? I know they say all religions are welcomed but they also do select based on whether they think your family ethos coincides with the school, don't they? We are Christian, DS is baptised, we go to church, but not every week. I would love DS to have a Christian education but have my reservations about the creationist aspect.

Thank you

I don't know what age limit the nursery opposite LCS has, but they are currently taking a year 1 child. It may be that they won't take them over the age of 5 (for instance) but you could always phone and ask them.

LCS isn't creationist, they are at the mild and moderate end of the Christianity scale otherwise I wouldn't be sending DS there (I'm an atheist, DH is Christian). A couple of the founding directors are C of E vicars, so it's not informed by any extreme interpretation of the bible/Christianity. When we went to visit the director said that they aim to have about half of the children from Christian families and half from other religions or no religion because that's the society that we live in and it would be limiting and boring for the kids if they were all from exactly the same background. I'm not sure that they probed into our family ethos very much, but I expect that they probably wouldn't be keen on anyone who was anti-Christian or intolerant of any religion/way of life.

I had a long thread about River House at the time that DS was having trouble, here. It all seemed great at the start, and they gave a lot of lip-service to treating the children as individuals and letting them learn at their own pace but when problems occurred they were very inflexible and rather rude. The staff were very clear in their own minds that all the issues with DS were his/my fault because the way that they did things was the perfect way, they actually said that we should force him to be quiet and fit in first and once that happened we could think about his happiness. It was a good school for some kids though, there were children in DS's class who really enjoyed going there. If you have a quiet, studious, introverted child then it would probably be a good place. DS is very loud and active, he likes group work and hates doing anything on his own.

What I like about LCS over River House is that they're not barking mad. They have a cheerful, common-sense approach to everything, rather than River House's prissy smugness. They are firm but kind to DS and the pastoral care is excellent. From DS's point of view it's fun to go to school, they structure a lot of the learning in an active game form so DS doesn't have to sit still for long periods. They also get out and about a lot more, they generally go out somewhere at least once a week even if it's only to the library. I don't think DS went anywhere at all with River House. On the other hand LCS may not be the best school for a shy or introverted child who likes a fixed routine or who gets very tired with lots of activity.

That is so helpful, thank you. I have browsed your other thread and think you at all times have given MN a very balanced viewpoint of the school. I don't yet know what DS will be like in 2-3 years time so I will be open to all options at present. I like the Montessori approach (which I think/thought was quite practical/play based) so we will see. DH and I are both quite academic but I don't think I want a prep. I notice that River House puts on its website the independent schools that the children go on to so they are obviously very proud of that.

Can I ask a few more questions? What are the other families at LCS like? Would DS be in a very small minority if he went to after school care (childminder/other nursery) after school?

We were in Southwark before moving to Richmond, for schools.

One of the places I looked at was St Paul's Cathedral School in the City. Choristers board but everyone else is a day pupil. Term dates are funny, but if you can cope with that I thought it seemed like a nice sort of place, and would have been terribly convenient for my office. For me the downside would have been that a DC of mine turned out to be able to sing, and therefore would have been invited to be a chorister and board. I don't know of anyone who's actually gone there though.

It would also tick the box if you are looking for a christian education for your child.

A lot of the families at LCS have SAHMs, but there are also quite a few that go to childminders/nannies/nursery. What happens after school doesn't seem to be a big deal to any of the children, although DS is quite jealous of his friend who goes to a childminder as there are other school-age kids there whereas DS only has his younger sister to play with after school.

River House has quite a lot of children in the after school care, but I think that has a lot to do with its location near CW. It's very convenient for people who work there to send their children to RH and use the after-school care.

Thanks for being so helpful. Bumping for anyone else who has relevant experience?