Advice on schools in EC1 London

[bbmaka]

Hi,

We are moving to London - EC1 - from Australia in a couple of months with a 2.5 yo and a 4yo.

We have lived in London before but that was without kids and no NOTHING about the school system.

Any recommendations/views on either state or public local primary schools would be GREATLY appreciated!

Not adverse to state or independent schools, from my web searches my top three are:
Christopher Hatton PS, St Lukes PS and Dallington School...any views or advice?

Thanks,
bbmaka

Have a look at the Lyceum school. Small, independent, friendly, positively welcomes parental involvement, caters for a mixed ability intake, very strong on music and drama and on teaching academic subjects partly through topic work. Very gentle with young kids like yours. Sends pupils on to Forest, Queens, Francis Holland, CLGS, Highgate, NLCS, Portland Place. Located just north of Finsbury Square. We left to move on to secondary school last Summer; my DD was very happy there.
Would be happy to discuss in much more detail if you are interested.

The firm where I work "sponsors" St Luke's, helping out with reading schemes, paying for playground equipment etc.. It has a very large number of children who do not have English as a first language but, given the challenges which this creates, is impressive.The children visit the office sometimes and are sweet and well-behaved

We also help with Prior Weston, which is the "non Church" state school and also looks good. It has a lot of trendy artist parents (good raffle prizes!)

My ds was at Charterhouse Square for a bit. It's under new management now; but we weren't happy and I think it poor value for money-N.B independent here does not necessarily mean better

Have you looked at St Paul's Cathedral school? Great if your children are musical.

The Children's House in Islington (not far from EC1) has an excellent reputation for tinies

At the risk of making this horribly stressful, I think that you need to have some idea of the options after 11. The state primaries to which you refer are lovely; but I wouldn't be nearly as sanguine about sending my child to some of the state senior schools round here. It's not impossible to switch sectors- you just need to be aware of what may be required and of whether your chosen primary (whether state or independent) offers it.

At this stage we will probably only be in London for 2-3 years before returning to Australia so I have been focusing on the Early Years offerings of each school.

I will definately take a look at all your suggestions, and I guess was leaning towards state as at this age I am a little reluctant to spend thousands of pounds a year on education.

However, given all the quotas the state schools have to fill and their limited intake to 1-2 classes of reception kids each year, I fear we will have missed the boat by trying to get a place at this late stage for a Sept. start (for my 4yo DD), and that independent may be the only option left to us (we have just (as in last week) been offered this transfer by DHs work)!)

I hadn't focussed on the time element in my last post. I really think that you need to move pretty quickly now. For the 2.5 year old you are looking at nurseries; the four-year old could go to either either nursery or to the nursery class of a prep. Which would be better for him/her depends rather on how mature he/she is and also on when formal education starts in Australia (I have no idea about this).
I assume that you are currently physically in Australia: when would you be able to view the schools, if at all?

I'd support Summersoon on the Lyceum, my DD is there and is very happy. Standard high, music excellent. Wide range of sports done not very deeply, though, but a chance to try various things. But you will need to move fast.

We are still in Australia, won't be arriving there until mid-August which makes viewing before deciding a bit tricky. My DD was 4 in May; would she be a September or January reception starter?

She would be starting primary school here next Jan if we were staying and has been doing a couple of days a week at a pre-school this year.

Thanks everyone for your help so far!

I don't know the answer to that one for state schools but private schools start in September and will only accept children for a January start if they have a vacancy. I know that the Lyceum has accepted children in January and April as well as September.

If I were you, I would call up the schools you are interested in and see what they say. I would look at their Ofsted reports (though not everyone thinks that these are all they are cracked up to be) and also buy the on-line version of the Good Schools Guide - it does tend to focus on the private sector but will give you a good feel for the ethos of different schools. Their website also has quite a bit of info about the system in general. Won't compensate for not being able to view but it will help.

We're in Islington and places at our (mildly oversubscribed) school came up right at the last minute because lots of people go private round here but apply for a state one as back-up (and then v rudely don't bother telling state school they don't want a place). So I'm not sure that you won't find a school with places from mid- August in a similar area. Nerve wracking tho...
I also think if you're only staying for two to three years it would be lovely to go to a state school as you're more likely to feel part of the community quickly if you do so. But that's just me...

Hi - I'm totally with Polly that a state school would be great if you can organise a place in time. I know people with kids at Christopher Hatton and Prior Weston and they are happy. You will need an address before you can apply to the local authority (Camden/Islington council). If you arrive in August and need a place for Sept it may be tight. Alternatively if you live in EC1 Dallington could work - they have in the past proven flexible about taking people in at short-ish notice. Another advantage of Dallington is that their nursery class takes children from 3 so you could potentially have both kids in the same place. Downside of course is 2 lots of fees but for under 5s there is a govnt discount (Early Years grant). Dallington is fairly laid-back and arty/creative. You might find the lack of outside space at central London schools quite striking coming from Oz (more so at independent than at state schools), but most manage by taking the kids off side if they don't have the playground space right there. If you need more info on Dallington in particular feel free to PM me.