Best co-ed primary schools in Buckinghamshire / Surrey / Hampshire

[autunno]

Hey everyone, we are in the process of buying a property and we have found three that strongly matches what we are looking for (house-wise): Farnham Common, Oxshott and Fleet.

House-wise, the Farnham Common one is better (but the Fleet one is lovely, short walking distance to the high street to boot), but I’m struggling to find as many good options as I can see in Oxshott / Fleet and surrounding areas.

Anything up to 20 minutes drive would be acceptable, so we have some flexibility.

What schools would you recommend we look more closely at? For the Farnham common one option is driving to Windsor in case we can’t find anything near around Bucks

To add more info: my son is still quite small (1 year old) and we’re planning another soon. We would have time to send inquiries well ahead of time for vacancies.

Do you mean you are looking for a co-ed private pre prep and prep school?
You have so much choice! Have you subscribed to the good schools guide?

Danes Hill is the nearest prep to Oxshott.

Berkshire and Bucks are full of prep schools, the dc of Prince and Princess of Wales are at Lambrook.

Thank you for your reply! Yes, looking for both, since this could very well be our house during the next 10-20 years if we do like the area (don't foresee needing a bigger house), so the available schools are the biggest contention point.

I have seen Danes Hill, but it did not inspire to be much better than nearby state schools. Caldicott seems nice, but boys only (may consider, but I know that boys on average develop better on co-ed, and I think exposure to both sexes is a good thing).

I have not subscribed to the good schools guide, will check it out!

Danes Hill in Oxshott has the best facilities of any prep school in the area, the parents include premiership footballers and minor celebs. The other similar prep is Feltonfleet. I don't think either prep school is comparable to the local primary schools in terms of facilities or class size.

There use to be a Daneshill school in Hampshire but it has now changed its name (Wellesley prep school).

Thank you! Danes Hill would be walking distance from the Oxshott house, which is great. I had somehow missed Wellesley, it’s 20 mins drive from the Fleet house, so it’s doable.

Godstowe in High Wycombe is co-ed at pre-prep, and many boys then go on to Davenies in Beaconsfield - options for Farnham Common?

What knowledge do you have of state schools to draw a comparison re facilities as I think you'd be surprised if you think Danes Hill isn't much different.

Thank you folks. It seems like I'm drawing a good picture for Fleet and Oxshott, but still need more research on Farnham Common area. Ultimately we'll do a lot of school visits and try to make our own minds, but this information has been quite useful.

Farnham Common doesn't really have any great state schools but St Bernard's Prep is extremely highly rated in the Good Schools guide. As an aside I understand Maidenhead has a good selection of both (but no grammar if that is of interest to you).

@autunno Boys often go to Caldicott Prep in Farnham Royal from y3. It’s easily the best boys school in the area if you want a name senior school. Choose any decent pre prep. If you want co Ed all the way, there are a few that meet that requirement, However lots of Godstowe boys go to Caldicott or Davenies. You could look at Gayhurst and go for 11 plus. Many in Bucks choose preps according to senior school preferences. So top senior - Caldicott. Bucks grammar - Davenies (boys) or Gsyhurst.

Thank you. To be honest I have been rethinking a bit on the "co-ed" only angle. I was somewhat afraid of the limited interaction with girls, but I think this can be easily amended with other activities. I have reached out to Caldicot just today, and they recommended Davenies as a bridging school before y3, which does seem to make sense. If we move to the area, this is likely the path we'll try for him.

If he can't enter Caldicott, we may look into Lambrook or Papplewick as well, which would be ~25 minutes away.

Lambrook is co Ed. Papplewick is boys so no advantage over Caldicott in my view. The parents I knew at Godstowe sent their boys to Caldicott. If you want boarding senior school, ask about destinations. All these three are geared up for the best though.

I know both these areas well (can’t talk prep schools though) I would choose fleet over Farnham (and surrounding) every day.
it’s friendly, warm and welcoming. Lots going on yet small town feel. Great high street, great for smalls, great for teenagers. Near the sea, near London. It’s just a really enviable place to bring up children.

Farnham is on Elizabeth line isn’t it? Depends where you want to commute to. Nothing wrong with Farnham area but is fairly close to Heathrow. GX is a good place to live too.

Oxshott and Farnham common have a strong pull to me as it's a bit closer to London and, although I'm remote now, god knows how long this will last, and Farnham is indeed on Elizabeth line (through Slough, which is a quick drive away)

Yeah Fleet does seem lovely, and although this doesn't mean much to everyone I love having a gails/waitrose at walking distance (the house I'm seeing is 10 minutes walking from the high street, and 10 minutes walking to the station).

Would consider Papplewick only if my son somehow didn't clear the entry test, which is not something we can control. Agreed on this being the strongest option though, it makes the most sense.

Hi, steer well away from Gayhurst, Gerrards Cross. It is a very driven, academically-steered environment and not inclusive at all. 7/8 children have recently left, all citing the same reasons. Honestly, don't put your child through it. There are many, many more schools to choose from. Thorpe is a really good option for boys.

Hi, steer well away from Gayhurst, Gerrards Cross for the following reasons; 1 -It is a very driven environment and not nurturing at all; 2 - The SENCO is really bad and the SEN provision is non-existent; 3 - The School's leadership is very easily swayed by the parents that are 'in there', get on the wrong side of them and you're in trouble. 8 children across all years have recently left, all citing the same reasons. Honestly, don't put your child through it. There are many, many more schools to choose from. Class sizes are not small by any means. Thorpe is a really good option for boys - small classes and good location. I wouldn't go for The Beacon as it's also similar to Gayhurst.

I’ve heard good things about St Neots but not personal experience.

@autunno I’d say msny of these schools are not SEN schools. Dc end up in the wrong schools and Sen isn’t always noticeable at pre prep. Parents are not always realistic and often Sen provision will cost more. These schools are not building their reputation on Sen. They build it on results and destinations.

There are lots of prep schools to choose from near Oxshott. Danes Hill and Feltonfleet already mentioned. Also Claremont, Downsend, Parkside. Several of the single sex schools are coed at nursery level too.

Couldn’t have put it better myself. I wasn’t suggesting it is a SEN school. I was trying to help by letting @autunno know to steer away for a multitude of reasons. Hope it helps you make a decision @autunno.

I have 2 children at Gayhurst and my experience couldn't be more different than what is mentioned. I don't actually recognise the school that is being described, although of course everyone is entitled to their opinion.
In our experience Gayhurst is far from an academic hot-house. This is actually one of the main reasons we chose the school. I have a very academically able child but we didn't want that pressure on them. That's not to say the academics isn't priortised because it certainly is, it's just a child's well-being is front and center. As an example homework/prep is optional in pre-prep and completed during form time in prep to maximise a child's downtime at home. Gayhurst is well known locally for its high level of pastoral care and nurturing environment. This has certainly been our experience.
I have a neurodiverse child, who the school supports really well and they are so great at partnering with us. In fact, just last week during the weekly Gayhurst cafè drop-in, there was a parents forum with the whole SEN team, Head and Chair of Governors.
Is Gayhurst perfect? No, but what school is. The SLT are wonderful and regularly seeking feedback from parents. We couldn't be happier with the school, it has such a fab sense of community. I'd recommend following Gayhurst on Instagram and visiting (I think this is good to do for any school being considered), you soon get an idea by what a school chooses to post as to their ethos and whether it is the right fit for your child/family.

Gayhurst is a 3-11 school so it doesn’t prep boys for entry at 13 to the big name schools. It’s really looking at local grammars and other secondary schools which are not very selective. 13/44 got Bucks 11 plus in 23/24 and there are a few competitive schools on the destinations list. So parents in south Bucks need to evaluate what they want. 11 plus/state or independent at secondary and then at what age? Geographically surprised to see Berko on the list and Abingdon but Gayhurst is not a school that preps for boarding at 13 and probably doesn’t get dc with many academic scholarships.