Hill House International School, Opinions please.

[hillygirl]

Are there any Mumsnetters with children at Hill House, or have had children there in the past. I'm considering it for my son. We live in Battersea so a bit of a journey. Any views please? I've done the tour, might go again, but so hard to judge. Would value parents opinions. Thanks

I have two children at Hill House with very different personalities and abilities. One is introvert and needs constant nurturing. He is average in the school or just below. The other is top of his year in everything and very confident. It is a great reflection of the school that the school is bringing out the best in the two children. The "average" child has been given additional support, whilst the "top achieving" child is being stretched. The school uniform is distinctive, but actually very practical. A quick wash and tumble drive and it is ready. The kids are well behaved. They can chat during lunch. They are not wrapped up in cotton wool like many prep schools. In senior school, they go to Switzerland for a week. They travel by tube, plane, train and mountain train. They take one rack sack with a change of clothes and a book, dvd and game (not electonic). Kids of movie stars, aristocrats and those who work every hour to pay the fees attend. I haven't seen any snobbery or teasing because of people's background. This is because they have achieved good discipline and respect. We have been happy with the school. There is no perfect school, but Hill House produces happy children with good results.

Does anyone know the Hill House school bus route? Where can you pick up this bus?

I have one son age 8 at HH. Brilliant school with great sports. Extremely caring teachers & although a big school - class sizes are small. 14 in my sons class. It's great that the school gets on with the job of teaching as apposed to parents being heavily involved. Children try to complete most homework at school. Wouldn't go to any other school as love the international feel without the pretentiousness of most central London schools. Uniform is practical as mentioned beforehand & children are wonderfully behaved - which to me is of utmost importance.

We live in Notting Hill & our son uses the bus daily. Bus route runs throughout central London inc Hampstead. The bus collects children from your doorstep & drops them on your doorstep. Very reliable & friendly service. Drop off & pick up is £200 a month. £1 more than the tube if you were to do the four way trip daily.

Loulabee, while you are here, could you share at what age Hill House introduces calculators in maths if you know?

'scuse me for butting in, but as we're talking bus routes, does the bus go anywhere SE London way? Don't want to be too specific about my location but, say, between Vauxhall and Clapham?

We're hoping to go and check the school out soon but the location is not exactly close to our workplaces (W and E London respectively) so a bus would make it a much more viable option. In a bit of black hole for schools where we live!

Hi all, very interesting thread. We're looking into moving into London this autumn and have already contacted the school for an indication re availability of spaces at short notice. I was put off but consider visiting the school nonetheless. Does anyone here have experience of last min applications and the approach one should take to be successful?

Hi Scoobie - visiting will definitely help and at the end of the tour given by pupils you usually get to meet the head of admissions who can tell you exactly what the waiting list looks like. Hill House seems to be massively popular this year so I wouldn't be surprised if they're full, but waiting lists do move so I think you need to visit to get on there.

Had a tour of this school... not impressed at all. The management seem to be stuck in 1960 and so do the facilities for that matter. I believe the colonel was the brains behind the school and since he has passed away so has the vision. Real shame since I have heard good things, but as you see don't listen to others and see things for yourself.

I have several friends with children at the school. As they (the children) are the same ages as my children, I've been able to compare HH with other schools. Like KarenIsabella, I was not impressed when I visited several years ago but have often wished since then that we had chosen it. I think Loulabee's description matches what I've observed --it's a school of happy, well-behaved, bright children who are encouraged to develop skills at a very natural pace (as opposed to the un-natural pressures put on boys in pre-preps for example). The curriculum becomes increasingly challenging from around Y4 and the "results" in terms of secondary school places are very, very good. If i were to do it over again, I would give very serious consideration to HH. (The only possible negative is that they do not have inter-school matches, at least not in the early years; but I don't think the children at HH care and those who are very sporty pursue competitive sports through after-school or weekend clubs).

KarenIsabella, I think you will find that some parents like "management stuck in the 60s". This is personal of course but for me for example it's hugely positive that they ditch ICT, don't use ipads or powerpoint presentations to teach and focus on traditional literacy, numeracy, sports, arts and good behaviour. I know plenty of Hill House children and they generally come across as very humble and well behaved. And I really like that the girls there get to play rugby and I often see girls and boys playing together around Duke of York Square after school, whereas in many other school children get stereotyped and girls only get to do netball and the like.

I must admit I wasn't too attracted by their facilities either (especially the classrooms in small school which are more like wards separated by cardboard) but I think there are a lot of great things about the school. It's my first choice for my children even if other schools have better facilities or are pushier in the early years.

Hello! Apologies for the late post, but wondering if anyone's got a clue about ghislaine's question re. bus route(s)? Many thanks!!

Hi all, just registered here as I was looking at suggestions to get your children at hill house. I simply love the school, for all the good (and even bad) reasons mentioned already but apparently I have written down my son's name a bit too late (July 2013 for entry on September 2014). Anyone had experience of late applications? I would love to receive some words of hope!

Ema, I suggest going to see Mr or Mrs Townend in person. Tell them you absolutely love the school, tell them why, and tell them that if you're too late for Sept 2014, you would really appreciate being kept in consideration for a later place. I am a HH parent and know of several people who managed to squeeze in after official registration deadlines by going in in person and being honest about their situations. They may take him in January 2015, too, as happened to another friend's son. It is an international school and children move around all the time. My son will start in Sept '14, and his assessment (a trial morning with the school) won't be until May '14, so it is worth getting in touch now; nothing's set in stone yet. Parents tend to put their children down for more than one school and you may find some are offered a place elsewhere and don't turn up at HH. Go and see them; they're lovely and they will help you if they can.

Re the bus route: I don't know, as we're south of the river and it doesn't go south at all. I know children from Marylebone and Fulham who travel in by the school bus, though.

I do find it is a happy, lively school that produces well-mannered, incredibly likeable, kind children with great character. Stronger characters tend to do very well. My daughter is not a stronger character, and she finds it too stressful being in a tiny classroom full of loud-voiced children all day: she has suffered from pushy behaviour from a couple of them and my only criticism of the school is that not enough is done to sort that kind of thing out. We did sort things out completely between her and another child, with the teacher's help, but it was frustrating that the situation had to be pointed out. We're looking at alternatives for 7+ just because she'd prefer somewhere less intense, with more space; HH doesn't have a playground from Year 1 onwards and my daughter said "We're never allowed to just be ourselves outside," which broke my heart.

Hi mums
I live in chealsea... Everyday I see Hill house students ?n different parts of chealsea... I am very confused about how they learn... Everyday they are outside...they just play... Also somedays I see them in the Church in knightsbridge.. Also i think on fridays School ends at 12:00... It is a very strange School

Our child has been at Hill House for the last year, we have been very shocked by what we have experienced at Hill House, it seems a great school if nothing goes wrong but if there are any problems the head staff close down on you and don't want to know, in fact they shout at you and turn the situation around on you, even going as far as putting us parents down! There are no procedures in place in regards to any complaint issues you may have, there is no rule book at Hill House or any complaints procedures whatsoever, what is written on the website in regards to any procedures being in place is totally untrue. There are a lot of shocked, dissappointed angry parents at this school who feel very let down by the way its run, we are pulling our child out. Don't be impressed by what its reputation may used to have been and the cheap school fees, it's cheap for a very good reason (to get in as many children as possible, bit like what Ryanair does but a school instead), my advice and many other parents whose children are at Hill House, choose another school. Read the Ofstead report, this is very, very truthful. Somehow though they manage to get good academic results.

bottypotty123 - I completely agree with you.

Prospective parents should also be aware of the school's streaming policy. Starting in Year 3, classes are based solely on the combined year end Maths and English exams (nothing else). The children are sorted into 4 groups. The top set get all the focus and the bottom set are left trailing behind, ending up at less than stellar schools. The year end results have the potential to be skewed because some of the "top" students are HEAVILY tutored by the Hill House teachers. In some cases, the actual class teacher administering the test is the private tutor. Until recently, the Hill House tutors and students met on the top floor of the Peter Jones cafe. The cafe was so overrun by HH students and their tutors, that Peter Jones actual banned this from their premises.

Historically the all important June exams are not returned to the students or parents. If parents want to see what their child did wrong, they must book a meeting with the class teacher. Parents are given a few minutes to scan through the tests. Yes, there are grading errors. But it doesn't really matter because once your child is labelled in a lower set-- it virtually impossible to move up UNLESS of course you're able to hire the class teacher to tutor your child. Funny how that works....

Zombie thread!

However - I have relatives who went there (last century!) and it was good then - strict, good results, no girls, etc.

A friend sent her son there recently for a trial. He felt bullied by the other kids.

I suspect times, the have 'a changed, as have a lot of private schools in London, in my view. More pushy, sharp elbowed 'wannabe' parents, who reek of attitude and would crawl over their dead granny to get their kid 'ahead'. It seems to be so competitive in some schools now - they don't care if the child graduates with an A+ in anxiety disorder (and an inability to do anything 'for fun') as long as they get into a 'top school'. Its all storing up trouble for these kids in the future.

Bullying is definitely a problem. The teachers will never deal with bullying in real time. When they finally do intervene (due to pressure from parents) it is always too little too late. Bizarrely they will often publicly name (and shame) the child who is being bullied vs. dealing with this matter in private and with empathy.

The Games teachers should definitely be more vigilant. If you walk past the Duke of York Square, they're often chatting with each other or texting--they are simply not watching the children. Once I saw a young child lying on the ground being kicked by 4 or 5 students. The teachers were completely oblivious. Shocking.

I have seen that being an issue in other schools that promote themselves as hard hitters with regsards to results. Shocking disregard for a childs emotional health and well being.

With schools, go with your gut. Google the school, head and senior staff like mad. Get onto forums for first hand experience.

I also heard that HH didn't use specialist teachers for subjects - so you could be teaching PE one year and english or history the next. This may not still be the case.

Its changed - so has the culture of scools. Competition is so hard now - it seems to get harder each year - that schools and parents are pushing kids like mad to achive high 11 and 13+ results. To what end? Highly educated adults who are deeply unhappy or constantly dissatisfied with everything?

@ BottyPotty123 & 11Peacocks and others:

Gosh, that's quite shocking! I was considering Hill House for DC at 7+, but this really makes me wonder! DC is emotionally sensitive and finds it tricky to relate to other children, plus needs a bit of hand holding. Sounds like HH wouldn't suit him at all! Anyone disagree?

Also, I've heard from different people both that it is very sporty and that there is no emphasis on sport / art / extra curricular / fun stuff, what does everyone think about this?

I'm struggling to find schools as DC is average academically and everywhere seems to be looking for DC's who are far above average!

Thanks!